Boone, or a young man suspiciously resembling him, exploded for a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds as North Carolina cruised to an 87-69 win against Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum in front of 10,000.
The sophomore point guard stormed out of the gate with a hot hand, making a 3-pointer to give the Tar Heels (6-11, 2-5 in the ACC) an 11-5 lead. But Boone wasn't done, not by a long shot. He then intentionally banked in another 3 from way behind the arc.
"I'm dead serious -- I tried to bank it," Boone told teammate Jason Capel after the game.
North Carolina's whole game was pretty hard for Clemson to swallow, especially considering how woeful the Tar Heels have been this season. This is not a team that shoots 55.5 percent from the floor and 45.8 percent from the 3-point line. This is not a team that wins on the road. This is not a team that shows offensive balance.
Those Tar Heels didn't show up. Maybe they got lost, but UNC coach Matt Doherty will keep the guys who captured UNC's first road win since a Feb. 6, 2001 win at Wake Forest.
"We talked a lot about being a smart team," said Doherty. "We've beaten ourselves in the past with poor shot selection, turnovers and lack of execution. I thought tonight we did a good job."
It was the team's first game with senior scoring and rebounding leader Jason Capel back on the court since he suffered a concussion in practice on Jan. 15. And although the Tar Heels were happy to have Capel back, he had his worst outing of the season -- seven points, five boards. But maybe more importantly, Capel chipped in four assists and no turnovers, a theme of the evening for the Tar Heels.
North Carolina had just 10 turnovers in the game, and its starting backcourt of Melvin Scott and Boone had only one between them. Scott also chipped in with a career-high 17 points.
"I felt great once I hit my first shot," said Scott, who was a combined 0-5 in his last three games. He shot 6 of 11 from the floor and 3 of 6 from behind the arc.
