Tar Heels extend streak to 51 in rout of Tigers

The last time North Carolina took the court against Clemson, a multitude of mistakes and generally sloppy play allowed the Tigers to stay close much longer than the visiting Tar Heels otherwise would have liked.

On Saturday at the Smith Center, Clemson’s glimmer of hope lasted about 90 seconds.

Led by strong defense early and balanced scoring throughout, the No. 4 Tar Heels cruised to an easy 88-56 victory — their 51st consecutive home triumph against Clemson.

“We didn’t want them to stick around and think that they could play with us,” said UNC forward David Noel. “No slight to them, but we wanted to go out and jump on them, hit them and just keep hitting them.”

Jawad Williams led all scorers with 17 points, but three other Tar Heels also scored in double figures — Marvin Williams (14), Sean May (12) and Raymond Felton (11).

“We moved the ball really well and got out and ran,” Marvin Williams said. “Jawad, Sean and I really ran a lot better today, and our teammates found us.”

MEN'S BASKETBALL Clemson 56 UNC 88

After Tiger freshman James Mays scored the first point of the game on a free throw, UNC (22-3, 10-2 in the ACC) exploded on a 14-0 run to end any suspense about the game’s outcome.

A technical foul assessed to Clemson coach Oliver Purnell led to two Jawad Williams free throws, and Jackie Manuel scored two more points on UNC’s next possession.

Less than 20 seconds later, a steal by Felton led to an easy layup for Rashad McCants, and the rout was on.

“It’s always been important to come out fast with every team we play, not just Clemson,” McCants said. “We wanted to jump on them early, get our pace going, get our tempo going.”

The Tigers (12-13, 2-10) did little to help their own cause — they didn’t hit a shot from the field until six minutes into the first half, and they shot 30 percent from the field in the first half.

“(If) we would have done a better job controlling the dribble penetration, and if we would have gotten back and picked up a bit better in defensive transition, it would have been our best defensive half of the year,” said UNC coach Roy Williams.

The Tar Heels’ swarming pressure created numerous opportunities at the offensive end as well.

“When we missed those easy shots, we showed our frustration by getting away from our game plan, which was transition defense, transition defense and more transition defense,” Purnell said. “Carolina got out and ran, and nobody does it better than they do.”

In a sequence that seemed to demoralize the entire Clemson team McCants picked off a pass in the middle of the court and fed Jawad Williams for another slam.

“Easy steals, easy baskets,” Manuel said.

And North Carolina didn’t relent in the second half, despite the fact that McCants played only four minutes after the break due to illness.

Three Tar Heels combined for the game’s most spectacular play, in fact, in the midst of a 16-3 second-half run.

Guard Melvin Scott saved the ball from bouncing across the sideline, and his desperation heave found Marvin Williams across the court, who in one motion flicked the ball to Jawad Williams on the baseline, who finished the play with a dunk.

“When we beat a team like that, we want to keep beating them,” Noel said. “I know it sounds bad, but at the same time, we need every piece of help to send a statement out to everybody else.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.