Heels struggle in 80-69 win over UNCA

UNC's Tyler Zeller (44) dunks over UNC Asheville's Chris Stephenson (4) in the first half. ROBERT WILLETT - rwillett@newsobserver.com

See an unedited  and edited photo gallery from the game

CHAPEL HILL – After North Carolina notched a less-than-inspiring 80-69 victory over UNC Asheville on Tuesday, coach Roy Williams’ locker room talk to his Tar Heels was a lot longer than usual.

“If I live through this team, I think we’re going to be a heck of a lot better by the end of the year,’’ he quipped during his post-game press conference. “And there is a big question as to whether I’m going to live through it.”

Led by junior Tyler Zeller’s career-high 23 points, No. 25 UNC (3-2) snapped a frustrating two-game losing streak. But in-so-doing, it showed again, that it has plenty more frustrations to work out.

The Tar Heels, playing their fourth game in six days, were too sloppy, recording 13 of their 19 turnovers by halftime. They still lacked the transition zip, and toughness in the lane, that Williams is searching for. They took questionable shots. And leading by as many as 22 points, they allowed the Bulldogs (3-2) to make it a game at the end.

“You can’t make those kinds of mistakes, take those kinds of shots,’’ Williams said. “We had fast breaks in the first half [where] we looked like we had never practiced the fast break in our life. But the frustration is on the defensive end. We’ve got two guys who are not freshmen, and our last play, where the [opponent] drives the baseline, and one guy says ‘I’m helping, I’m helping,’ and the other guy’s thinking he’s switching. Why would you think that? He didn’t talk Swahili, he talked English.”

After guard Matt Dickey gave UNC Asheville a 13-11 lead on a 3-pointer early, the Tar Heels turned the ball over four times and missed two additional shots. But the Bulldogs couldn’t convert on their opportunities, missing two free throws and at least five field goals of their own.

UNC freshman Harrison Barnes – who opened the game with a 3-pointer -- buried another one with 11:26 left in the first half, jump-starting a 15-4 run.

When Carolina took a 55-33 lead early in the second half on a Zeller hook shot, it looked as if the Tar Heels were finally going to run away with it. But then UNC started hoisting questionable shots, and missing stickbacks. Meanwhile, UNC-Asheville, which posted a 12-point comeback to beat Auburn earlier this month in overtime, started connecting.

Zeller hit a layup  with 6:27 left – officially setting a new career high by surpassing his 20-point tally against Vanderbilt on Sunday.  But UNC committed two turnovers and had a missed 3-pointer by point guard Larry Drew II, while UNCA buried two free throws, then got a made 3-pointer by J.P. Primm to cut the lead to 70-64 with about five minutes left.

“Our defense wasn’t great, at times, and we started letting them get good shots and gain confidence,’’ Zeller said. “But at the end of the game, I think we started making plays to pull it out.”

Indeed, with 3:45 left, forward Justin Knox scored on a goaltend to give UNC back a 72-64 cushion. With 3 minutes left, Zeller buried two more free throws to make it a double-digit game, again.

“If we had made a couple of free throws, made a couple of shots, it might have been fun at the end,’’ said Bulldogs coach Eddie Biedenbach. “But it didn’t turn out that way.”

Primm led UNC Asheville with 21 points.

Barnes chipped in 13 for the Tar Heels, who played without freshman Reggie Bullock, who sitting out because of a sore left knee.Sophomore  John Henson recorded his third double-double of the season, 10 points and 11 rebounds.

And Williams may be preparing for more long talks with his team in the days, and weeks, to come.

“We have a great deal of opportunities to learn from our mistakes,’’ he said.