National Basketball Association
North Carolina 91, Temple 67
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, November 13, 2015
Where: Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Maryland
Officials:
# Mike Roberts, # Lamar Simpson, # Michael Stephens
Attendance:
4677
By The Sports Xchange
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Junior forward Kennedy Meeks helped North Carolina play an inside game that Temple just could not handle.
Meeks finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds as No. 1 North Carolina pulled away in the second half for a 91-67 victory over Temple in the season opener at the Navy Veterans Classic Friday night.
North Carolina felt it needed to have everyone step up with senior point guard Marcus Paige out until early December with a broken right hand. Meeks, a 6-foot-10, 260-pound junior forward led the way as North Carolina outscored Temple in the paint (42-14), on second-chance points (20-5) and held a big edge on the boards (49-32), which included 15 offensive boards.
"We felt like we had the advantage inside," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "I felt like that we had an advantage with our big guys. I thought we did some good things ... (and) we're happy to get out of here with a win."
Meeks proved too much for Temple to handle wherever he went. He made shots inside and outside and helped the Tar Heels take command by scoring nine of their first 11 second-half points.
The Tar Heels kept finding Meeks plus 6-10 senior forward Brice Johnson (16 points) and other big men down low and getting good scoring chances time and again. Meeks made 10 of 14 from the field and said he was glad to help fill in the hole Paige left.
"That's our main focus right now while he's out is just to come together and be even stronger," Meeks said. "(We wanted) to get it as low as possible. That was for all the bigs. That's what we did."
Junior guard Nate Britt (15) and sophomore guard Joel Berry II (14) also finished in double figures. Britt didn't finish, however, getting ejected after a brief shoving match with 59.4 seconds left. Williams said after the game that he'll be able to play in the team's next game on Sunday.
Temple also experienced trouble driving in amongst the taller Tar Heels. The Owls often relied on outside shots and made enough to stay within shouting distance until North Carolina broke it open in the final 10 minutes.
Senior guard Devin Coleman led Temple with 19 points, 16 of which came in the first half. Coleman played just five minutes in the second half, saying afterward that cramps were bothering him but that he was fine.
North Carolina took a 47-36 lead into the break thanks to a late run powered by outside shooting.
Temple jumped out to a quick start, scoring the game's first five points and going up 9-4 on senior guard Quenton DeCosey's jumper. North Carolina missed seven of its first nine shots.
The Tar Heels got going with a 9-0 run capped by a soft jumper from senior forward Joel James that gave them a 16-11 lead with 12:39 left in the half. But the Owls kept fighting. Temple tied the game at 34 on Coleman's 3-point shot with just under three minutes left.
North Carolina scored 13 of the final 15 points in the half, and Temple couldn't figure out the Tar Heels' size in the second half as they took command.
"We weren't as good as we needed to be," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. "They're really talented inside. We knew that going in. We gave up way too many offensive rebounds."
NOTES: This is the first time these two teams have played since an NCAA Tournament game on March 24, 1991 - which the Tar Heels won. ... North Carolina played without the services of senior All-American PG Marcus Paige, who is out for three or four weeks after breaking a bone in his right hand on Nov. 3. ... This was the first time that Temple ever played a No. 1-ranked team in a season opener.
Top Game Performances
| North Carolina |
|
Temple |
|
Kennedy Meeks 25 |
Scoring |
Devin Coleman 19 |
|
Theo Pinson 5 |
Assists |
Josh Brown 6 |
|
Kennedy Meeks 11 |
Rebounds |
Jaylen Bond 8 |
|
Kennedy Meeks 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Devin Coleman 6 |
|
Joel Berry II 2 |
Steals |
Jaylen Bond 3 |
|
Kennedy Meeks 3 |
Blocks |
Daniel Dingle 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| North Carolina
|
91 |
50.7 |
7-12 |
16-23 |
17 |
48 |
7 |
6 |
9 |
| Temple
|
67 |
38.7 |
9-25 |
10-17 |
13 |
27 |
4 |
5 |
8 |
For more information, contact us