UNC dismantles 2nd-straight ranked foe

With about 13 minutes left in the first half, North Carolina forward Marvin Williams grabbed a weak-side rebound on the baseline and threw down a powerful two-handed slam.

The follow-up dunk was the Tar Heels’ only un- assisted field goal in the first half. In all, they had 24 assists on 28 field goals as third-ranked UNC dismantled No. 8 Georgia Tech 91-69 at the Smith Center on Wednesday.

“It shows that we’re passing the ball and playing great team ball,” said UNC point guard Raymond Felton. “Everybody’s sharing the ball, everybody’s making the extra pass each and every play.”

The astounding assist-to-field goal ratio embodied North Carolina’s total team domination. UNC (14-1, 3-0 in the ACC) outrebounded the Yellow Jackets (11-3, 2-1) 52–33 and nearly grabbed as many offensive boards — 20 —as Georgia Tech had defensive — 25.

MEN'S BASKETBALL Ga. Tech 69 UNC 91

Seventeen of those offensive rebounds came in the first half, in which UNC attempted 20 more shots than the Yellow Jackets and built an 18-point lead despite shooting 37 percent from the field.

“Throughout the two days in preparation for this game, we talked a lot about not giving up layups in transition … and not giving up second shots,” said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt. “They just beat us to a lot of balls on the offensive boards. They had 17 offensive rebounds in the first half, and they just put us into too big of a hole.”

The Jackets scored a bucket on their first possession of the second half to reduce the Tar Heel lead to 16, but that would be as close as they would get for the rest of the game.

North Carolina once again featured a balanced attack with five different Tar Heels reaching double figures, led by Jawad Williams’ 18 and 14 from Marvin Williams.

Felton recorded seven assists but turned the ball over eight times. Six other players had at least two assists for North Carolina.

With second-leading scorer B.J. Elder out with a strained hamstring, Georgia Tech mustered little offense outside of Jarrett Jack, who scored 24 points. But the Yellow Jacket point guard recorded only one assist to five turnovers.

Georgia Tech shot just 36.8 percent from the field, the first time all season the team had been held below 50 percent.

“You’ve seen Jarrett play better than he did tonight. Don’t be deceived by the 24 points,” Hewitt said. “We have some guys that can play better. Now, Carolina probably had something to do with them playing bad.”

But the same could have been said about the Tar Heels. UNC’s starting five were a combined 17 of 47 from the field.

“Today wasn’t the prettiest game, but I was pleased with our guys because in the past, in those ugly, competitive, hand-to-hand combat games, perhaps we wouldn’t have persevered, but we did tonight,” said UNC coach Roy Williams. “Everybody loves when it’s running up and down, guys dunking and high-fiving, but I like to win some of those games when it’s ugly.”

Despite the strong defensive showing, Roy Williams said the team still needs to improve. But if the Tar Heels, who lead the nation in scoring, can consistently hold teams under 40 percent from the field, they’ll be nearly impossible to beat.

“Unstoppable. That’s the only word I can say,” Felton said. “Once we reach that point — not bragging, not being cocky — but can’t nobody beat us … once we master the defensive end.”

UNC easily dispatched a ranked conference opponent for the second straight game, but it might face its stiffest challenge all season Saturday when it faces No. 4 Wake Forest.

But if UNC can crash the boards and move the ball like it did Wednesday, the Tar Heels stand a good chance of walking out of Winston-Salem with their 15th consecutive victory.

“I’ve been looking for this moment for a while,” said UNC guard Jackie Manuel. “I hope everybody sees that when we play as a team, we’re winning games.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.