UNC men's basketball tops South Carolina Upstate, 80-62

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina had nearly stretched its early lead to double digits Saturday over South Carolina Upstate when, a few minutes before halftime, Caleb Wilson stole the ball and passed it ahead to Luka Bogavac. Wilson didn’t record a dunk in UNC’s last game — a win over Georgetown on Sunday — and that might as well have been an eternity to this home crowd.

He’d already had two slams earlier in the first half. So, with Bogavac pushing the pace and the Tar Heels having a clear advantage in transition, why not add another one? A Spartans player soon snuck between Bogavac and Wilson. A lob would be hard to pull off, Bogavac surely realized, and so the Montenegrin made the easy play. Bogavac laid the ball up gently to a mix of cheers and groans from the Dean E. Smith Center crowd happy for the points but, at the same time, wanting a bit more pizzazz on that play.

The overall matchup played out in much the same way. North Carolina (9-1) simply took care of business with an 80-62 win over South Carolina Upstate (6-5) in the first-ever matchup between the two programs.

“We just got to approach it stronger and better, have more energy and enthusiasm no matter who we play,” said Wilson, later adding, “we just got to pick it up. ACC play starts in a couple weeks.”

Wilson led the way for UNC with a team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds. Kyan Evans added a UNC-best five assists and Jonathan Powell tied his career high with 17 points.

It became clear in the early minutes that MrBeast, the No. 1 YouTube star with more than 453 million followers, wasn’t the only one looking to make it rain in the Smith Center on this day.

Before the home crowd could be treated to the spectacle the famed Greenville, N.C., native had in store with his $10,000 giveaway, the Tar Heels had to get past a flurry of 3-pointers from their Big South opponent. The Spartans came out blazing, hitting five of their first eight attempts from deep.

North Carolina never blew South Carolina Upstate out of the water, but a 12-2 run in the final minutes helped the Tar Heels make the final score look more comfortable.

Here’s what we learned:

Powell scores season-high

Before the season had even started, Powell had already turned heads in early UNC practices for his competitive edge. That didn’t come out of nowhere. On an episode of the “Carolina Insider” podcast, Powell estimated he ripped about six practice jerseys during his time at West Virginia.

His Tar Heel teammates have confirmed that, since the Mountaineer transferred to Chapel Hill, he’s done the same to a UNC practice jersey or two. But North Carolina fans had yet to see Powell’s scoring prowess — he called himself “the best shooter in the country” in the preseason — outside of short spurts.

That is, until Saturday.

It’s safe to say that a whole lot wasn’t going right for the Tar Heels in this one. That much was evidenced by their play, certainly, but also Hubert Davis’ demeanor. A second-half timeout saw the head coach throw his clipboard and towel to the ground as he yelled at his players.

Powell, though, proved to be a bright spot. He had already well surpassed his season-high when, out of a late 30-second UNC timeout, he splashed home another triple to put North Carolina up by double-digits with less than four minutes to play.

The sophomore finished with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including three triples.

“Obviously he’s a guy that can make shots,” Davis said, “and today, not only made shots, but timely shots.”

Bogavac finding his groove

Bogavac, for all his talent and overseas experience, struggled slightly at the beginning of the year to get adjusted at UNC.

It makes sense. He, after all, came in from Montenegro and had to get used to new teammates, new coaching, a new school and country.

These past couple of games, in particular, Bogavac said he’s felt more comfortable. On Saturday, he joined Powell in adding a trio of 3-pointers — tying a season-high from deep.

Bogavac finished a pretty efficient 6 of 9 from the field.

“The way that he’s handled it has been incredible,” Davis said during his radio show on Monday night, later adding, “obviously he can shoot the basketball, but he gives us another ballhandler and another playmaker.”

Bogavac put that on display, too. He added four assists — his fifth game with four or more dimes.

UNC dominating points in paint, but …

North Carolina shot 55.6% in the first half, while holding the Spartans to a 32.4% clip. A big part of that was UNC’s ability to attack the paint, where the Tar Heels recorded 18 points to just eight for South Carolina Upstate in the first half. That differential was 30-22 by the end of the game.

UNC is now 6-0 on the season when the team scores more points in the paint, and 2-0 when scoring in the paint is even.

That said, North Carolina gave up 11 offensive rebounds and only pulled down seven. As a whole, the Tar Heels recorded 37 rebounds to 34 for South Carolina Upstate.

Davis called the performance on the boards “unacceptable” after the game.

“They were playing harder to get those offensive rebounds than us,” Davis said, “and I felt like we were leaking out in transition. And so that’s something that we’ll talk about at practice tomorrow.”

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