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The Daily Tar Heel

UNC headed to PK80 final after 87-68 win over Arkansas

Juniors Luke Maye (32) and Kenny Williams (24) celebrate during the second half against Northern Iowa in an 86-69 victory on Nov. 10.

Juniors Luke Maye (32) and Kenny Williams (24) celebrate during the second half against Northern Iowa in an 86-69 victory on Nov. 10.

The North Carolina men’s basketball team handled Arkansas on Friday afternoon in the PK80 Invitational semifinals, winning 87-68. The Tar Heels (5-0) looked much better against the Razorbacks (4-1) this time around than in their 2017 NCAA Tournament second round game, where UNC struggled to a 72-65 victory. 

Here are three takeaways from today’s victory:

Juniors leading the way 

Junior forward Luke Maye has certainly had an outstanding start to the 2017-2018 season. In his first four games, Maye was averaging 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. Today, he was even better, setting career-highs in points (28) and rebounds (16). Maye also led the Tar Heels in assists, finishing with five dimes on the day. Not only did Maye hit some shots from inside, but he also converted four-of-five three-point attempts.

Maye was joined by junior guard Kenny Williams, who is having the best stretch of his collegiate career. After scoring 37 combined points in UNC’s last two games, Williams was hot again on Friday, going 3-5 from three and shooting over 50 percent from the field. Williams finished the day with 19 points, good for second-best on the team, and also added eight rebounds.

The chemistry between Williams and Maye was evident, with Williams finding Maye on a bounce pass for a layup to put the Tar Heels ahead 74-58. Later in the half, Maye fired ahead an outlet pass to Williams, who scooped the ball in with 53 seconds left to give UNC a 85-68 lead. 

Strong three-point shooting

Last season, the one weapon missing from UNC was consistent three-point shooting, as the team shot just 36 percent for the season. Through five games this season, UNC has shot 41 percent from behind the arc after their 8-16 three-point showing on Friday. Maye and Williams combined to shoot 7-10 from deep against the Razorbacks. Senior guard Joel Berry II is also a strong shooter from deep, shooting 40 percent on the season.

If Williams can consistently hit from deep, the Tar Heels will have three legitimate long-range options to spread the court and create space, something that previous UNC teams have lacked. And this is without even mentioning Cameron Johnson, who was expected to be the Tar Heels' most threatening long range shooter and is slated to return from a knee injury in late December.

Stretches of bad play

It was an up-and-down contest for UNC. With 10:11 left in the first half, Maye hit a three-pointer to put UNC up 17-10 and it looked like the Tar Heels would coast from there. However, the Razorbacks kept the game within six from that point until the 3:35 mark when Berry hit a jumper to put the Tar Heels up by eight. 

With 15:31 remaining in the second half, the Razorbacks went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to cut a 16 point deficit to seven. The Tar Heels were able to stop the bleeding and get back to a double-digit lead, but the stretches of bad play should not go unnoticed. 

Maye and senior guard Theo Pinson each turned the ball over five times, a worrisome blemish in an otherwise comfortable win. With the possibility of Sunday night’s final being played against No. 4 Michigan State, it would be essential that the Tar Heels control the ball to keep it away from forward Miles Bridges and guard Nick Ward. 

Today’s win was an encouraging one, but the Tar Heels still need to show that they can control the ball and remain focused for 40 minutes against a top-level team if they want to win the PK80 Championship on Sunday.

@christrenkle2

sports@dailytarheel.com

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