The North Carolina men's basketball team (8-4, 1-1 ACC) defeated the No. 23 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-3), 89-85, in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
What happened?
North Carolina won the opening tip and graduate forward Leaky Black missed a tough contested layup for the first shot of the game. Ohio State hit a wide open 3-pointer on their first possession, taking a quick lead.
Junior guard RJ Davis hit a runner for UNC’s first basket of the game, and junior wing Puff Johnson got a steal on Ohio State’s next possession, leading to a fastbreak and-one, but missed the free throw.
After graduate transfer forward Pete Nance tied the game, UNC took its first lead off of junior guard Caleb Love’s 3-pointer from the top of the key. A Buckeyes turnover led to another Davis bucket, extending the UNC run to 7-0 entering the first media timeout.
The Buckeyes went on an 18-2 run midway through the first half, taking a 28-16 lead, forcing UNC head coach Hubert Davis to take his first timeout with 8:31 remaining in the first half.
Ohio State continued their run following the break, but Love found senior forward Armando Bacot on a backdoor cut for an easy dunk, and after an OSU miss, Bacot completed a three-point-play on the next possession, again from a Love assist. Bacot’s 10 straight points cut the lead to 36-30 with 3:10 left in the first.
UNC came out of the break quickly and with intensity, opening the second half on a 10-2 run thanks to buckets from Nance, Love, Black and Bacot, leading to an OSU timeout and UNC trailing by just one.
Ohio State continued to make shots when UNC got close, and with the help of some misses from the Tar Heels, extended their lead to nine with 11:19 to play. Following a media timeout, UNC implemented a full court press, putting pressure on the Buckeyes and slowing cutting into their lead. Black hit a three following two made free throws by OSU, cutting Buckeye lead to just one.
