At halftime, Carolina trailed Northern Iowa by six points in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.

Nine minutes into the second half, the Tar Heels led by 20.

It was that kind of spurt for Carolina, which outscored the Panthers 32-6 in a span of 8:59 to take control of Wednesday afternoon’s game and cruise to a 91-69 victory. UNC will take on the winner of Texas Tech and Villanova in the tournament semifinals on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

After shooting just 9-27 (33.3 percent) in the first half, Carolina made 11 of its first 16 shots in the second, including three three-pointers from Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan. Ryan did not make a shot in the first half and hadn’t made a three since the season opener against Radford, yet finished the game with 15 points.

R.J. Davis and Harrison Ingram each also made key threes in the second-half rally, and it was Ingram who led Carolina with 16 points on the day. Six Tar Heels – Ryan, Davis, Ingram, Armando Bacot, Elliot Cadeau and Jae’Lyn Withers – finished the game in double figures. Cadeau’s 15 points marked an early career high for the freshman, and he also dished out three assists against no turnovers in 23 minutes off the bench.

As a team, UNC shot 17-34 (50 percent) in the second half and an eye-popping 9-13 (69.2 percent) on threes. Carolina only registered eight games last season with at least nine made threes in an entire game. Wednesday’s resurgence came after the Tar Heels struggled mightily from beyond the arc in the first half at just 3-13. Davis and Ryan were a combined 1-7 on threes in the period.

On the other end, Northern Iowa was scorching the nets to the tune of a 15-25 (60 percent) first half, much of which came on shots inside the arc. The Panthers’ control of the paint was made evident in the rebound disparity: 18-12 in favor of UNI at halftime. Bacot, who’d averaged north of 13 boards per game over Carolina’s first three contests, had just three. Though the preseason All-American didn’t register his trademark double-double on the day, he was part of a concerted Tar Heel effort on the glass in the second half. UNC out-rebounded the Panthers 24-15 in the final 20 minutes, with four Tar Heels grabbing at least three. Ingram ended the day with a team-high 10 to post his first double-double of the season.

Carolina is now 4-0 on the season and safely into the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals. The Tar Heels have never advanced past this stage of the tournament in two previous trips to the Bahamas (2014 and 2019). But the team’s road forward gets much tougher: including the rest of the tournament, Carolina’s next seven games will all come against high-major opponents.

 

Featured image via UNC Men’s Basketball on Twitter

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