Luke Maye scored 21 points, and No. 12 North Carolina fended off several rallies from No. 15 North Carolina State to win an intra-state showdown 90-82 on Tuesday night in Raleigh, N.C.
All five North Carolina starters scored in double figures, helping the Tar Heels overcome 23 turnovers.
Even though the host Wolfpack never led, the raucous home crowd maintained hope that the team could pull off a victory. NC State was within 82-78 and had the ball on a steal from Markell Johnson with 57 seconds to play, but C.J. Brice missed a 3-pointer.
North Carolina ran off the next six points, beginning with Leaky Black's dunk in transition.
Coby White added 19 points, Cameron Johnson and Kenny Williams each had 15 points, and Garrison Brooks finished with 11 for the Tar Heels (12-3, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Maye and Johnson each grabbed 11 rebounds, and Williams had 10.
Braxton Beverly finished with 21 points, DJ Funderburk scored 15 points, Bryce had 13 points, Torin Dorn tallied 12 points and Markell Johnson had 11 points for NC State (13-2, 1-1 ACC).
NC State had been off to its best start to a season since 1973-74, when it won the national championship.
North Carolina has won its last six road games in the series with the Wolfpack, which had a 12-game home-court winning streak snapped.
NC State scored the first five points of the second half to pull even at 47-47 after trailing by as many as 14 in the first half.
Johnson converted a four-point play in a run that saw the Tar Heels go up 64-55, but NC State was within 66-64 about a minute and a half later.
The Wolfpack kept threatening, often keeping it a one-possession game until the Tar Heels went on a 9-0 run to lead 79-69 as the Wolfpack had four turnovers during the stretch.
The pace was brisk, much as anticipated because both teams covet an uptempo approach. North Carolina led 47-42 at halftime.
North Carolina held 19-5 and 29-15 leads, with the Wolfpack answering with a 10-0 run to close the gap.
Beverly and Funderburk combined for 28 first-half points off the bench to match the production from Maye and White. All of North Carolina's first-half points came from starters.
--Field Level Media
North Carolina | NC State | |
Luke Maye 21 | Scoring | Braxton Beverly 21 |
Garrison Brooks 5 | Assists | Braxton Beverly 4 |
Cameron Johnson 11 | Rebounds | Torin Dorn 10 |
Luke Maye 7 | Free Throws Made | C.J. Bryce 4 |
Rechon Black 1 | Steals | Markell Johnson 4 |
Brandon Robinson 2 | Blocks | Torin Dorn 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
North Carolina | 90 | 45.3 | 10-25 | 22-26 | 20 | 47 | 5 | 4 | 23 |
NC State | 82 | 42.5 | 8-28 | 12-17 | 17 | 28 | 8 | 12 | 13 |