No. 22 North Carolina’s frontcourt wore down Kentucky in a battle of the bigs to power the Tar Heels to a 75-63 victory in the CBS Classic Saturday in Cleveland.
It was a rare meeting between two of college basketball’s bluebloods where one team wasn’t ranked. That last happened the 2010-11 season. Kentucky (1-5) has lost five straight games including three straight to ACC opponents.
The Tar Heels (5-2) kept pounding the ball inside on offense and attacked the lane with drives. It took a toll on the Wildcats, who watched all three of their main post players foul out because of it. Olivier Sarr, a graduate transfer from Wake Forest who averaged 12 points, was held to just two.
UNC was led by Armando Bacot’s 14 points while Garrison Brooks added 11.
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Finally, Carolina didn’t need some kind of second-half frenzy to make up for a lethargic first half start. The Tar Heels did trail at halftime, 38-34, but credit that to Kentucky and not to a plethora of mistakes that had characterized their first-half play this season. The Heels shot 50% from the floor and had only six turnovers in the first half.
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Carolina had outrebounded every opponent this season and was eighth in the nation with a plus-15 rebounding margin. Not only did the Wildcats outrebound UNC 42-38, they used offensive rebounds to power to a halftime lead. UK had nine offensive rebounds, which led to 14 second-chance points in the first half.
The Heels cleaned that up in the second half partly because UK had three of its big men foul out the game, only allowing five offensive boards.
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UNC guard Kerwin Walton struggled in the first half looking every bit like a freshman playing in a big game: He had a lane violation; turned the ball over with a bad entry pass; gave up an and-one opportunity to Davion Mintz after getting beat on a drive; and lazily contested a 3-point shot at the end of the half, drawing Roy Williams’ ire on the sideline.
He more than made up for it in the second half with his best shooting performance of the season. Walton made two of his three 3-pointers during a 12-1 run as the Heels turned a six-point deficit into a 54-49 lead.
Walton had entered the game shooting just 2 for 9 from behind the arc and had never scored more than three points in a game. He finished with a season-high 13 points.
