Tar Heels down Monmouth 102-65

With its 102-65 win against Monmouth, No. 5 North Carolina wrapped up non-conference play with a record-setting 26th consecutive win at the Smith Center.

But even after the lopsided win, UNC coach Roy Williams said his team isn’t quite where he’d like it to be for ACC play.

“We’re getting ready to start a completely new season and our level of play is going to have to go up a level,” Williams said.

His team agreed. The general consensus among UNC’s players was that the Tar Heels needed to improve defensively and become more consistent.

But against Monmouth on Sunday, the Tar Heels probably got the production they’d like starting Saturday when they take on Boston College.

Kendall Marshall handed out 11 assists. Harrison Barnes tallied 20 points. P.J. Hairston added 16 points after making 4-of-9 shots from long range and John Henson added 21 points, 8 rebounds and three blocks.

There weren’t a ton of lackluster parts to UNC’s performance on Sunday. As for the bright spots? Henson would certainly get top billing.

The 6-foot-10 forward didn’t just drop 21 points, but he did that with excellent efficiency, making 9-of-12 shots. Even more impressive is that fact that most of those shots were mid-range jumpers.

“He’s improved dramatically on the floor,” said Monmouth head coach, and former UNC point guard, King Rice. “He makes jumpers now. His free throw has smoothed out. He’s one of the best shot-blockers ever. This kid is amazing at it. I’m happy he’s a Carolina guy.”

Henson practically scored at will against Monmouth’s mostly-undersized frontcourt, but he said he knows it won’t be that easy in conference play.

“It was a good game,” Henson said. “I hit a few shots today, so it was falling. Hopefully I can do it more consistently.”

There may be nothing UNC devotes more time to in practice this week than consistency, as it was a focal point a handful of players indicated. One of them was Hairston.

The freshman followed up rough 2-for-11 shooting performance against Elon with his 16 points Sunday on 6-of-11 shooting.

“It was a confidence thing,” Hairston said. “After the Long Beach State game, when I airballed three shots in a row, I just lost a lot of confidence in my shot. The next night, I was in the gym and I shot about 500 shots.”

There was no doubt Hairston felt confident pulling the trigger against Monmouth, and he said making his first shot gave him that edge. But like his teammates he knows a tougher test awaits him in ACC play.

“I was talking to Reggie (Bullock), we were on the bench talking about how quick (Jesse Steele) was for Monmouth, and I said ‘man, he’s moving fast,’” Hairston said. “’Reggie says, ‘Well, there’s going to be a lot of players that are a lot quicker than that in ACC play.’”

Sunday certainly wasn’t a taste of ACC play, but Williams said the game helped his team get better. He generally liked what UNC was able to do in the game, with the exception of a few careless mistakes.

“We’re ready. We’re excited for ACC play,” Henson said. “We have a week of practice so we need to get better as the week goes on. Right now, it’s a different season and it’s going to make or break us.”