Georgia walked into the Smith Center and walked out with a statement win, finishing strong to beat North Carolina 78-70 on Friday night and snap the Tar Heels’ 21-game home winning streak.
The game was tied at 68 with 2:42 left, but the Bulldogs took control from there. Georgia closed on a 10-2 burst, knocking down two three-pointers and four free throws while Carolina missed four of its final five shots.
Kanon Catchings led the way for Georgia with 22 points and 11 rebounds, hitting five three-pointers and scoring 11 in each half. Blue Cain added 20 points with four makes from deep, and Marcus Millender chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds.
North Carolina got 21 points from Terrence Brown, who matched his season high and finished one shy of his career best of five three-pointers with four. Neo Avdalas scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half, Isaiah Denis added 11 points and three three-pointers, and Maximo Adams tied his season high with 11 rebounds.
Georgia improved to 4-0, while the Tar Heels fell to 3-1.
The Bulldogs built their first-half edge with a late surge, closing the opening 20 minutes on a 9-0 run to take a 38-31 lead into halftime. Carolina shot just 25 percent before the break, tying the third-worst shooting half by UNC in Smith Center history.
Then the Tar Heels flipped the script coming out of the locker room.
Carolina opened the second half on a 27-13 run and surged ahead, with the crowd back in it after the sluggish first half. The Tar Heels were 9 for 14 to start the period and led by as many as nine points at 60-51 with 10:35 remaining.
But the offense cooled at the worst possible time. Carolina launched a season-high 38 three-point attempts and made nine, while Georgia was even more efficient from outside, hitting 14 of 36 from behind the arc.
The first half was ugly on both ends early, with both teams missing plenty of shots as they tried to settle in. Carolina missed 10 of its first 14 attempts, and Georgia missed 9 of 14. The Bulldogs were still slightly sharper through the first 12-plus minutes and led 22-20 at the under-8:00 timeout.
Brown’s third three-pointer of the half put Carolina in front 28-27 with 4:04 left in the opening period, but Georgia answered by taking the final punch of the half. The Bulldogs held UNC scoreless over the last 2:49, while Carolina missed its final five shots and Georgia finished the half by hitting three of its last four attempts, all from long range.
Georgia also controlled the glass early, outrebounding Carolina 27-21 in the first half.
In the second half, the Tar Heels looked like a different team for a while. After back-to-back three-pointers from Denis, Carolina extended its run and led 58-51, forcing a Georgia timeout with 11:23 left. UNC had hit 9 of its first 14 shots in the half and had made Georgia miss 10 of its first 15.
But the Bulldogs stayed within striking distance, then made the decisive push. Carolina went scoreless for nearly three minutes, and Georgia answered with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 60-58. Catchings then buried a three-pointer with 1:44 left to put Georgia ahead 72-68 and force a Carolina timeout.
After Adams fed Sayon Keita for a dunk to make it 72-70, Cain answered with a three-pointer at the 1:01 mark. Millender followed with two free throws, and James Scott added one more to seal the 78-70 final.
Carolina will be back at home next Friday, November 20, when it hosts Marshall at 9 p.m. on ACC Network in the fifth of six straight home games to open the season.
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