Armando Bacot scored 17 points and Day'Ron Sharpe added 16 as North Carolina defeated visiting NC State 86-76 in Atlantic Coast Conference action Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Caleb Love added 15 points and Anthony Harris and R.J. Davis both had 10 for the Tar Heels (10-5, 5-3 ACC), who have won five of their last six and improved to 6-0 at home. North Carolina got 38 points from its reserves.
Devon Daniels posted 21 points and DJ Funderburk added 14 for the Wolfpack (6-5, 2-4), who lost their fourth game in a row and have yet to win in 2021.
NC State was going for its first regular-season sweep of the Tar Heels since the 2002-03 season. The Wolfpack won 79-76 on Dec. 22 in Raleigh.
Reversing a trend of sluggish first halves this season, UNC used a late 10-2 run to take a 43-33 lead into the locker room. The Tar Heels posted a 28-14 edge in the paint in the opening half.
The Wolfpack got within 75-69 on Daniels 3-pointer with less than four minutes to play, but the Tar Heels pushed the lead back to double figures with two free throws by Love and a layup by Harris.
Thomas Allen, who led the Wolfpack in scoring in each of the past two games, was held to six points on 2-of-9 shooting.
NC State hadn't played since a 32-point blowout loss Jan. 13 at Florida State. Then the Wolfpack went into a coronavirus-based pause, with games vs. Georgia Tech and Virginia postponed.
NC State center Manny Bates (10 points) was back in action after missing a game with an injury.
Roy Williams improved to 33-5 against NC State as the Tar Heels' head coach and has never lost consecutive games to the Wolfpack.
--Field Level Media
NC State | North Carolina | |
Devon Daniels 21 | Scoring | Armando Bacot 17 |
Braxton Beverly 4 | Assists | Caleb Love 5 |
Jericole Hellems 7 | Rebounds | Day'Ron Sharpe 10 |
D.J. Funderburk 6 | Free Throws Made | RJ Davis 3 |
Braxton Beverly 5 | Steals | Armando Bacot 2 |
Manny Bates 7 | Blocks | Garrison Brooks 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
NC State | 76 | 47.0 | 6-18 | 8-13 | 9 | 26 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
North Carolina | 86 | 54.4 | 4-11 | 8-18 | 18 | 38 | 4 | 6 | 13 |