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Harrison Barnes impressive in UNC Basketball debut

	John Henson goes up for a block against junior Justin Watts. Henson put on 20 pounds in the offseason to increase his post presence.

John Henson goes up for a block against junior Justin Watts. Henson put on 20 pounds in the offseason to increase his post presence.

Early in Friday night’s “Blue vs. White” scrimmage at Late Night with Roy, highly touted freshman swingman Harrison Barnes caught the ball on the top-left edge of the 3-point line.

In one fluid motion — a slash to the basket and a thunderous one-handed slam — the 6-foot-8 Iowa native let North Carolina fans know that after a dismal 2009-10 campaign, “next year” had finally arrived.

The dunk accounted for two of Barnes’ team-high 13 points, as the explosive freshman helped the White team tie the Blue team, 31-31.

“I’m kind of used to guarding him,” the Blue team forward John Henson said. “So I kind of know his little moves, but I feel sorry for the other opponents we play.”

Barnes looked just as comfortable in the post and on the perimeter as he did driving to the hole, scoring a rebound put-back early on and drilling a 3-pointer later.

The Blue team was led by guard Dexter Strickland, who led all scorers with 16 points.

While Strickland’s speed and scoring ability weren’t a surprise, the sophomore showed off an improved jump shot and played the game with newfound control.

With his team down late in the 20-minute scrimmage, Strickland nailed an impressive cross-over pull-up jumper over Leslie McDonald and assisted Henson in transition to cut the White team’s lead to 31-28.

“He’s been more confident and he’s been working on his jump shot, which is something that he needed to do,” Henson said. “He made a couple jump shots and he was looking good out there. That’s going to bode well for us as a team.”

The Blue team completed its comeback when freshman shooting guard Reggie Bullock sunk a three-pointer on the game’s second-to-last possession.

After struggling to find a go-to scorer late in games last season, the Tar Heels hope Bullock will continue to thrive under pressure.

“Dex hit some big shots, Harrison hit some big shots and Reggie hit probably the biggest shot,” junior forward Tyler Zeller said.

Zeller was noticeably more muscular than he appeared when the Tar Heels fell in the NIT Finals last season, a boon to a team that lacks frontcourt size.

Henson also bulked up during the offseason and made several excellent passes during the scrimmage, both in the post and on the fast break.

“Naturally I’m an unselfish player, sometimes to my fault,” Henson said. “I just think that we’re going to have guys that finish it and a couple plays almost got there.”

Graduate student transfer Justin Knox used his size in the paint throughout the scrimmage and stripped Barnes on the game’s final possession to preserve the tie.

“I think we looked pretty good,” Henson said. “Now me, (Zeller) and Knox just have to work down low and I think we’ll be a great team.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.

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