UNC Basketball: Tar Heels keep rolling with win over N.C. State

After winning the first meeting earlier this season, the N.C. State entered Chapel Hill with the opportunity to sweep the season series from the UNC Basketball program for the first time in 18 years.

But they left Saturday with that streak extending to 19 years thanks in large part to freshman big man Day’Ron Sharpe’s double-double and excellent guard play by Caleb Love and R.J. Davis.

The freshman trio led the way for the Tar Heels, scoring 41 of UNC’s 86 points in the 86-76 win on Saturday. Sharpe finished the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Love added 15 points and Davis had 10. Sophomore Armando Bacot led UNC scorers with 17 points.

After a slow start to the game as the teams traded leads for the first 15 minutes, UNC finally pulled ahead a bit late in the first half. They took a 31-28 lead with 5:32 left and closed out the first half on a 12-5 run to go into the break up 43-33.

The Wolfpack threatened a few times in the second half, going on a 6-0 run to open up the half and cutting the lead down to 4. After UNC pulled away again, the Wolfpack used another run to cut the lead down to six at 75-69 with 3:55 left.

UNC got sloppy late, seeing their 13 point lead get down to 6 after a few turnovers and missed free throws. But UNC got some key shots at the end from Kerwin Walton, Anthony Harris and Davis to seal the win.

The win moves UNC to 5-1 in their last six games and after an 0-2 start to conference play, UNC now sits at 5-3. They are certainly improving as the year goes on, mainly with their guard play from Love and Love. The return of Harris has also boosted their play over the past three games.

Even with the win, UNC had their struggles on Saturday. They finished the game shooting 44% from the free throw line and allowed 7 offensive rebounds. There are some things they need to clean up but overall it was another solid win for Williams and his team.

The Tar Heels will return to action on Tuesday, traveling to Pitt to take on the Panthers. Pitt is fresh off a big home win over Duke and is 8-2 overall on the year.

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