Three takeaways from No. 7 UNC's win over No. 17 UCLA in Las Vegas Invitational

Less than 24 hours after falling to unranked Texas, 92-89, the No. 7 North Carolina men’s basketball team faced No. 17 UCLA on Friday for a chance to leave Las Vegas on a positive note.

Down by five points at halftime against the Bruins, it looked like UNC might be headed for a second consecutive loss. However, an energized Tar Heel squad scored 53 points in the second half of play to pull out the 94-78 win.

Here are three takeaways from UNC’s win over UCLA in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational at Orleans Arena.

A tale of two halves

After UCLA (4-2) scored just 26 points in the opening half of play against No. 11 Michigan State, the Bruins exploded for 46 first-half points on Friday and led at the break, 46-41. It seemed the defensive struggles that plagued UNC (6-1) in the second half of its loss against Texas were lingering as the squad allowed its opponent to shoot 51.9 percent from the field. 

Whatever the reason, coming out of halftime a different Tar Heel team took the floor. With senior guard Kenny Williams leading the way, North Carolina held UCLA to just 37.5 percent from the field, a mark that included just seven converted 2-point field goals. 

Meanwhile, UNC exploded for 53 second-half points, thanks in large part to Williams, graduate guard Cameron Johnson and senior forward Luke Maye. Johnson started the second half by scoring seven consecutive points for his team and finished the game with 14, one of five UNC players in double figures. Maye had 12 points after halftime, including two made 3-pointers, and Williams played the role of both scorer and playmaker, pouring in seven points and adding four assists after the break.

The three roommates finished the game with a combined 45 points to lead their team to the victory.

Coby White keeps it up

The first-year guard had his best game as a Tar Heel on Thursday night, scoring 33 points and almost leading his team to a victory. On Friday, he followed it up with a performance almost as good. By halftime, White had 15 points and finished with 19 on the night while shooting over 50 percent from the field. 

Even more impressive was his playmaking ability. He finished with a team-high eight assists and only turned the ball over twice. White admitted after Monday's win over Saint Francis that former UNC point guard Kendall Marshall preached to him the importance of a three-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio. On Friday, White accomplished that goal for the first time in his young career with a four-to-one ratio.

Reserves step up the play

In Thursday night's loss, UNC did not receive much help from its bench with only seven points coming from a reserve not named Nassir Little. 

On Friday, it was a much different story. Little, a first-year forward, again led the unit with 14 points, but the other reserves matched his production with another 14. First-year Leaky Black particularly stood out with five points and some solid defensive effort. On one sequence less than five minutes into the second half, Black pinned a UCLA shot on the backboard, grabbed the ball and fired a bounce pass up ahead to Williams, who soared for the layup. 

Junior guard Brandon Robinson and sophomore forward Sterling Manley both added a field goal off the bench and K.J. Smith, a sophomore transfer from Pacific, added a season-high five points. Smith, who is the son of former UNC point guard Kenny Smith, had his best play of the night with 18 seconds remaining.

He soared for a layup, made the shot and was fouled for a chance at three points. Smith converted the free throw for the and-1 and showed promise in less than two productive minutes of play.

While UNC would have liked to go 2-0 in the state of Nevada, the team showed grit in bouncing back from a tough loss for an encouraging 16-point win on Friday.

@christrenkle2

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