Keeping It Heel
Fansided

UNC Basketball: Tar Heels roll past UNLV in Maui Invite

By Zack Pearson

Nov 25, 2019; Lahaina, HI, USA; A close up of an official game ball on the ball rack before the Brigham Young Cougars play the UCLA Bruins during the first half on the first day of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 25, 2019; Lahaina, HI, USA; A close up of an official game ball on the ball rack before the Brigham Young Cougars play the UCLA Bruins during the first half on the first day of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The UNC Basketball program opens up the 2020 Maui Invitational on Monday night with a win over UNLV in Asheville

Things got off to a slow start for the UNC Basketball program on Monday night in their opening game at the Maui Invitational. The Tar Heels fell behind 13-0 to UNLV and missed their first seven shots of the game.

But once they got going, they really got going.

The Tar Heels used a 9-0 run in the first half to grab the lead and control of the game, taking 37-30 lead into halftime. After that? The second half was all North Carolina.

UNC outscored the Runnin’ Rebels 41-21 in the second half, absolutely dominating them in the paint and on the defensive end. The Tar Heels were able to flex their muscle a bit using their height advantage with their four big men, completely owning the paint.

At one point, UNLV enjoyed a 6-3 advantage early in rebounding but when it was all said and done, the Tar Heels dominated in the paint 55-35. That’s going to be a big strength for the Tar Heels moving forward this season and will be led by their talented core in the post.

Freshman R.J. Davis helped pace the Tar Heels in that second half, finishing with a game-high 16 points. He was complimented by 14 points from Garrison Brooks, 12 points by Armando Bacot and then 11 from Andrew Platek off the bench. Brooks also reached a milestone by scoring his 1,000th career point in the win.

Fellow freshman Walker Kessler added 7 points and 6 rebounds, earning some run in that second half. Kessler provided a spark off the bench on both offense and defense, flashing his abilities early on this season.

This was an encouraging performance by the Tar Heels on both ends of the court. Despite falling behind early in this game, they took over in that second half with their lockdown defense not allowing the Runnin’ Rebels to get anything going.

It’s still early in the season and the chemistry isn’t fully there but when they put it all together, this team will be tough to beat. Especially if they have their bigs working in the paint and dominating like they did on Monday night.

UNC will await the winner of Stanford/Alabama which tips off on Monday night. It will be a 4 p.m. ET tipoff for Tuesday’s semifinal and the winner of that game will take on the winner of Texas/Indiana which is scheduled for earlier on Tuesday.

Next. UNC climbs two spots in the AP Top 25. dark

For more on the UNC Basketball program, please make sure to check back with Keeping it Heel.

Home/UNC Basketball