The UNC men’s basketball team held No. 7 Oklahoma to its poorest offensive game of the season Wednesday night at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, winning 81-69 and dealing the Sooners their first loss of the season. The victory also snaps Carolina’s two-game losing streak.

Oklahoma entered the game at 10-0 and averaging more than 84 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the floor. It ended the night with season-lows in points and shooting percentage (40.4). And while an opponent once again won the rebounding battle against Carolina (41-34), the Tar Heels’ speed proved deadly. UNC piled up 23 fast-break points while nabbing a season-high 10 steals. Combined with Oklahoma committing a season-high 18 turnovers (which turned into 24 Carolina points), it was a recipe for breakneck speed.

The speediest player on the court for Carolina continued his hot scoring ways. Guard R.J. Davis poured in 23 points and made five three-pointers, including a critical one late in the second half when the Sooners had cut a 15-point UNC lead down to five. Davis’ recent run of play is the stuff of Carolina legend: the senior has scored at least 23 points in seven consecutive games, a streak which dates back to the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Thanksgiving Day.

The Tar Heels put up a balanced scoring effort to support their budding star, as Armando Bacot, Cormac Ryan and Harrison Ingram each scored in double figures. Bacot scored 14, but remains relatively quiet in recent games. The fifth-year senior is averaging just 12.5 points per game in his last seven outings. Ingram scored seven of his 11 points in the second half, including a banked-in jumper to beat the shot clock buzzer with 1:14 remaining in the game. The shot extended UNC’s lead to 75-67 and effectively sealed the win.

Though Oklahoma was never truly out of the game until late, UNC held the lead for more than 37 minutes of game time. The Sooners never led, and never even tied the game after 0-0. A 17-7 run in the second half to turn a 63-48 Tar Heel advantage into 70-65 with 3:01 remaining was the closest Oklahoma would get.

UNC was playing with heavy hearts, as Wednesday’s game was the first for the program since the death of former star and radio analyst Eric Montross on Monday. To honor Montross, the team wore special warm-up shirts bearing his name and No. 00 on the back.

Now at 8-3 after a grueling stretch of play that included five ranked opponents in six games, the Tar Heels have nine days off before the final non-conference game of the regular season against Charleston Southern. UNC will host the Buccaneers at the Smith Center on December 29 at 8 p.m.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Carlson

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