UNC Basketball: Former UNC teammates have huge G-League games

Former UNC basketball running mates have huge G-League games on Friday night

Former University of North Carolina teammates and 2017 national champions Joel Berry II and Kenny Williams put together terrific performances in their respective G-League games on Friday night.

Berry scored 44 points for the Greensboro Swarm in a 134-129 loss to the Erie Bayhawks. He scored early and often, and from all over the court, knocking down 17-of-29 shots for the game. He hit 8-of-15 from three-point range to go along with three rebounds, three assists and a steal in a game-high 37 minutes of play.

It was a career night for Berry, who’s averaging just 6.4 points 2.2 assists and 1.9 rebounds per game in 33 appearances this season. And his efficiency on the offensive end of the court was something we haven’t seen from him much since his days in Chapel Hill when he shot better than 36 percent from beyond the arc, and 83.4 percent from the free throw line. He’s currently shooting 32.7 percent from long-range, and 77.8 percent from the foul line.

Hopefully Berry’s 44-point outburst is a sign of things to come, though, as the second-year guard out of Apopka, Florida looks to make his way back on to an NBA roster.

Berry wasn’t the only one that put a show on Friday night, as former UNC standout and current Austin Spurs shooting guard Kenny Williams showed what he can do in a 117-114 overtime victory over Northern Arizona. Williams dropped a game-high 31 points on the Suns, including an 8-of-16 mark from the floor, and 7-of-14 from three-point range. He also converted all seven of his free throw attempts, and had two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 37 minutes.

The 6-foot-4, 185-pound Williams is averaging 7.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in his first season of professional hoops. He’s started 12 of the 37 games he’s played in, and averages around 22 minutes per night on the court. And similar to Berry, continued performances like this will certainly keep Williams in the Spurs’ starting lineup, and potentially on an NBA roster.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on Joel Berry II and Kenny Williams, as well as UNC basketball alumni throughout the G-League and in the NBA.