Senior Cam Johnson and freshman Coby White combined for 41 points to lead No. 9 North Carolina to a 77-54 win over Georgia Tech on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Johnson scored 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 4 of 6 on 3-point attempts. White was 7 of 13 from the floor and 5 of 9 from long range, finishing with 19 points and eight assists.
North Carolina (16-4, 6-1 ACC) has won four straight since its embarrassing 21-point home loss to Louisville. Georgia Tech (11-10, 3-5) has lost two in a row and four of its past five.
Georgia Tech got good production from forward Abdoulaye Gueye, who finished with 14 points, his third straight game with double figures since missing two games with an injury. Gueye added four rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Yellow Jackets' starting guards combined to shoot 3-for-19 in the first half and 7-for-29 for the game. Georgia Tech made only 1 of 10 attempts from 3-point range in the first half and went 2 of 16 for the game.
The Tar Heels didn't shoot at least 54 percent from the field as they did in the previous two games, settling for 47.5 percent, but their 3-point effort made up for it. North Carolina was 13 of 27 on 3-point tries (48.1 percent) against a Georgia Tech defense that had been ranked fourth in the nation in 3-point defense (26.5 percent).
Georgia Tech had a 7-6 lead before North Carolina finally got its offense started. The Tar Heels outscored the Yellow Jackets 20-10, and Nassir Little's 3-pointer in transition gave them a 26-17 lead with 4:08 left in the half.
North Carolina built the lead to 31-21 with 1:10 left following a trey by Brandon Robinson and two Cameron Johnson free throws, giving the senior nine points in the first half. The Tar Heels led 31-24 at the break.
North Carolina put the game away early in the second half with a 25-5 run, bumping its lead up to 56-29 on Johnson's layup.
Tar Heels freshman Leaky Black was helped off the court with an apparent left ankle injury with 8:28 left in the game. Georgia Tech point guard Jose Alvarado had to leave the court when he went down with an ankle injury with 5:33 left.
North Carolina plays on Saturday at No. 15 Louisville. Georgia Tech plays at No. 25 Florida State on Saturday.
--Field Level Media
North Carolina | Georgia Tech | |
Cameron Johnson 22 | Scoring | Abdoulaye Gueye 14 |
Coby White 8 | Assists | Curtis Haywood II 6 |
Garrison Brooks 9 | Rebounds | James Banks III 6 |
Cameron Johnson 2 | Free Throws Made | Khalid Moore 4 |
Cameron Johnson 3 | Steals | Jose Alvarado 4 |
Garrison Brooks 1 | Blocks | Abdoulaye Gueye 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
North Carolina | 77 | 47.5 | 13-27 | 6-11 | 21 | 37 | 2 | 10 | 15 |
Georgia Tech | 54 | 35.0 | 2-16 | 10-13 | 15 | 32 | 7 | 8 | 16 |