Maye's 18 and 11 Leads UNC Past Barton

Friday, October 27

Chapel Hill

7:30 PM

North Carolina

Barton College (Exhibition)

Barton College

North Carolina

Photo by: Robert Crawford

October 27, 2017 | Men's Basketball

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Tar Heels Win, 91-80 in Exhibition Game

CHAPEL HILL—Junior forward Luke Maye had a game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead North Carolina to a 91-80 win over Barton Friday evening in an exhibition game at the Smith Center.

Maye made 7 of 8 shots from the floor and added three assists, two blocks and two steals in just 20 minutes of action.

The Tar Heels broke open a 37-34 game with a 19-5 run over the final six minutes of the first half to build a 56-39 lead at intermission. Seven different Tar Heels scored in that run, including Cameron Johnson and Seventh Woods, who had five and four points, respectively, in the stretch.

Both teams had four players score in double figures for the game. In addition to Maye, Carolina got 14 from Theo Pinson, 13 from Garrison Brooks and 11 from Johnson. Bobby Stenberg had 15 to lead Barton. Jeff Gordon, Michael Boykin and Matt Woods all had 13 for the Bulldogs.

Carolina out-rebounded Barton, 57-37. Maye led with 11 boatrds, and freshmen Brooks (nine), Brandon Huffman (seven) and Sterling Manley (seven) combined for 23. Huffman blocked five shots.

Pinson (25) was one of 10 Tar Heels to play 10 or more minutes. He had three assists, two blocks and three steals to go along with his 14 points.

The Bulldogs hit 12 of 30 from three-point range, including four by Woods and three by Boykin. The Tar Heels were 3 for 15 from three.

Carolina had 26 assists on 36 field goals. Freshman point guard Jalek Felton had seven assists and one turnover. Maye, Pinson and Johnson each had three assists. The Tar Heels committed only three turnovers in the first half, but committed 11 miscues in the second. Barton out-scored UNC in points off turnovers, 16-10.

Carolina had a 16-2 edge in fast break points.

The Tar Heels return to action on Sunday, Nov. 5, when they play host to ECU, UNCG and UNCW in a four-team exhibition at 3 p.m. at the Smith Center. Tickets are $20 and all ticket sales go to the NC Disaster Relief Fund.

The format for the exhibitions are six periods of 13 or 14 minutes in which each of the four schools will play one period against the other three schools. The first 10 minutes of each period will be a running clock.

Tickets may be purchased at the UNC Athletics Ticket Office at the Williamson Athletics Center next to the Smith Center, at GoHeels.com or by calling 1-800-722-HEEL (4335).

Students from UNC-Chapel Hill will be admitted for free at Gate C with a valid student ID, but are encouraged to make donations to the Disaster Relief Fund at that same gate.

ECU, UNCG and UNCW have a limited number of tickets available through their respective athletic ticket offices.

Head Coach Roy Williams Quotes:
"The good news is that it was an exhibition game. Always said it was a glorified practice. I think we get better with a crowd in there. We got some of the emotions out of the way tonight. We got some of the silliness out of the way tonight, hopefully. I did try to play a bunch of guys. I think it was about 10 guys with at least 10 minutes. We still haven't settled on any combinations yet but haven't worked on it in practice either. We have just been moving everyone around.

"The rebound margin looks great. We were more gifted. We are bigger and taller and those kinds of things. Not pleased with a lot of things, but again the fact that we are getting to play in front of the public helps us get rid of some of those jitters.

"Garrison Brooks' first two free throws he shot weren't close. I asked him if he was a little nervous, and he said 'Yeah, a little bit.' It's freshmen and their first time in front of a crowd. I think we have done some things in practice much better than we did today. Some guys gave us good moments doing things. (Brandon) Huffman had five blocked shots, but you can't have three turnovers as a big guy in 13 minutes. I think you look at Theo Pinson with 14 points, three assists and zero turnovers. Luke (Maye) had 18 points and 11 rebounds. There were some good things there that happened. We got to shoot the ball better, play defense better and just get better. Sixteen or 17 practices, and I think we got eight or nine left plus an exhibition day (before Northern Iowa on Nov. 10)."

Carolina Player Quotes
Luke Maye
On new rotations
"I think Coach (Williams) does a great job of moving everybody in and out and getting people minutes and gaining confidence. I think he is going to do a great job with this team and we have to continue to get better each day at practice."

On the improvement of the freshmen so far
"They've gotten a lot better. Sterling [Manley] did a lot of good things tonight. Brandon [Huffman] had like five blocks. Garrison [Brooks] made some great moves inside. They got a lot of potential. They just have to keep putting in the hard work and really trying to get better each day."

On playing without Joel Berry
"Losing Joel is huge. Joel is the Final Four MVP, he sets the tone defensively, unbelievable shooting. We were 3-15 from three tonight and I think he helps a lot with that. We are going to have to continue to adapt and Jalek [Felton] and Seventh [Woods] have to cut down on the turnovers and making the better play. They did a lot of good things tonight. Jalek had seven assists and everybody played well offensively and we are going to move forward with that."

Kenny Williams
On Coach Williams this year:
"He hasn't really been too much harder. He has been the same as he was last year. I think he has been a little more understanding because we have so many new guys but he is still emphasizing the same things. We got to rebound. We gotta run so that hasn't changed. He will be a little bit more intense, I am sure once the season gets closer but I think he has been pretty understanding."

On defense:
"We all have to do better honestly especially on the defensive end. We just have to improve on the defensive end. We did not do nearly as well as we wanted to."

Theo Pinson
On freshmen first game of the season:
"You could tell there was a lot of jitters for them tonight just going out there and playing in front of a crowd. Me and Joel were joking before the game like this isn't even close to what it is going to be. It was good for them to get a little bit of experience tonight."