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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
North Carolina 89, Clemson 86
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Where: Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson, South Carolina
Officials: # Lee Cassell, # Jeff Clark, # Shawn Nestor
Attendance: 8716

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Joel Berry II put himself in North Carolina coach Roy Williams' doghouse by committing five turnovers Tuesday night.

But the junior guard dug himself by scoring a career-high 31 points, including 23 in the second half, as No. 14 North Carolina rallied to defeat unranked Clemson 89-86 in overtime in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The Tar Heels (13-3, 1-1 ACC) won for the 19th time in their last 20 games against Clemson.

Clemson (12-3, 1-1), bidding for its first victory against North Carolina since 2010, had its nine-game winning streak snapped.

Williams and Clemson coach Brad Brownell had a brief but heated verbal exchange during the postgame handshake, but neither coach would elaborate, saying it was "between the coaches." Sources indicated that Brownell was upset by North Carolina's Kennedy Meeks making comments to players on Clemson's bench.

Berry, on the other hand, did most of his talking with his shooting stroke. He connected on 12 of 19 from the floor, including 7 of 10 from 3-point range. He's shooting a team-best 42.9 percent from beyond the arc and has scored 20 or more points a team-high six times this season.

"I was really pleased with Joel Berry, except for the turnovers," Williams said. "He had two crucial turnovers that you don't like, but man oh man, did he make some big-time shots for us. There's no question about that."

Berry made three consecutive 3-pointers and scored 11 points to spark a 15-3 run midway through the second half that erased a four-point Clemson lead and put North Carolina ahead 75-67 with 5:15 remaining.

Clemson guard Marcquise Reed made a 3-pointer to tie the score at 77 with 16 seconds left. After a turnover by North Carolina, Avry Holmes had a chance to give Clemson the lead with five seconds remaining but missed the front end of a one-and-one.

In overtime, freshman guard Kenny Williams scored six points as North Carolina gradually pulled away. Clemson made just 2 of 4 free throws in the extra period.

Meeks, a senior center, had 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who were coming off a loss at Georgia Tech in their ACC opener on Saturday. Meeks had as many offensive rebounds (10) as Clemson's entire team.

"We have more size than they do, and I think that was a big factor in the game," Williams said.

Junior forward Justin Jackson added 18 points and Williams had 11 for the Tar Heels.

Senior forward Jaron Blossomgame led Clemson with 24 points and seven rebounds. Guard Avry Holmes scored 20 points and Reed finished with 17. Guard Shelton Mitchell added 13.

"Terrific game," Brownell said. "Great plays were made by players on both teams. We had a chance to win, we just didn't get it done.

"Our defense was good in terms of activity level. We got deflections, we got some steals, we did some things to be disruptive, but we weren't very sound in terms of individual on-ball defense."

North Carolina, which avoided its first 0-2 start on the road in ACC play since 1980, dominated Clemson on the glass, outrebounding the Tigers by a 51-32 margin, including a 23-10 differential on the offensive boards.

North Carolina outrebounded Clemson 23-13 in the first half, but Blossomgame scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds in the first 20 minutes as the Tigers led by as many as five points on multiple occasions and held that same advantage, 43-38, at halftime.

"I like our team," Brownell said. "It's a great league, and these are the kind of games you're going to be in. You're going to have to win a bunch of close games. We're going to Notre Dame next, so another Top 25 team is par for the course."

NOTES: Clemson coach Brad Brownell needs one victory to match his predecessor, Oliver Purnell, with 54 wins against ACC teams; Cliff Ellis holds the program record with 59. ... G Avry Holmes has made at least one 3-pointer in 10 consecutive games, his longest streak since the first 10 games of last season. ... F Justin Jackson leads the Tar Heels with 14 double-figure scoring games this season. ... C Kennedy Meeks, who had a season-high 16 rebounds against Clemson, is averaging a career-high 9.5 rebounds this season and has seven double-figure rebound games.
Top Game Performances
 
North Carolina   Clemson
Joel Berry II 31 Scoring Jaron Blossomgame 24
Nate Britt 4 Assists Shelton Mitchell 4
Kennedy Meeks 16 Rebounds Sidy Djitte 8
Kennedy Meeks 4 Free Throws Made Jaron Blossomgame 5
Joel Berry II 2 Steals Avry Holmes 3
Kennedy Meeks 2 Blocks Sidy Djitte 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
North Carolina 89 44.9 10-24 9-12 17 47 4 9 18
Clemson 86 45.6 11-28 13-19 12 29 9 10 12