As college basketball begins to take the spotlight in the sporting world, the No. 2 Tar Heels defeated the Boston College Eagles 89-62 on Saturday—using the last place squad in the ACC as a tune-up before the competition becomes stronger.

It’s now 12 straight wins for the Tar Heels, who are 19-2 this season—including an 8-0 start to conference play.

Roy Williams wanted to see improvement in two key areas against Boston College--shooting and defense. (Todd Melet)

Roy Williams wanted to see improvement in two key areas against Boston College–shooting and defense. (Todd Melet)

Despite not having lost since Dec. 12, head coach Roy Williams’ team has struggled to find defensive consistency, and has had problems making shots in recent outings.

Although the Tar Heels made just 11 of their 22 free throws on Saturday, they forced a whopping 23 turnovers and shot 53 percent from the field.

“Before the game today, instead of putting up X’s and O’s on the board I said, ‘Let’s play get better on defense, get better on offense, and let’s give the A-grade effort—see if we’re mature enough to handle this.’” Williams said, referencing the recent sluggish play.

Brice Johnson continued his breakout season with 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who dropped Boston College to 7-14 overall and 0-8 in the ACC.

But it was the backcourt of Joel Berry and Marcus Paige that made the most noise. The two combined for five of UNC’s 12 steals, which netted the Tar Heels 30 points off of turnovers alone.

Offensively, Berry had 13 points and six assists as Paige finally broke out of his own personal slump—letting a big smile loose in the opening half when he knocked down a three-pointer for the first time since Jan. 9 at Syracuse.

“I want you to go the gym, miss twenty-something in a row—then make one and have the whole arena cheer for you,” Paige said to reporters after the game. “I’ve never missed that many shots in a row in my life. So to just finally give one to people, it was relieving.”

There were still plenty of sloppy moments for the Tar Heels, like the poor free throw shooting and a slow start to the first half—but the frenetic defense and improved shot-making provides the team with somewhere to build from.

This game was just the beginning for UNC, Berry said, as the team enters its all-important stretch run.

“Once the shots start falling, and we come together on the defensive end, we can be a great team,” Berry said. “But we have to start doing that.

Marcus Paige finally broke out of a shooting slump that saw him go three weeks in between made three-pointers. (Todd Melet)

Marcus Paige finally broke out of a shooting slump that saw him go three weeks in between made three-pointers. (Todd Melet)

“We knocked down some shots today, and Marcus knocked down some which was good to see,” he continued. “We just need to focus on the defensive end—that’s the biggest thing we need to key in on. And we’re gonna do that later down the road.”

That road will start with Monday’s trip to Louisville, but also includes a game at Notre Dame– followed by a visit to Boston to take on the Eagles again.

After that road stretch, there’s two games against Duke, one versus Miami and another with Virginia—all teams who have spent plenty of time in the top 25 this year.

Always a master motivator, Williams issued a simple challenge to his players regarding the tough upcoming matchups.

“If we play the way we’ve played the last four games, it’ll be very difficult to win any of those [upcoming] games,” the coach said. “So we’ve gotta play better.”

UNC will now be chasing consistency from here on out, but sophomore wing Theo Pinson said it best when addressing what’s to come in the next couple months.

“It’s go time now,” Pinson said. “And I think we’re ready.”

Up Next:

Just a single off day awaits the Tar Heels, as they prepare to face head coach Rick Pitino and his Louisville Cardinals–who are currently ranked No. 16 in the nation.

Game Notes:

  • Isaiah Hicks scored eight points in his first start of the season in place of Kennedy Meeks, who was held out of the starting lineup for arriving late to the pregame shootaround.
  • Paige finished the game with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting–including a 3-for-8 mark from beyond the arc.
  • At halftime, UNC honored former baseball pitcher Andrew Miller, now the closer for the New York Yankees. Miller’s number 33 was officially retired by the baseball program.
  • Boston College made as many field goals (23) as it had turnovers.

 

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