Justin Jackson finds his shooting touch in ACC win against Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. — A throng of reporters scurried into the North Carolina men’s basketball team’s locker room at Littlejohn Coliseum following the No. 19 Tar Heels’ 74-50 shellacking of Clemson on Saturday.

The overall mood in the locker room was what you would expect just moments after a team finished sealing a win in its conference opener on the road.

Players shouted and joked back and forth across the room as the reporters immediately surrounded sophomore forward Kennedy Meeks, who finished the evening with a double-double and was dressing himself in a swanky black suit.

But off to the side, with no reporters around him and clad in gym shorts and a blue Air Jordan T-shirt, sat freshman Justin Jackson. The soft-spoken swingman isn’t one for flash, but his team-best 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting certainly drew attention in his first career ACC game.

“I’m a little surprised, yeah,” said junior Marcus Paige about Jackson’s stellar performance. “ACC play can be rough in the beginning, but he did a great job of taking good shots. He was aggressive, got his little floater to go a couple of times, and I think that helps him. When he’s able to get an easy one or an easy look, then he can settle down and play ball. He had a great all-around game.”

Jackson entered Saturday’s contest averaging 9.6 points per game while shooting 29-of-79 since Nov. 27 and said he tried to clear his mind of his recent shooting struggles prior to the game.

Paige warned all three UNC freshmen of the rigor of ACC play, and Jackson said he noticed a dramatic increase in intensity that commenced with the opening tip.

“You could definitely tell that first four minutes, everybody came out hard,” he said. “You could definitely tell a lift in pressure in the game.”

At the 13:54 mark in the first half, Jackson subbed out for the first time with only a rebound to his credit. But after sitting on the bench for a little more than five minutes, he returned to the floor — and rapidly acclimated to the competition and Clemson’s physicality.

The Tigers trimmed the Tar Heels’ lead to 16-9 on a jumper by Donte Grantham, but Jackson received the ball on the next possession and drove toward the basket fearlessly before dropping in a baseline floater. There was no looking back.

The teardrop sparked a 9-0 scoring run by Jackson in which he demonstrated the heralded scoring ability that earned him praise as one of the nation’s top recruits — tipping in one shot, knocking down a mid-range jumper and capping the run with a 3-pointer.

“I wanted to see the ball go through the net a couple of times, that definitely helped,” said Jackson about gaining confidence throughout the night. “Just getting out there and being more comfortable definitely helped.”

Shortly after knocking down his lone 3-point attempt, Jackson infiltrated the lane and delivered the ball to Meeks for an effortless layup. The Clemson defense collapsed on the play to defend the sharp shooting freshman while leaving Meeks open — demonstrating Jackson’s all-around impact on the offensive end of the floor when he’s making shots.

Seconds after dishing out the assist, Jackson waltzed off the court to a fervent applause from the UNC fans sprinkled throughout the arena’s upper level. He’d proceed to score four more points in the second half to help propel UNC to victory.

The Tar Heels are now 7-0 when Jackson scores 10 or more points, and junior forward J.P. Tokoto called Jackson’s return to form a relief.

“He’s a great scorer, great player,” Tokoto said. “That’s what great players do. He’s been in a shooting drought. Tonight, he just bounced right out of it.”

A few more reporters venture over to question Jackson after peaking around freshmen Joel Berry and Theo Pinson and seeing him hunched over in his chair, nearly out of sight in the crowded locker room.

But if Saturday’s ACC opener is a sign of things to come, Jackson won’t be able to shake the spotlight that comes with such success.

sports@dailytarheel.com