UNC Pulls Away from Georgetown In Smith Center Return

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The Tar Heels made a triumphant return home on Sunday after spending their previous three games on the road. North Carolina (8-1) left the Smith Center with a 81-61 victory.  UNC is now 6-0 at home.

North Carolina used the strength of a second-half scoring run to pull away from the Hoyas. A trio of unanswered catch-and-shoot 3-pointers from Derek Dixon, Henri Veesaar and Jarin Stevenson in a span of 1:25 put the Tar Heels ahead by 15. Those shots had the Smith Center crowd in full effect, as the Tar Heels remained in control the rest of the way. Georgetown did not score for the final 3:58 of the game.

North Carolina’s bigs controlled the paint, as Veesaar finished the game with 18 points and 15 rebounds while Caleb Wilson delivered 20 points and 14 rebounds. Sunday was the fourth time this season that both Veesaar and Wilson finished the game with double-doubles.

The Tar Heels traded shots with the Hoyas and even trailed as late as the 11:11 mark in the first half, but they re-took the lead soon after and didn’t relinquish it after that point. North Carolina finished the first half with 44 points. UNC and Georgetown’s combined 83 points in the first half was highest combined point total in the first half of a UNC game so far this season.

UNC will have a gap between games, as it will stay home and face USC Upstate on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Smith Center. The team has four non-conference games left — three at home against USC Upstate, East Tennessee State and East Carolina, and one in Atlanta against Ohio State for the CBS Sports Classic.