No. 10 UNC men's basketball dominates American, 107-55, powered by 64 point second half

The No. 10 UNC men’s basketball team (2-1) bounced back with a 107-55 win over American University (1-3) on Friday night. 

Junior forward Jalen Washington’s career-high 18 points helped UNC on its way to the blowout. The Tar Heels had control of the game by halftime, outscoring the Eagles 64-21 in the second half to achieve the Tar Heels' largest margin of victory since 2008.

For this team to play at that pace, it is all tied to defense,” head coach Hubert Davis said. “It was the same way in the second half against Kansas. We got stops, and when we’re getting stops and finishing with the rebound, we’re pretty good in transition.”

After winning the tip, North Carolina’s first action was to turn over the ball. But before American could get very far with the ball, sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau got the steal and strolled down the court for an easy dunk. 

American kept the game close early. Down three, they kicked the ball out to Colin Smalls, who drained a 3-pointer to tie up the game. 

On the next possession, graduate forward Jae’lyn Withers rolled in from the left and put up a dunk to regain the lead. But American shot 2-2 on 3-pointers over their next two possessions, including a shot banked off the glass, to take the lead. 

The Eagles built a 18-13 lead about halfway through the first half, fueled in part by five early UNC turnovers. 

North Carolina came out of the media timeout strong. Cadeau scored six points and recorded two steals in three minutes to help the Tar Heels regain a three-point lead. 

Up 23-22, Cadeau threw up a pass to first-year forward Drake Powell at the rim, who finished the shot for the alley-oop. 

“I think we went on a little bit of a run,” Washington said. “And that just raised the energy and the morale we played with. Passing like that, getting caught up in the game, you just play harder.”

UNC put an exclamation point on the first half with a 14-8 run, culminating in a layup by junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin to go up 43-34. The Tar Heels shot 15-19 from the line in the first half and added 14 points on the fast break. 

North Carolina’s forwards made an impact early in the second. 

Two minutes in, graduate guard RJ Davis drove up the right side and slotted a pass around an American defender to an open Washington, who laid it in. 

A minute later, Withers finished a layup through contact for an and-1, which he drained to put UNC up 52-35. On the other end, Powell jumped up and got a two-handed block after a flailing American player tossed up a shot. 

“I feel like it was our defense and our rebounding that kind of set us off,” junior forward Cade Tyson said. “And just our energy from our veteran guys.”

A minute later, Withers finished a layup through contact for an and-1, which he drained to put UNC up 52-35. On the other end, Powell jumped up and got a two-handed rebound at the rim. 

Up 58-43 and 0-10 on 3-pointers, UNC hit two consecutive shots from behind the arc. First, junior forward Cade Tyson got the kick from the baseline and drained a shot from the right corner, his first points of the game. Then, junior guard Seth Trimble hit one from the same spot. 

At the 7:55 mark, sandwiched in between Tyson’s second and third 3-pointers, Washington dunked a shot off of a no-look pass from Cadeau to set his career high. 

North Carolina finished 6-21 from three and 59% on overall shooting. Cadeau tied Washington’s 18 points, and UNC held American to 31% shooting. 

The Tar Heels will travel to Manoa, Hawaii to play Hawaii on Nov. 22 at 12:30 a.m. eastern before they begin the Maui Invitational. 

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