Harrison Barnes’ second-half performance puts away NC State

RALEIGH – Up 54-52 with 7:54 left in the second half, No. 19 North Carolina knew it would need to make a run to win Wednesday’s game against N.C. State. Little did it know that run would start immediately.

UNC rode the momentum of a 6-0 sprint coming out of that television timeout to win 75-63 in the RBC Center.

N.C. State went to forwards C.J. Leslie and Tracy Smith three times, but they came up with two missed shots and a block. UNC scored each time on the other end.

“We’re always going to make a run, and it’s whether we can hold a team on the other end, and that’s what we did,” UNC sophomore forward John Henson said.

That run was part of a larger 10-4 run that extended into the next television timeout.

Harrison Barnes threw down two consecutive powerful dunks to punctuate the end of the game in what is becoming UNC’s own version of the Red Auerbach victory cigar.

The UNC defense brought the game home, allowing N.C. State to score just 11 points the last 7:54.

“We can make it difficult for you around the basket,” UNC coach Roy Williams said.

The Wolfpack consistently got the ball into the low post, but the length of Henson bothered both Leslie and Smith into shooting a combined 11-for-27 from the field.

“It’s something I pride myself on,” Henson said of low-post defense. “We got a lot of scores, and I made a huge impact on the defensive end. That’s what I got to keep doing.”

Henson grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked six shots.

After the game’s first four minutes, it seemed far from a sure thing that the Tar Heels would even have a chance to win at the end.

UNC’s Henson and Tyler Zeller were thrown off by the Wolfpack’s defense, which collapsed on them each time they took a dribble.

Down 19-9 after nine minutes, the Tar Heels did not let the swarming Wolfpack defense or the raucous RBC Center crowd take them out of their comfort zone.

“It was a game of runs, it felt like they were going to run us out of the building,” Williams said.

Instead of wilting, UNC kept plugging away, eventually taking a 31-29 lead into halftime.

UNC got an unlikely boost from Dexter Strickland, who scored nine points in the first half to lead all scorers, all of which came after N.C. State went up by 10.

Before Wednesday, Strickland had struggled mightily with his shooting stroke — he was 0-for-9 in the last three games from the field.

“I was relieved,” Strickland said. “I knew it would eventually pay off because I put the time in. The last couple games, I haven’t been shooting as much, but tonight I looked for my shot and got to the rack early.”

The Tar Heels clinched a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament with the win, as they cannot finish lower than fourth in the conference. Williams, for his part, is just happy his team got a win in a chippy, emotional affair on another team’s home court.

“We’re very fortunate, to say the least, and we feel really good about that,” Williams said.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.