Fifty-five and counting

North Carolina finally woke up before the start of a second half.

In the first half of its 75-65 win against Clemson, the Tar Heels shot 51.4 percent from the floor and suffocated the Tigers defensively to force nine turnovers. In large part because of that, UNC’s unbeaten home record against the Tigers still stands, now at 55-0.

“We were much more intense, to say the least,” UNC coach Roy Williams said.

“We had so much more emotion, so much more enthusiasm, so much more ‘want to.’”

The Tar Heels hit Clemson with an early halfcourt trap that led to seven steals in the first half – more steals than UNC averaged through its first three full ACC games. On the other end, the scoring came easier for the Tar Heels, who were led at halftime by freshman guard Reggie Bullock’s 16 points off the bench.

But the Tigers stuck around, making UNC’s first 20 minutes not the reason UNC won, but just the avenue that made it possible.

Instead, North Carolina won the game in the final five minutes.

With 4:58 on the clock, UNC freshman Harrison Barnes hit a 3-pointer in front of UNC’s bench to break a tie at 63. Prior to that shot, UNC hadn’t hit a field goal in almost four minutes.

“He’s been doing it a lot lately,” sophomore John Henson said. “He’s a big time player. Shots like that is something that he’s going to be able to do, and we look for him to make shots like that.”

Clemson guard Demontez Stitt and UNC freshman Kendall Marshall traded buckets to follow Barnes’ 3-pointer.

Then with a little more than two minutes left, Larry Drew II had a clean look from behind the arc, but he bricked it. Henson jumped to tap it in, missed, then leapt again and finished the play.

It was the biggest basket of the night. The effort to put an offensive rebound back in the net turned a one-possession game into a 5-point lead for UNC.

“It was kind of sitting on the rim and I seen the Clemson guy, they were kind of waiting for it to drop off, so I hopped back up there,” Henson said. “I was hoping they wouldn’t call a goaltend and they didn’t so it worked out for the best.”

Clemson’s best shot to get back in the game was in the hands of forward Jerai Grant. Grant had two free throws that could have brought Clemson within a 3-pointer of the Tar Heels, but the senior missed both.

“It was big,” Barnes said. “This year coach has always been stressing to us that if we play hard, we’re always be there at the end of the game. It always comes down to a stop-score-stop, so when he missed that second free throw it was very crucial that we had to get that rebound.”

Bullock led the Tar Heels in scoring with 18 points. Henson tallied 14 points, eight rebounds and blocked five shots. Barnes and Zeller also scored in double digits.

Williams said that his team had an energy level Tuesday that it lacked in the first three ACC contests.

The Tar Heels limited Clemson to 35 percent shooting on the night, and Drew played a large roll in holding Clemson’s leading scorer, Stitt, to just 11 points on 3-of-15 shooting.

Drew didn’t start the game. Williams made the change in his lineup, pulling Drew for freshman Kendall Marshall.

Williams has praised Drew’s defense for the entire season, but the point guard’s offense has been the thorn in his side.

The switch seemed difficult for Drew, who has started every game prior to Tuesday’s, but he said he tries to use everything as motivation. As for his offensive game, the guard knows where he’ll start.

“Just play my game,” Drew said. “Don’t think about it too much. Just go out there and play my game.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.