NEWARK, N.J. – North Carolina is running away from Marquette in its Sweet 16 matchup, 40-15 after the first half of play.
After taking a 10-8 lead, the Golden Eagles struggled to create anything, allowing the Tar Heels to make a 22-2 run to take a stranglehold on the game.
For the half, Marquette shot 6-for-30 from the field, good for 20 percent. That is the second all-time lowest NCAA tournament field goal percentage against in a half. The record was set by Radford in 2009, when it shot 16.7 percent.
The Tar Heels left little doubt about their game plan in the first half. Tyler Zeller and John Henson each scored 12 points to pace the Tar Heels.
After initially struggling, Harrison Barnes got on track, hitting two threes to finish the half with eight points.
Marquette enters the second half with just two timeouts left, having already called three in an attempt to staunch the bleeding in the first half.
