Harrison Barnes scored 24 points, and Tyler Zeller added 14 to help No. 8 North Carolina top Clemson 74-52 in the Smith Center on Saturday.
With the win, UNC extended its unbeaten home record against the Tigers to 56-0.
The game was played much closer than the score would indicate. North Carolina led Clemson by six with just fewer than 12 minutes remaining, but the Tigers couldn’t keep pace much longer. The Tar Heels finished the game from that point on a 27-11 run.
“We made some more shots today and we needed them to say the least,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “I think that the point difference is not indicative of what kind of game it was. We made some shots, I’m sure Brad shot like a couple times we have previously, but we made some shots from the 3-point line and we did some better things offensively after they cut it to six.
“I do believe that defensively and our work on the backboards is where this team has developed some consistency.”
North Carolina out-rebounded Clemson 39-26 and forced Clemson into 15 turnovers.
Clemson coach Brad Brownell said UNC’s size made things difficult on his team, particularly the Tar Heel frontcourt.
UNC finished the game with seven blocks.
“We have been getting better and better defensively,” Williams said. “I think the two things that’s been fairly consistent for us – pick a game, you go back four, five, six games or something like that – there’s our play on our defensive end of the floor and our play on the offensive backboard.”
