UNC 93, Gardner-Webb 72

CHAPEL HILL -- The individual pieces are there. You could see it Monday night in Ed Davis' breakaway dunks, John Henson's between-the-legs bounce pass, Deon Thompson's career-high-tying 22 points.
But even during its 93-72 victory over Gardner-Webb at the Smith Center on Monday, it's obvious that North Carolina is still trying to mesh them all together.

Three days after losing their first game of the season - and falling to No. 11 in the Associated Press poll -- the Tar Heels had little trouble dispatching a team picked to finish fourth in the Big South preseason poll. But they still allowed Bulldogs guard Grayson Flittner to pour in 32 points (on nine 3-pointers), still threw away away a double-digit number of turnovers in the second half, still had trouble being consistently cohesive.

Leading 23-17, Carolina pulled away using a 12-0 run that included a bit of tinkering by coach Roy Williams: putting freshman Dexter Strickland at his more natural position, shooting guard. Strickland has mostly been used as a backup ballhandler this season, but he played a few minutes beside starting point guard Larry Drew II.

Strickland went back to backing up Drew the next time he checked into the game, but the change-up is a sign that Williams is still looking for the right combinations.

Gardner-Webb tried to keep it close, mostly with Flittner's bevy of 3 pointers; he had 20 points by halftime.

But UNC's athleticism continued to stand out. With about 2:30 minutes left, freshman John Henson blocked at Bulldog C.J. Hailey on the perimeter, and saved the ball from going out of bounds by bounce-passing it between his legs. Davis picked up near mid-court, missed a five-footer, and then Strickland put it back to give Carolina a 47-33 lead. It marked one of the smoothest offensive stretches for the Tar Heels - who were running the floor, converting shots, playing as a cohesive unit.

The Tar Heels led 53-38 at halftime, and the Bulldogs managed to get to as close as 61-48 when Brian McNair followed a Luke Engelken 3-pointer with a layup. Then Stephon Johnson cut it to 77-65 on a 3-pointer with 6:40 left.

But that's as close as they got.

Strickland played shooting guard, beside Drew II, for another stretch in the second half.

Tyler Zeller added 16 points for the Tar Heels