UNC smokes St. Francis (Pa.), 103-54

The North Carolina men’s basketball team hasn’t had seven players score in double figures in the same game since it pounded Manhattan in 1985.

Sunday night, this year’s Tar Heels did the 1985-86 squad one better, as eight double-digit scorers helped the Tar Heels trounce St. Francis (Pa.) at the Smith Center, 103-54.

All five starters finished with double-digit points, including sophomores Dexter Strickland and John Henson, who led the Tar Heels with 13 points each.

While UNC’s starters played well, it was bench production that made the game a blowout and gave the Tar Heels their second 100-point game of the season. The bench accounted for 46 of North Carolina’s 103 points, with shooting guards Reggie Bullock and Leslie McDonald chipping in 12 apiece.

“Strong teams can make substitutions have people help you, and I think that’s what our guys did tonight,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “The guys who came off the bench added something to us, and I think that was important to us.”

The backcourt trio of McDonald, Bullock and freshman point guard Kendall Marshall was especially effective. Marshall played more minutes than starter Larry Drew II for the first time all season. Williams explained that Drew II exhausted himself on defense and needed more breaks than usual, but Marshall performed well in the added minutes, dishing out eight assists in 22 minutes of work.

“Coach loves when we run the floor, so we run the floor, defend and basically do what he tells us to do,” Marshall said. “We just bring energy, and that’s all he wants us to bring, and play as a team while we are out there.”

McDonald specifically has been productive off the bench throughout the season, establishing himself as an outside marksman. All of McDonald’s points came on 3-pointers, including a pair in the first half that helped spur a run that distanced the Tar Heels from the Red Flash.

“He’s not shy,” Drew II said. “I’m not going to say that coach has given him the green light, but coach is definitely allowing him to shoot the ball. It’s something Leslie jokes around a lot with, that he lives and dies by his jump shot, and he’s not dead.”

It appears McDonald has taken up the role Danny Green once held at UNC as the scoring igniter off the bench. But just as Green eventually emerged as a starter, Williams said McDonald is working toward catching up to Strickland, the team’s starting shooting guard.

“He has shot the ball well recently, and I think every time he shoots it’s going in,” Williams said. “Leslie’s getting better defensively, too, and that’s what he needs to do because right now the gap between him and Dexter is definitely in Dexter’s favor, but he’s trying to narrow that gap.”

The scoring explosion and balanced offensive performance were welcome sights for North Carolina as it prepares to start ACC play against Virginia on Saturday. With a week of upcoming practices, including two-a-day sessions, Williams was determined not to let his team get ahead of itself.

“Right now they feel pretty good about themselves,” Williams said. “Are we ready to play an ACC schedule? I think we will find out real quick, but I think we’re in a great mood right now.”