Luke Maye, Kenny Williams shine in UNC men's basketball's 124-63 exhibition win over UNC-Pembroke

It was not a fair contest.

The No. 6 North Carolina men’s basketball team emptied its bench in Friday’s 124-63 derailing of UNC-Pembroke at the Smith Center and did not seem to skip a beat.

Since the visiting Braves were undoubtedly outmatched, Head Coach Roy Williams could experiment with the lineup, showcasing the talents of some of his younger players.

The continual substitutions and lineup shifts allowed six Tar Heels to put up double-digit points during the exhibition game on a night when UNC shot 65.7 percent.

But it was the sophomores who truly stole the show.

Luke Maye and Kenny Williams did not see much playing time in their rookie debuts last year, but the pair certainly got the crowd excited on Friday night. Confidence seemed to be the main theme for the tandem.

“I always say I think the biggest jump is from some guys’ freshman year to his sophomore year,” Roy Williams said.

“You just get more comfortable, and you realize that all this junk that Coach is throwing at you is not nearly as complicated as you thought it was a freshman.”

The Tar Heels will look to Maye to provide a strong frontcourt presence this season, and his aggression against the Braves showed he might have the confidence to do just that.

Maye put up 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists on the night. He even drained a three, leading to a “Luuuke” chant that echoed through the Smith Center and could be heard throughout the contest.

“I play differently than a lot of typical bigs that Coach recruits,” he said. “He just tells me to play to my strengths. I’m not as athletic as Isaiah (Hicks) or as big as Tony (Bradley) or Kennedy (Meeks).

“I just try to use my quickness on the perimeter and my ability to shoot.”

Kenny Williams came out hot in the first half, scoring 10 points for the night — more than his combined scoring total from conference games, the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament last season. The sophomore shooting guard also hit a pair of threes, doubling his three-point total from 2015-16.

“I knew that he was going to knock down shots coming into this season,” said junior guard Joel Berry. “He spent a lot of time in the offseason working on his shot.

“You can tell he has a little confidence with shooting now.”

The Tar Heels will certainly be looking to Williams to step up and take some initiative on the court in the absence of injured junior Theo Pinson. And the sophomore guard believes he now has the confidence and understanding to do so.

A lot changes in a year. And for a couple sophomores trying to find their places in a basketball powerhouse, the expectations just grew.

sports@dailytarheel.com