Bullock boosts Tar Heels in win against Long Beach State

With less than three minutes left in the first half Saturday at the Smith Center, Long Beach State went on a 12-2 run, and No. 4 North Carolina (9-2) went into the locker room at halftime trailing for the first time this season.

But after intermission, it seemed like all the Tar Heels needed to create a comfortable distance was a little boost from the bench.

In UNC’s 84-78 win against the 49ers, sophomore guard Reggie Bullock scored eight straight points in the second half to help give the Tar Heels a lead they would hold on to for the rest of the game.

And after a sustaining a season-ending injury during the Tar Heels’ 2010-11 campaign, Bullock is just happy to be hitting his stride once again.

“My teammates just trust me,” he said. “When they pass me the ball, they expect me to shoot it and knock it down. So I’ve just been doing that lately and they’ve been starting to build their trust in me a lot more.”

Bullock finished with 15 points Saturday for the second game in a row and shot 60 percent from the field. Junior forward John Henson led the Tar Heels with 24 points, and as the final seconds ticked off the clock, he capped off the team’s scoring with a dunk.

But offensively, Long Beach State’s Casper Ware made the biggest impact.

Ware had 14 points in the first six minutes Saturday, and he finished with a career-high 27. The senior guard shot four of six from behind the arc in the first half to help the 49ers take a 45-40 halftime lead.

“I thought he was on pace for 60,” said UNC forward Harrison Barnes, who had 20 points against Long Beach State.

“He came off just on fire. I’ve got to give credit to him for that. But we’ve just got to do a better job of getting over screens and just making them put it on the ground and get inside.”

Despite strong offensive performances from many Tar Heels, including sophomore point guard Kendall Marshall and his 16 assists, UNC coach Roy Williams said after the game that his team made some big mistakes against a talented Long Beach State squad.

Luckily for Williams and the Tar Heels, though, a confident Bullock came up big just when they needed him.

“Reggie was huge,” Williams said. “I was very discouraged by some of the things that were going on out there…Thank goodness Reggie came in and decided he was going to make some shots for us on the perimeter.

“He’s not just a shooter. He’s worked very hard to be a complete basketball player.”