WINSTON-SALEM – In each of his first two games as a starting guard for North Carolina, sophomore Reggie Bullock scored 11 points, helping lead UNC to a pair of conference victories and proving he could play with the starting five.
He might not have fared as well offensively for No. 5 North Carolina in its 68-53 win Tuesday night, but Bullock knew if he couldn’t deliver with his shot, he could still bring something to the table.
“My shot wasn’t falling for me tonight,” Bullock said. “So I was just trying to bring something being out there with the starting five, just bringing defense and intensity and just getting to the boards.”
Bullock finished the game with just six points, making just two of 11 shots from the field. But left with the tall order of guarding Wake Forest leading scorer C.J. Harris at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum on Tuesday, Bullock made sure his presence was known.
Harris came into the contest averaging 17.3 points per game – third best in the ACC. But in the first half against the Tar Heels, he had just four points.
“When they were coming off the screens, we were trying to shadow and be there on the catch,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “C.J. is hard to guard, and I thought Reggie really did a nice job on him.”
The Tar Heels didn’t play well offensively in the first half, and the nation’s best scoring offense shot just 34 percent from the field before break – its lowest first-half field goal percentage this season.
But North Carolina didn’t need to score much on Tuesday in order to pull out a win.
The Demon Deacons shot just 28 percent from the field in the first half, marking the sixth time this season the Tar Heels have held an opponent to less than 30 percent shooting before intermission.
