Playing on the road Tuesday night, the third-ranked UNC men’s basketball team took care of business with a 79-66 victory over the Boston College Eagles—giving the Tar Heels 13 wins in their last 14 games.

Boston College (14-15, 5-12 ACC) started the game strong, but UNC (25-5, 15-2 ACC) flexed its collective muscles midway through the first half and pulled away to take a 48-25 halftime lead.

The Tar Heels weren’t nearly as effective in the second half, but the early advantage was more than enough to help them improve their road record to 9-0 in ACC play—becoming the first team in UNC history to accomplish the feat.

Senior forward Luke Maye had his way inside with the Eagles on his way to 17 points, a career-high 20 rebounds and five assists, while Cameron Johnson posted a similar stat line to Maye’s with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

Coby White added 11 points from the point guard position to go along with 10 points apiece from Nassir Little and Kenny Williams—giving head coach Roy Williams five players in double figures for the game.

Boston College got a big game from guard Ky Bowman (left), but it wasn’t enough to overcome UNC’s presence inside the paint. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

For Williams, the win was great but he was also pleased to make it through the whole thing on the sidelines after suffering a vertigo attack that took him out of Saturday’s win at Clemson.

“I’m thrilled to finish a game,” the coach told reporters afterwards. “Especially thrilled to finish a game here. Last time I was here I conked out like I did the other night against Clemson. That was the last time I’d had an attack, three years ago.

“But several things,” the coach continued. “I think just our scoring inside and our rebounding the basketball was the biggest part of the game.”

The Tar Heels shot just 42 percent from the floor on Tuesday and connected on just seven of their 22 attempts from three-point range.

Where they really did their damage, however, was on the backboards. UNC grabbed a season-high 60 total rebounds compared to just 35 for the Eagles. It was dominance in the manner that Tar Heel fans have become accustomed to under Roy Williams, as this team continues to show it can win impressively in a number of different ways.

Boston College trailed by 23 in the last two minutes of action, before reeling off a 10-0 run against the UNC bench to make the final score a bit more respectable.

With a top-five showdown against Duke looming this weekend in Chapel Hill, this was a prime candidate to be a trap game for the Tar Heels should Boston College have been able to catch them looking ahead.

That wasn’t the case at all, though, as UNC stayed locked in and can now clinch at least a share of the ACC regular season title with a win over the Blue Devils on Saturday.

“We can make it look real good or we can make it look a little ugly,” Williams said. “And tonight, we did a little bit of that. But for the most part, we played really well.”

Up Next:

Saturday’s game against Duke at the Smith Center is set for a 6 p.m. start time. It is the regular season finale.

Game Notes:

  • This was the 10th time in Luke Maye’s career he has had at least 15 rebounds.
  • Former UNC football recruit Ky Bowman led Boston College with 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
  • With 11 road wins in total this season, UNC is the only school in a Power Five conference (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-12, SEC) that has done so.

 

 

FINAL BOX SCORE

 

Cover photo via Associated Press

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