The No. 20 North Carolina men's basketball team (5-4, ACC 1-0) scraped by Georgia Tech (4-5, ACC 0-1), 68-65, on Saturday afternoon in the Dean E. Smith Center to open up ACC play.
After falling behind by eight points in the first half and continuing North Carolina's four-game trend of inefficient starts, UNC crawled out of the hole thanks to junior guard Seth Trimble, who finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Then, when Georgia Tech chipped away a once six-point lead, it was an all-guard effort in putting together points to stay alive.
With the win, the Tar Heels ended a three-game losing streak.
"[Trimble] is one of our older guys on the team and he's someone that we need to lead us," first-year guard Ian Jackson said. "Him and RJ have both been here before. They've both played in big games."
A slow first five minutes for UNC allowed GT to take an early 8-4 lead, pushed ahead by Naithan George's logo 3-pointer as the shot clock winds down. With the Tar Heels going 3-for-12 from the field in the next four minutes and turning the ball over five times, the Yellow Jackets continued to pull ahead.
Spearheaded by Trimble, an 8-0 run over the course of three minutes tied up the game, 16-16, with 7:52 remaining in the first half. Sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau grabbed the steal at mid-court, connecting with the junior for a transition dunk for the tying score. A minute later, Cadeau battled through traffic to lay in a floater to push the Tar Heels ahead for its first lead, 18-16.
Even as graduate guard RJ Davis found his groove for eight points, Georgia Tech clawed back, scoring 10 points in the final five minutes of the half. UNC held onto a fragile 31-30 lead.
The Yellow Jackets froze on offense for the first four minutes of the second half, only scoring one point. The Tar Heels pushed ahead 36-31.
Georgia Tech rebounded, bringing the score within a point with 11:56 to go. It remained a one possession game until the four minute mark, with both teams trading scores and leads.
