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North Carolina JV basketball takes down Methodist, 100-74

Robbie O'Han JV basketball

Guard Robbie O'Han (5) of the JV men's basketball team drives past a Methodist defender on Jan. 31 in the Smith Center.

As the final seconds ticked away, the North Carolina JV men's basketball team dribbled out the clock with a 100-74 lead over Methodist University.

This was no ordinary UNC victory, however. There weren't 20,000 fans on their feet. Roy Williams wasn't standing on the sideline. The marching band wasn't getting ready to play the fight song.

Instead, there was silence. The few cheers that came from the crowd of no more than 100 people were drowned out by the buzzer that signified the end of the contest and the Tar Heel victory. This was the scene of the Tar Heels' Wednesday night victory in the Smith Center.

Junior guard Brooks Palmer led the Tar Heels to their 26-point victory in a breakout performance. Palmer contributed 22 points for the game, following a dominant first half in which he scored 15 points.

“I would say that usually I take the biggest share of shots on the team, but I haven’t been shooting very well this season,” Palmer said. “There were a lot of open looks, so I was able to knock down some shots. But this was my first time this season that I’ve really been able to hit many shots.”

Jalon Cooper (30) of the JV men's basketball team drives against Methodist on Jan. 31 in the Smith Center.

Palmer may have carried the load offensively, but he was not without help. Sophomore guard Robbie O’Han stepped up, scoring 14 points along with running the point in the absence of Kane Ma, who was recently promoted to the varsity squad. In addition to O’Han, first-year guard Pearce Landry shot lights out from three, adding 17 points to the team’s total.

“This has been our first real challenge this season,” Palmer said. “So we were just coming out trying to play hard, play to win and play some good defense.”

After Thursday's win, the Tar Heels are now 8-0 on the season with only seven games remaining.

Unlike the varsity team, however, there is no first seed in the tournament to fight for. Instead, the goal is to make the varsity team.

“We play 12 to 15 games,” Palmer said. “We play mainly community colleges, Division III schools, prep schools, and we just play 15 games and that’s it. Obviously the goal is to try to work your way up to varsity. It only happens for a couple people, but that’s what everyone’s working toward.”

While the ultimate goal may be to reach the varsity squad, only a few players are selected from the junior varsity team each year. Many will never reach the varsity team, but Palmer says there’s more to JV basketball than that.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Palmer said. “It’s nothing to be taken lightly. You get to put on the jersey and you get to play for him (JV head coach Hubert Davis). It’s a big deal because you are part of the program somewhat.”

@ballermike28

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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