CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina found the ignition in the second half and avoided a potential letdown Tuesday night.
Behind double-doubles from Dawson Garcia and Armando Bacot, the Tar Heels steered clear of Furman 74-61 at the Smith Center, posting a fifth straight victory ahead of their high-profile matchup against No. 4 UCLA this weekend.
Garcia supplied 20 points and 10 rebounds and Bacot provided 14 points and 12 rebounds as North Carolina pulled away to build a 22-point lead, after this proverbial trap game was tied 39-39 at halftime.
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis credited “our willingness to change” as the key component in gaining control during the second half.
“I said at halftime I felt like they were more physical than us on both ends of the floor,” Davis said, “and so from a defensive standpoint, that had to change. We had to be the aggressor. We had to be in the passing lanes. We had to be getting through screens. We had to be contesting shots, and I felt like we really did that.
“One of the things we’ve always talked about is, there are going to be stretches and there are going to be times in practice and in games where we’re not playing well. Let’s be a team that can immediately change. I always say, ‘Next possession, next play.’ ”
The Tar Heels flipped the switch enough to record their fifth game in a row of giving up 63 points or fewer — wins over UNC Asheville, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Elon and now Furman — marking the first time the program has achieved such a streak since the 2010-11 season. North Carolina allowed Furman only 22 points and 28.1-percent shooting from the field during the second half Tuesday night.
Brady Manek added 13 points off the bench and Caleb Love chipped in 10 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Tar Heels (8-2). RJ Davis dished out seven assists, the most for a North Carolina player this season.
Alex Hunter’s 21 points and Jalen Slawson’s 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds topped Furman (7-4), which held a couple of leads in the last 3½ minutes of the first half on 3-pointers buried by Hunter and Mike Bothwell.
The Paladins of the mid-major Southern Conference arrived here plenty capable of delivering an upset and no stranger to drama, having defeated Atlantic Coast Conference member Louisville last month, one of four overtime games already for Furman this season.
“We knew we had to lock in,” Bacot said. “The way they can shoot the ball and they’ve got so many different scorers, we knew we couldn’t lay an egg because they were definitely a team that could sneak a win.”
No tiptoeing into what’s waiting next in Las Vegas. North Carolina gets Johnny Juzang, Jamie Jaquez Jr. and fourth-ranked UCLA on Saturday, in the first game of the CBS Sports Classic doubleheader at T-Mobile Arena.
Here are more takeaways from Tuesday night in Chapel Hill:
Dawson Garcia cooking quickly
Garcia, the skilled 6-foot-11 transfer from Marquette, collected his first double-double of the season and reached the 20-point mark in back-to-back games for the first time with the Tar Heels. He scored 22 points Saturday night in the victory against Elon.
He said his activity level during the opening stretches of games has become a focus, a comment that became resounding out of the gate Tuesday night. Garcia hit a 3-pointer on the game’s first possession and went on to pump in North Carolina’s first nine points.
He had 11 points less than five minutes into the game — a juncture by which he had outscored Furman’s team 11-8 — and 16 points by halftime. He finished 7-for-12 from the field.
“Just being very aggressive early, that’s what’s helping me out,” Garcia said. “I wouldn’t say it’s a mindset change, I would just say I’m making sure that I’m putting more emphasis on being super aggressive early in all facets of the game, because I know it’ll get me up.”
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UNC too much around the basket
For as tricky as Furman’s perimeter spacing and backdoor-cutting offense proved at times, North Carolina’s size advantage was straightforward in terms of strategy.
The Paladins used a four-guard lineup with the rangy 6-7 Slawson the only starter taller than 6-4. Garrett Hien, a 6-9 forward, played 8½ minutes off the bench.
North Carolina, featuring the 6-11 Garcia, 6-10 Bacot, 6-9 Manek and 6-8 Leaky Black among its regular rotation, piled up disparities of 44-25 in rebounding and 19-0 in second-chance points. Furman missed 36 shots from the field and the Tar Heels grabbed 32 defensive rebounds, limiting the Paladins to just four offensive boards.
“Regardless if it was Furman or Michigan, whoever we play,” Hubert Davis said, “I really feel like we have an advantage down low on the block. We’ve got some bigs that can do a number of different things. Not just Armando, but Dawson and also Brady, and that’s a strength for us.”
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Next up: Battle of blue bloods
North Carolina has two non-conference games remaining before ACC league play arrives in full on Dec. 29, and Saturday’s assignment against UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic figures to measure the progress the Tar Heels have made since the week of Thanksgiving, when their five-game winning streak started.
“I think we’re great right now and I think going into this game we couldn’t be more excited and ready,” Garcia said Tuesday night. “We’re going to come in these next couple of days, practice, and we’re going to be super prepared. We addressed it in the locker room after this game, after the speech, that we’re ready for UCLA in Vegas. So that’s definitely what’s next.”
Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Times-News: UNC basketball foils Furman, avoids trap before UCLA showdown in Vegas