UNC Basketball fends off Tennessee in Chapel Hill

The UNC basketball program used a big first half to pick up their second-ranked victory of this season, this one at the hands of No. 10-ranked. Tennessee. 

The UNC basketball program welcomed the No. 10-ranked Tennessee Volunteers to the Dean Dome for a ranked matchup Wednesday evening. North Carolina outscored Tennessee by 22 points in the first half. Tennessee clawed their way back in the second half, but their comeback bid fell short as UNC won 100-92.

Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler knocked down a two-point jump shot to make it 13-10 Carolina. That was as close as the Volunteers would be in the first half, as Carolina outscored them 48-29 in the remaining 15:23 of the half. North Carolina found themselves up 61-39 at the break.

Carolina was able to stretch the lead to 24 with 15:21 left in the game, but Tennessee started to come back. Tennessee made it a seven-point game with just under eight minutes left. In recent years, this was a game UNC would go on to lose. This new group stayed poised and made their free throws down the stretch to win 100-92.

North Carolina has been known to let one player have their way the entire game. Villanova’s Eric Dixon and Arkansas’ Tramon Mark both had 34 points against UNC. Tonight, it was Dalton Knecht’s turn, as the 6-foot-6 guard scored 37 points before leaving the game due to an ankle injury.

North Carolina’s hot start in the opening half was the deciding factor of the game. Tennessee came in with the #1 ranked defense according to KenPom rankings. The most points the Volunteers have given up this season was 71 to No. 1 Purdue in Maui. The UNC basketball program was well on its way to that, scoring 61 points in the first 20 minutes of the game.

After starting the season cold, North Carolina has shot the ball well from three-point range in the past three contests. That trend continued tonight with the team shooting 42.9% for the game. They shot over 60% from the field in the first half and finished at 45% for the game.

R.J. Davis followed up his 30-point performance against Arkansas with a 27-point performance tonight. Davis shot 8/17 from the field and made all six of his free throw attempts.

Armando Bacot finally got going after struggling in the Bahamas. Bacot recorded his 71st career double-double, scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Harrison Ingram also had a huge game with 20 points, while Cormac Ryan contributed 15 points in his return from injury.

The Tar Heels will welcome the Florida State Seminoles to the Smith Center on Saturday at 2 p.m. to open conference play. North Carolina will then face three straight ranked opponents on neutral sites.

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