University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
North Carolina
Tar Heels Hold Off Bulldogs, 80-69
11.24.2010 | Men's Basketball
The Bulldogs (2-2) trailed by 22 points early in the second half only to out-score UNC, 31-15 over a six-minute stretch to close to 70-64 with 4:30 remaining.
The Tar Heels (3-2) were able to hold Asheville to five points in the final four minutes to earn the win.
J.P. Primm led Asheville with 21 points, while Matt Dickey added 15 points for the visitors. Chris Stephenson finished with nine points. Jon Nwannunu added eight points and five rebounds. Senior forward John Williams didn't play in the second half due to a n injury.
UNC Chapel Hill was led by a career-high 23 points from Tyler Zeller.
"We did a good job battling tonight and we were a couple of stops away from really making this game pretty interesting," stated Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We should have never gotten down by 22 points and that's what really hurt us. North Carolina is a very good team and is going to make some runs but we let them beat us up on the boards in the first half plus we didn't get back on defense a few times.
"However, I'm proud of our guys," added Biedenbach. "We had to try some different combinations out there during the game due to foul trouble and those guys responded. This is a game that will make us better during the year."
Asheville led early and had a 13-11 lead five minute into the game. The Bulldogs had six straight chances to build on the lead but came up empty on each possession. The Tar Heels eventually responded with a 15-4 run to take a 26-17 lead.
UNC built the margin to as much as 17 at 44-27 late in the half until Dickey and Primm scored baskets in the final 35 seconds to cut the lead to 44-31 at halftime.
The Tar Heels held a commanding 27-10 edge on the boards in the opening half.
"We just had such a tough time with them on the boards in the first half," explained Biedenbach. "If we could have limited a few of those offensive rebounds then we could have made this a lot closer."
North Carolina began the second half on an 11-2 run in the first four minutes of the half to lead 55-33 on a Zeller lay-up.
But the Bulldogs began to chip away at the Tar Heel lead. Primm sank a long 3-pointer at the seven-minute mark to cut the lead to 68-55.
At 70-57, Asheville went on a 7-0 run to carve the lead to 70-64. Another Primm trey got the Bulldogs to 70-64 with 5:09 left.
Asheville had a chance to get ever closer but Dickey missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw that could have gotten the Dogs to four.
The Tar Heels went 7-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final three minutes to earn the victory.
Primm scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half. The Bulldogs had just two turnovers in the second half and finished with 10 for the game.
"It's a "W" and we feel very pleased with that part to say the least with the two losses we had down in Puerto Rico," commented Tar Heel coach Roy Williams. "I thought at times we did some nice things. Other times I thought UNC Asheville was more aggressive than we were. They made shots and did things that usually help you win big-time games."
UNC Asheville continues its road trip at unbeaten Georgetown Saturday afternoon starting at Noon. It will be a first-time meeting with the Hoyas with the game being played at the Verizon Center.
NOTES
Asheville out-scored North Carolina 38-36 in the second half...the Bulldogs committed a season-low 10 turnovers...Asheville had 13 steals in the game and have 51 in four games...the Bulldogs have 50 turnovers on the year, compared to 85 for their opponents...Primm's 21 points is a season-high.
