National Basketball Association
North Carolina 95, Radford 50
When: 2:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 4, 2016
Where: Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Officials:
# Tim Clougherty, # Tim Nestor, # Michael Stephens
Attendance:
14230
By The Sports Xchange
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Sophomore guard Kenny Williams hasn't had a lot of great shooting games in parts of two seasons with North Carolina.
That changed Sunday afternoon.
"I've been waiting a year and a half for a game like that," said Williams, who scored a career-high 19 points as No. 3 North Carolina blew out Radford 95-50 at the Smith Center.
The Tar Heels cruised from the start just four days after their lone loss of the season at Indiana.
"Really happy for Kenny because he has worked extremely hard," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "I did recruit him because I saw him shoot the ball and we didn't see that a lot last year."
Kenny Williams, who scored in double figures only once before as a college player, made 7 of 10 shots from the field, including 5 of 6 on 3s.
The disturbing part for North Carolina came when standout guard Joel Berry tumbled to the court with 17:36 remaining. He hobbled to the locker room with what was later revealed as a sprained left ankle.
Berry didn't return to action. He finished with five points after entering the game averaging 16 points per game.
Kenny Williams had 12 points -- all on 3-pointers -- to eclipse his career high in less than five minutes. He never had more than three 3s in any previous game in his career.
"After I went back in (the game after a breather), I think they made sure I wouldn't get the open looks I was getting before," he said.
Williams, who made his fifth start of the season, has been splitting the starting role with guard Nate Britt.
Radford coach Mike Jones said his son played with Williams on a travel team so he was aware of the North Carolina player's ability despite his career numbers.
"I had a feeling he might do something like that," Jones said.
Kennedy Meeks had 13 points, Isaiah Hicks chipped in 12 points and Tony Bradley had 10 points and 11 rebounds for North Carolina (8-1), which hadn't played a home game since Nov. 15.
Justin Cousin scored 14 points and Christian Bradford had 13 points for Radford (3-5), which has yet to win consecutive games this season.
North Carolina led 51-27 at halftime, though other than Williams it was 2 of 10 on 3-point attempts.
The Tar Heels scored 12 points in a row during a stretch in the opening three minutes as part of what became a 15-0 run.
"I thought we were really active defensively," Coach Williams said. "I did like some of the things we did early in the game."
Trailing 32-9, Radford called a second timeout to try to disrupt the momentum. At that point, the Tar Heels had made six 3-pointers and Radford had attempted only eight shots.
"We were getting some good looks early," Jones said. "Our shots didn't go down early."
Radford allowed a season-high point total as North Carolina made 52.3 percent of its shots from the field. Radford shot 30.6 percent from the field.
Cousin, appearing about 25 miles from where he played in high school for Graham, scored 11 first-half points. By the end, he accounted for half of the Highlanders' six 3-point baskets.
NOTES: The only previous meeting between Radford and North Carolina came with the Tar Heels winning in a 101-58 romp to open the 2009 NCAA Tournament in Greensboro. ... North Carolina began the day with four players averaging double-figure points and Radford had none. ... North Carolina played eight November games for the first time in program history. ... This began a three-game homestand for North Carolina, with Wednesday night's game against Davidson. ... This was the first of three consecutive games for Radford against North Carolina schools, with the next game Saturday at home against Elon.
Top Game Performances
Radford |
|
North Carolina |
Justin Cousin 14 |
Scoring |
Kenny Williams 19 |
Christian Bradford 2 |
Assists |
Justin Jackson 6 |
Devonnte Holland 6 |
Rebounds |
Tony Bradley 11 |
Justin Cousin 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Tony Bradley 4 |
Donald Hicks 2 |
Steals |
Kennedy Meeks 2 |
Darius Bolstad 1 |
Blocks |
Tony Bradley 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Radford
|
50 |
30.6 |
6-25 |
6-10 |
9 |
28 |
2 |
8 |
19 |
North Carolina
|
95 |
52.3 |
9-20 |
18-29 |
21 |
50 |
4 |
11 |
13 |