Behind 20 points from junior forward Garrison Brooks on Wednesday afternoon in the Bahamas–which tied his career-high–the No. 6 UNC men’s basketball team managed to grind out a hard-fought 76-67 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament Quarterfinals.
Brooks also had six rebounds in a game where four of UNC’s five starters scored in double figures, while the fifth–sophomore Leaky Black–ended the day with nine points of his own.
Freshman forward Armando Bacot joined Brooks in finding success inside, as he finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds. In addition, point guard Cole Anthony tallied 13 points, six assists and seven rebounds.
The fourth Tar Heel in double figures was senior guard Brandon Robinson, who finished with 12 points and was responsible for three of UNC’s five made three-point shots.
UNC (5-0) shot just 40 percent as a team and received just 10 combined points from its bench trio of Andrew Platek, Christian Keeling and Justin Pierce in what became yet another sluggish offensive performance to open the season.
Through five games this season, the Tar Heels have still yet to score 80 points. This extends the longest streak the program has ever gone to begin a season in 17 years under head coach Roy Williams.
Without many perimeter players besides Anthony that can create their own shot, UNC has had to go back to its roots to get wins like this–pounding the glass and making the most of chances inside the paint.
For the game, the Tar Heels scored 40 points in the paint and outrebounded Alabama (2-3) by an incredible 60-31 margin. Of those rebounds, 23 came on the offensive end–turning into 23 second-chance points.
On the other end, Alabama did the majority of its damage from three-point range. The Crimson Tide made 11 threes in the game, with seven coming courtesy of John Petty Jr., who led the team with 23 points.
Up Next:
The Tar Heels will take on first year head coach Juwan Howard’s Michigan Wolverines in Thursday’s semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday’s action saw Michigan defeat Iowa State.
Game Notes:
- Brooks accounted for four of UNC’s six dunks in the game.
- The Tar Heels have scored between 74 and 78 points in all five of their games this season.
- No UNC opponent has scored 70 points yet this year.
Cover photo via Todd Melet
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