UNC JV men's basketball defeats CCCC 79-68 thanks to Robbie O'Han's 26

Caleb Ellis hobbled onto the Smith Center court and took a seat near the end of the North Carolina junior varsity men’s basketball team’s bench.

The sophomore guard slid his crutches under his leather-cushioned chair. He wore one gray Nike shoe.

His other foot was bare and tightly wrapped in a black ankle brace that extended to his upper thigh — the result of an unlucky fall on Feb. 11 against Village Christian.

Next to Ellis sat junior guard Lucas Bouknight. He was taking the night off, too, after tweaking his ankle in a scrimmage Saturday.

With these guards sitting side by side on the bench, UNC was down two men — and arguably its two best.

But in North Carolina’s 79-68 win against Central Carolina Community College, all these two had to do was sit and watch as first-year guard Robbie O’Han put on a show.

O’Han had a team-high 26 points for the Tar Heels (9-1), and he was a huge factor the entire game. It started in the first half when he made four 3-pointers en route to a quick 15 points.

“I just happened to be the open man,” O’Han said, “And I was knocking my shot down. My teammates were finding me and I just kept shooting.”

With O’Han shouldering the scoring load, UNC took a 47-37 lead into halftime against the Cougars.

The two teams grappled throughout the second half. North Carolina would give itself a comfortable lead, but CCCC would fight its way right back into the game.

Although UNC eventually made a final push to close out the Cougars, head coach Hubert Davis was annoyed by a second half full of one-sided runs.

“I don’t like games like that,” Davis said. “I wish we’d go up then have runs where we keep going up.”

In that last Tar Heel run, it was again O’Han who stepped up. With under five minutes left in the game, North Carolina’s lead had been trimmed to 72-68.

O’Han connected on a fastbreak layup that gave his team a four-point lead and brought him over the 20-point mark. He quickly added two more layups and a free throw to close the game.

“(Robbie) really got going,” said sophomore guard Brooks Palmer. “He’s been a solid scorer all season, but tonight it was really going down for him.”

“We needed someone to step up and hit those shots.”

Davis was proud of O’Han and the rest of the Tar Heels for shouldering the offensive and defensive loads that Ellis and Bouknight usually take.

“When you’re called upon, you’ve got to be ready,” he said. “O’Han did a terrific job tonight.”

When his team needed it most, O’Han delivered. His shooting in the first half and driving in the second gave UNC its ninth win in ten games.

“Coach told us to be aggressive,” he said. “I took initiative and did that.”

@chapelfowler

sports@dailytarheel.com