What you missed in sports on Thanksgiving break

Men’s Basketball

The North Carolina men’s basketball team went 2-1 at the Maui Invitational last week, posting dominating performances against Mississippi State and Chaminade, and falling 82-71 to Butler in the semifinal game.

After being outplayed by the sharp-shooting Bulldogs on Tuesday, the Tar Heels returned to the court against the Silverswords in the third-place game on Wednesday to win 112-70. It was the first 100-point outing for the Tar Heels since Jan. 1.

UNC, which shot 62 percent from the field, saw double-digit scoring from five different Tar Heels. James Michael McAdoo recorded his first double-double of the tournament, putting up a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds against the tournament’s host team.

This year marked the first year that North Carolina has competed in the Maui Invitational and didn’t play in the championship game.

“We didn’t get what we wanted out of the tournament because we wanted to win the championship,” coach Roy Williams said after the game.

Volleyball

In a match featuring 40 tied scores and 16 lead changes, No. 24 UNC (25-5, 16-4) managed to put together an 8-1 run in the fifth set of its match against N.C. State on Wednesday to win 3-2 and keep its home record at an unblemished 15-0.

After dropping the first set 28-26 to the Wolfpack, UNC refocused and comfortably won the next two sets, only to drop the fourth, 26-24.

Then, in the fifth set, the Tar Heels took a 5-1 lead, but N.C. State closed the gap to 7-6. UNC made that all-important run to close out the marathon match, its last of the regular season.

The Tar Heels lost their first meeting against the Wolfpack, falling 3-1 in Raleigh.

But this time was completely different as the team has matured and grown throughout the season.

Redshirt sophomore Chaniel Nelson led the Tar Heels with 16 kills.

The Tar Heels will begin NCAA tournament play Thursday against California in Ames, Iowa.

Football

Not only did North Carolina defeat Maryland 45-38 in the season finale for both teams, but senior offensive guard Jonathan Cooper received the ACC Jacobs Blocking Trophy for most outstanding blocker in the ACC.

Cooper is the first Tar Heel to win the award since Jeff Garnica in 1988. He’s the eighth Tar Heel to win the trophy since it was first awarded in 1953.

Cooper is a four-year starter for UNC and was a second-team All-ACC selection in 2010 and 2011. With the start on Senior Night, Cooper set the record for most career starts with 47.

But the award season isn’t over for Cooper. He is also a finalist for the prestigious Outland trophy, awarded to the nation’s best interior lineman.

Cooper is up against 2011 Outland Trophy winner, Barrett Jones of Alabama and Texas A&M’s Luke Joeckel.

If he captures the trophy, Cooper will become North Carolina’s first Outland winner since the award’s inception in 1946.