Strong second half pushes UNC men's basketball past Florida Gulf Coast, 83-67

RALEIGH — Forget about the first half. 

The No. 1 seed North Carolina men's basketball team must have done that after entering halftime ahead of 16th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast by just one point, 41-40. 

The second half couldn't have looked any more different, and that bounce-back effort resulted in an 83-67 victory that pushes the Tar Heels into the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 

The biggest factors in that second-half awakening — which saw the Tar Heels outscore the Eagles 42-27 — were Brice Johnson and defense.

Or maybe Brice Johnson's defense. 

Either way, the defensive effort was much improved in the second period, where the 6-foot-10 senior led the way with six blocks. That intensity yielded Johnson a career-high eight blocks for the game and helped limit Florida Gulf Coast to just 30.3 percent shooting in the second half.

This greatly contrasted to the first half, where the Eagles outshot the Tar Heels 60 percent to 41.2 percent. Where the Eagles outrebounded the Tar Heels 21-14. Where the Eagles scored 22 points in the paint compared to the Tar Heels' 16. 

Despite all of that, Coach Roy Williams' team still managed to end the half ahead, up a point. But UNC shouldn't have been up just one point at halftime. That's not what's expected of a No. 1 seed against a No. 16 seed. 

And in the second half, you could see some of the anger, some of the fire that might not have been there at the start. 

Maybe that came on Marcus Paige's 3-pointer to start the half. Or Joel Berry's transition layup on the very next possession. Or when Johnson claimed his fourth — and his biggest — block of the game; denying a dunk by the Eagles' Zach Johnson in transition and then flying down the court immediately after, grabbing Justin Jackson's missed layup, scoring and drawing a foul. And then hitting the free throw to give his team a 51-43 lead. 

It was the culmination of moments like this, many from Brice Johnson, that allowed UNC ignite its play and do what it was expected to do.

Advance.

Quotable

"There was no sense of panic, or you know, nervousness in that regard. We were just tight in the first half, that’s how we played. So we just knew if we played better, everything else would take care of itself ... Most (16th-seeded) teams have 6-foot-6 bigs that aren’t as athletic as ours, but that team matched up well for the most part. But once we got going and played our game, it didn’t matter." — Paige on how UNC handled its first-half struggles.

Notable

Florida Gulf Coast started the game with the intensity and confidence one would expect of a No. 16 seed determined to become the first-ever to knock off a No. 1 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles' 60 percent shooting was the best any team had managed in a half against the Tar Heels this season. The previous best was Maryland's 56 percent on Dec. 1.

Three numbers that matter

8: Brice Johnson recorded eight blocks on Thursday, which set a new career best for him. That mark also sets a new individual block record for a UNC player in the NCAA Tournament, passing John Henson's six blocks against Long Island in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

6: Berry hauled in six rebounds on Thursday. On a night where UNC's big men weren't dominating the glass, the 6-foot point guard's six boards were tied for the second-most on the team. Those rebounds were especially important in the first half, when the Tar Heels were outrebounded 21-14. Berry led UNC with four rebounds in the first half.

66: Williams secured his 66th NCAA Tournament win on Thursday, helping him pass Dean Smith for second-most all-time NCAA Tournament victories. Coach Mike Krzyzewski leads the way with 89 wins in the NCAA Tournament during his career.

What's next?

The Tar Heels advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they will face the winner of Thursday's game between eighth-seeded Southern California and ninth-seeded Providence on Saturday at PNC Arena in Raleigh. 

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