On a night where offensive struggles were prevalent for both sides, the North Carolina men’s basketball team (14-6, 6-3 ACC) was able to finish its regular season sweep against Boston College (8-11, 3-6 ACC) beating the Eagles, 58-47.
What happened?
The Tar Heels got off to a rough start, shooting 4-13 from the field and getting out-rebounded in the first eight minutes of action. North Carolina could've been down by more, but five Boston College turnovers kept them in the game, down 13-12 with 11:59 left to play in the first half.
After the media timeout, the Tar Heels got rolling, pulling ahead by eight in less than four minutes behind the offensive jolt provided by sophomore guard Kerwin Walton’s six points off the bench. North Carolina held a 21-13 lead with 7:54 to play in the first, but the Eagles were able to hang in late and hold off the Tar Heel run after the break.
The Eagles outscored North Carolina 18-10 in the last quarter of the first half, but a late 3-pointer from graduate transfer forward Brady Manek helped the Tar Heels sneak into the locker room with a narrow 33-31 lead.
After the half, the score was relatively steady through the first few minutes, with North Carolina adding two to its lead to head into the first media timeout up 37-33 with 15:46 left to play. The score remained steady after the first break of the second with both teams trading shots to keep the score at 50-47 with 7:00 remaining.
The Tar Heels were finally able to find some separation late after sophomore guard Caleb Love’s layup sent his team into the Boston College timeout with 3:26 remaining up 54-47. North Carolina was able to add a few more to its lead after knocking down some late free throws to emerge with an 11-point victory.
Who stood out?
Love led the scoring effort for North Carolina, finishing with 16 points to go along with two assists and a rebound. Sophomore guard RJ Davis was the only other Tar Heel to finish in double figures, scoring 11 and grabbing six rebounds.