No Marcus Paige, no Justin Jackson, no problem for the nation’s number one men’s basketball team on Friday night.

The Tar Heels handily defeated the Guilford Quakers 99-49 at the Dean Smith Center, in their only preseason exhibition game before next Friday’s regular season opener.

“I feel pretty good to play, do some nice things, without Marcus, without Justin, without Brice [Johnson],” UNC head coach Roy Williams said after the game. “[Johnson] did [play well] the second half, first half I don’t know where he was.

“A lot of kids got a lot of minutes, and I think it did help us. And I think getting in front of a crowd helped us.”

Paige, the team’s star point guard, broke his non-shooting hand in practice on Tuesday and will be out for three to four weeks. Jackson–the 6-foot-8 sophomore wing expected to have a breakout campaign–sat out the game with an illness.

Marcus Paige and Justin Jackson look on from the sidelines. (Todd Melet)

Marcus Paige and Justin Jackson look on from the sidelines. (Todd Melet)

Starting in place of the sidelined stars were sophomores Joel Berry and Theo Pinson. Each looked impressive in this one, showing that depth is clearly a strong point for this team.

Berry looked extremely promising filling in at point guard. The Florida native finished with 12 points and 7 assists while in control of the offense–a good sign for a team that will need someone to step up in Paige’s absence.

“He’s had a good preseason,” Williams said. “Other than Marcus, I’m not sure anybody’s played better this preseason than Joel Berry has. And so we need him to continue doing that.”

Pinson had 10 points in the game, all in the first half, while also contributing five rebounds and five assists as he continues to get healthy himself after a broken foot ended his season a year ago.

He displayed a much-improved shooting stroke as well, hitting a pair of three-pointers.

“The game’s slowing down for me,” Pinson said after the game. “Before as a freshman, [I learned] it’s different from high school. You just gotta go out there, and I’m not thinking about, ‘What play are we in?’–and stuff like that.

“I’m just out there playing basketball,” he added.

A main focal point of Williams’ criticism for four years now, Johnson–the 6-foot-9 senior forward–was quiet early on, posting just two points in the first twenty minutes. He ended up finishing with nine points and seven rebounds.

Six players finished in double figures for the Tar Heels, including 14 each by junior forward Kennedy Meeks and classmate Nate Britt–tied for team lead in that category. Britt enters the season as the team’s go-to option off the bench, and he proved more than capable, also dishing out nine assists.

Guilford roared out to an early 2-0 lead on a jumper by Will Freeman just 30 seconds into the game–bringing its entire bench to its feet.

But a pair of three-pointers by Pinson and junior Nate Britt gave the Tar Heels a lead they would never relinquish–as their size, speed, and strength simply overwhelmed the Quakers, a Division III school that plays in something called the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

Freshman Alston Thompson–at 6-foot-6–was the tallest player to see the floor for the Quakers on Friday–something exploited early and often by UNC.

Leading the way for the Quakers was junior guard Zachary Houston, who tallied 14 points as the only Guilford player to reach double figures.

Joel Berry (2) opened up some eyes with his stellar play at point guard on Friday. (Todd Melet)

Joel Berry (2) opened up some eyes with his stellar play at point guard on Friday. (Todd Melet)

The Tar Heels shot an astounding 62 percent from the floor and finished the game with a 47-25 rebounding advantage.

In what turned into essentially a playground pick-up game, UNC led the Quakers 52-24 at halftime.

The crowd was a little lifeless in the second half–until an alley-oop jam by Brice Johnson woke everybody up with just under nine minutes to play, and the home team up by 59.

From that point on, Williams rotated his entire bench in-and-out, getting everyone some valuable early season playing time as the team now turns its attention to starting the games that really count–minus Paige, the face of the squad.

“Everybody’s gotta try to play closer to their potential,” the coach said. “We can’t have any sloppiness. We’re gonna play next Friday night [and] it’s a different level team.

“We talked the other day about everybody picking their play up and doing a better job themselves, whatever job it is, regardless of how little they may think it is, or how unimportant they may think it is–they’ve got to do a better job of that.”

Up Next:

The regular season officially begins for the Tar Heels next Friday, November 13th at 7 p.m. UNC will travel to Annapolis, Maryland to take on the Temple Owls in the Veterans Classic Basketball Tournament.

Game Notes: 

  • UNC is now 24-2 all-time in games against Guilford.
  • Freshman guard Kenny Williams played like a seasoned veteran, putting up 12 points in his Tar Heel debut on  5-of-7 shooting from the field–including one three-pointer.
  • Perimeter shooting was the team’s Achilles’ Heel last season, but the Tar Heels finished Friday’s game 8-of-17 from downtown.
  • Junior Kanler Coker had a free throw attempt with 15 seconds left that could have put UNC at the 100 point mark, but missed–much to the dismay of the fans, who let out a loud groan.

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