Chapel Hill, NC – Leslie McDonald poured in a game-high 24 points and dished out five assists to help lead No. 14 North Carolina to a 102-84 win over UAB on Saturday.
James Michael McAdoo scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and also grabbed 12 rebounds and Reggie Bullock dropped in 17 while going 3-for-5 from 3-point range for the Tar Heels (6-2), who bounced back from an 83-59 drubbing from No. 1 Indiana on Tuesday.
"Brice (Johnson) kept us in the offense in the first half," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "He was our offense in the first half, and then the three-point shooters started making shots in the second half. To shoot 72-percent basically, to shoot 11 three-point shots, that's pretty impressive on the offense. But got to get a lot better."
Jordan Swing had 21 points and Terence Jones added 17 points, three assists and three steals for the Blazers (4-4), who have dropped three of their last four.
Robert Williams had 14 points and Rod Rucker added 13 points, six assists and five boards off the bench in the setback.
"Obviously, anybody that knows me knows I'm disappointed. There aren't moral victories. At the same time, I was proud of our guys, I thought we played with some grit," UAB coach Jerod Haase said. "Carolina did make some shots and part of that, I think we need to guard better and defend better. Our depth isn't where we need it to be and I think we wore down in the second half."
McDonald's trey midway through the second half sparked a mini 7-2 burst to give the Heels a 77-61 lead, but the Blazers scored the next seven points to make it 77-68 with 7:14 remaining.
Carolina then opened up a 15-4 run to take a 92-72 lead with three minutes left before coasting to victory.
Brice Johnson led the way for the Tar Heels in the first half, netting nine of his 11 points in the frame while also pulling down five rebounds.
UNC led, 10-3, just over four minutes into the game when Bullock drilled a 3- pointer, but the Blazers used a 10-2 run to go up 13-12 at the 10:54 mark. The Tar Heels followed with a 15-2 sequence to take a 27-15 lead with just over five minutes to play before pushing their cushion to 35-21, at the 2:05 mark.
UAB, however, closed the half on an 8-0 run and went into the break trailing 35-29.
Game Notes
UNC has scored at least 102 point in two of its last three games ... Tar Heels guard P.J. Hairston had 16 points off the bench and guard Dexter Strickland had 11 points and nine assists in the win ... North Carolina holds a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series ... The Heels were without guard Marcus Paige because of an undisclosed injury ... UAB fell for the first time this season when scoring more than 75 points (4-1).
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