UNC men's basketball dominates SMU, 82-67, to earn much-needed win

The UNC men's basketball team (10-6, 3-1 ACC) dominated the SMU Mustangs (11-4, 2-2 ACC), 82-67, on Tuesday evening at the Dean E. Smith Center. 

Following a 26.6 percent performance over the last three games from the 3-point line, the Tar Heels ignited from behind the arc. Fueled by a 17 point performance from Drake Powell — where the first-year went 4-6 from three — North Carolina shot 50 percent from the 3-point line. Graduate guard RJ Davis also recorded 26 points going 3-6 from behind the arc. Comparatively, SMU went 23-69 from the field.

First-year guard Elliot Cadeau got things going for the Tar Heels, hitting a deep 3-pointer in the opening 30 seconds of play at the end the shot clock. On the next possession, Cadeau forced the steal before making the layup on the fastbreak to put UNC up 5-0. 

The Mustangs started to heat up three minutes into the game going on a 6-0 run to tie it by the 15 minute mark. 

As quickly as SMU tied the game, North Carolina worked to extend the lead once again. Led by the efforts of Drake Powell, the first-year scored 11 points in just over four minutes — with nine coming from a trio of triples — to help put the Tar Heels up 23-13 with 11 minutes remaining. 

The Tar Heels continued their hot streak.

Starting at the eight minute mark, North Carolina went on a 15-7 run. As the Mustangs went 1-9 to end the first half, UNC relied on its success from behind the arc to take a double digit lead. With help from graduate guard RJ Davis and Powell, North Carolina went 7-12 from the 3-point line in the opening 20 minutes of play. 

The Tar Heels led 39-24 at the half.

UNC worked to maintain the lead through the combined efforts of Davis and first-year guard Ian Jackson even with the Mustangs 6-0 start in the opening minute. At the 15 minute media timeout, SMU went on a two minute drought while the Tar Heels went on a 7-0 run. 

While the Mustangs responded with three made free throws, the Tar Heels refused to relinquish. Senior forward Jae'Lyn Withers hit a jumper. Junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin made a layup.

On the next possession, Lubin stole the ball and sent the pass to Davis who finished with the fast break layup to make it 54-35. The Mustangs called a timeout. 

North Caroline continued where they left off to go on a 13-3 run. Jackson made four of his free throws, Davis hit a jumper and Withers forced an and-1. 

 With 10 minutes remaining, UNC's play became sloppy. The Tar Heels went on a two minute scoring drought, recording three turnovers during that period. 

Led by a jumper from SMU's Boopie Miller and four made free throws, the Mustangs began to inch closer to the Tar Heels. While Davis made two free throws, SMU responded with a jumper and a layup to make the score 66-52. 

But Powell returned to his early game success, making a three from the corner to put a stop to SMU's run. Davis continued the trend, hitting a jumper and making a three at the end of the shot clock with less than three minutes remaining. Jackson hit a late-game 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining to seal the game. 

The Tar Heels will travel to Raleigh to take on the N.C. State Wolfpack at 4 p.m. on Saturday. 

@_emmahmoon

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