Keeping It Heel
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UNC Basketball: Freshmen help Tar Heels get past Bruins

By Zack Pearson

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 23: Nassir Little #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels dunks against Kris Wilkes #13 of the UCLA Bruins during the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 23, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 23: Nassir Little #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels dunks against Kris Wilkes #13 of the UCLA Bruins during the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 23, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /
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A pair of freshmen helped the North Carolina Tar Heels pull away from the UCLA Bruins on Friday night in Las Vegas.

The North Carolina Tar Heels won’t leave Vegas winless.

After being upset by Texas in their opening game of the Las Vegas, the Tar Heels responded with a big second half in a win over UCLA on Friday. The first half was much like the first game against Texas as UNC struggled to hold a lead and just looked out of it, trailing 46-41 at the break.

Freshman Coby White continued his hot play in the first half and was a big reason why the Tar Heels were able to stay in the game. White was seemingly doing it all again as other players saw their struggles carry over from the Texas game.

But in the second half, they got going.

The second half charge was led by freshman Nassir Little who took over the game at one point in the final half. With UNC down 62-60 at the 13:18 mark, Little scored five-straight points to give the Tar Heels a 65-62 lead.

Little’s run was highlighted by a poster slam as he drove the lane and finished with authority at the rim over a UCLA defender.

Form there, it was all Tar Heels as they went on an 11-0 run beginning with those 5 points from Little and finished off the Bruins.

UNC outscored the Bruins 53-32 in that second half, giving fans some hope that this team is capable of playing with ranked teams. That comes after a dismal performance against unranked Texas on Thursday.

Little finished the game with 14 points and 4 rebounds, providing a big spark off off the UNC bench. His fellow freshman White had 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting including draining 4 three-pointers. It was the second year in a row that White led UNC in scoring as the freshmen is really developing into a good player early in the season.

Luke Maye finished with16 points, while Kenny Williams had 15 and Cam Johnson had 14 in the game. The three seniors really struggled against Texas, combining to score just 31 points in the loss.

Williams getting going is huge for the Tar Heels as he hasn’t had an ideal start to the 2018-19 season.

Stat of the game

6. The number of turnovers the Tar Heels committed on Friday, which played a big part in them getting the win. Against Saint Francis on Monday the Tar Heels committed 18 turnovers and then 16 against Texas in the loss.

On Friday they were able to cut down on those turnovers and it helped their offensive production.

If UNC can limit those turnovers, they can be a really good team and click on offense. But if they continue to struggle turning it over, they are going to find themselves in trouble more often than not.

What’s next?

The test doesn’t get much easier for the Tar Heels as they head on the road to face the No. 9 Michigan Wolverines as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Wednesday.

Michigan is 6-0 on the season and beat then No. 8 Villanova 73-46 on the road for their biggest win of the season. It will be another tough test for the Tar Heels on the road as they still have Gonzaga and Kentucky to play in their non-conference schedule.

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