Amidst a turbulent season, the North Carolina junior varsity men’s basketball team secured its second straight victory against Milligan College on Sunday, winning 86-61.
The Tar Heels (6-5) capitalized on Milligan’s 19 turnovers while only committing five themselves and opened up a 44-21 lead by halftime.
Though the Tar Heels went into the locker room with a sizeable lead, the offense could only register four points during a period of six minutes in the middle of the second half.
“We’ve had a hard time putting two halves together throughout the year,” sophomore guard Miguel Cardona said. “You really just have to buckle down and focus. Just because we’re only up by a few points the game is not over.”
Adding to the Tar Heels’ troubles was a poor performance at the free throw line, as the team made only 6 of 16 from the stripe, a lapse coach C.B. McGrath attributed to a lack of concentration.
“We got a big lead and I challenged them in the second half to play with the same kind of intensity at the end of the first half, and we just didn’t,” McGrath said. “We had sort of a lull.”
Despite the drought, the Tar Heels remained stout on defense, preventing Milligan from posing any substantial threat of a comeback.
“You’re still up by a margin where you’re probably going to win the game,” McGrath said, “so I told them keep passing the ball, and be active on defense, the kind of stuff you can correct easily.”
North Carolina solidified its lead late in the second half, and ended the game on a positive note, after Cardona and freshman guard Rohan Smith hit back-to-back 3-pointers to reenergize the bench as time wound down.
