The UNC men's basketball team (19-11, ACC 12-6) dominated Miami (6-23, ACC 2-16), 92-73, on Saturday afternoon in the Dean E. Smith Center.
Six Tar Heels scored in double figures, but junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin led the pack with a career-high 19 points, marking his fourth game in a row with double-digit scoring.
"We're doing a good job of sticking to that game plan, but at the same time, playing together," graduate guard RJ Davis said.
North Carolina forced a pair of Miami turnovers, turning into five points to jump out to a 10-6 lead in the opening five minutes. Eight Tar Heels recorded at least two points by the under-12 media timeout, mainly from attacking the basket in the paint, to push UNC ahead 21-15.
A string of errors by first-year guard Ian Jackson — a missed fast break layup and turnover — allowed the Hurricanes to notch back-to-back transition buckets. Then, Miami got hot, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers, to execute on five of seven field goal attempts and decrease the deficit to 31-27. Head coach Hubert Davis called timeout with seven minutes to go in the half.
"I didn't think the discipline and details — things that we talk about that have to be there consistently — were happening in that stretch in regards of taking care of the basketball, boxing out, rebounding, getting through screens, talking on defense, contesting shots and defending without fouling," Hubert Davis said. "I wanted to take a timeout to communicate that to them."
Junior guard Seth Trimble found his groove from deep, sinking back-to-back threes within a minute to push UNC into a 6-0 run. With three minutes remaining before the break, North Carolina held a 40-29 lead.
For the time left in the half, the Tar Heels trudged ahead on a 12-2 run.
Primarily facilitated by Trimble, the junior guard fed first-year forward Drake Powell for a tough lay-in. Then, in the final 20 seconds, Trimble took off in transition, but paused to find RJ Davis on the wing. Davis swished in a three to push UNC ahead 46-31 by the break.
