MBB Races Past Miami, 92-73

Saturday, March 1

Chapel Hill

Noon

North Carolina

19-11,12-6ACC

Miami

6-23,2-16ACC

Miami (FL)

North Carolina

Ven-Allen Lubin

Photo by: Peyton Williams

March 1, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—North Carolina shot a blistering 58.9 percent as a team, including nearly 70 percent in the second half, and dominated Miami, 92-73, for its fifth win in a row on Saturday afternoon in the Smith Center.

It was Carolina's second-best shooting day of the season, and the 68.0 percent second-half shooting marked its best half since 2022. The Tar Heels are averaging 90.8 points per game during their five-game winning streak after averaging 80.0 previously this season. UNC is 9-1 this season and 30-2 under Hubert Davis when scoring 90+ points.

Six Carolina players scored in double figures, and the Tar Heels hit 10 of 18 three-pointers as a team (55.6 percent).

Jae'Lyn Withers posted his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. He hit both of his three-point tries and has made at least one three-pointer in six consecutive games, his longest streak as a Tar Heel and the second-longest streak of his career. He's scored in double figures in three straight games for the first time in his two seasons in Chapel Hill.

Ven-Allen Lubin scored 10 of Carolina's first 12 second-half points to set the tone and finished with a season-high 19, hitting a career-high 9 of 10 shots from the floor. He scored 14 after halftime.

Drake Powell hit 5 of 6 shots from the floor, including 2 of 3 from behind the arc, and finished with 16 points and six rebounds. RJ Davis scored 13. Ian Jackson scored nine of his 11 points in the second half, and Seth Trimble added 10.

"Seth Trimble buried a couple of threes, then Withers buried a couple of threes," Miami head coach Bill Courtney said. "When they shoot like that, they are hard to guard because they are so good off the bounce. They present a lot of challenges."

The Tar Heels used a 12-2 run in the final 4:12 of the first half to take a 15-point lead into halftime and increased the advantage early in the second half, sucking the life out of the Hurricanes and effectively ending the game with plenty of time remaining. Miami never got closer than a 14-point margin in the second half.

"We've kind of had that chip on our shoulder, that extra edge, because we don't have too much room for error," Trimble said. "If we would have lost this game, we would have absolutely been done. Or if we lost the game before at Florida State. We know it's kind of a do-or-die. We know the situation that we're in, but everybody's embracing it and kind of taking it on the chin and accepting it."

Carolina (19-11 overall, 12-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its fifth consecutive game, its longest winning streak of the season and best stretch since winning eight in a row in February and March 2024. Miami lost its fifth game in a row and for the 16th time in 18 games since mid-December.

Matthew Cleveland led the Hurricanes with 25 points, and Brandon Johnson scored 20.

With two games remaining in the regular season and the Tar Heels clawing for a chance at an NCAA Tournament bid, Carolina moves on to Tuesday's game at Virginia Tech.

"The only thing that is of importance to us is what is right in front of us," head coach Hubert Davis said. "The opportunity to be able to compete against a Virginia Tech team on their home floor is something that we're focused and zeroed in on."

How It Happened
First Half
• For the fifth game in a row, Carolina started its bigger lineup of Elliot Cadeau, Davis, Powell, Lubin and Withers.
• At the second media timeout of the game, all eight Tar Heels who'd appeared in the game to that point had scored and UNC had built a lead that reached double figures.
• Before Carolina could get comfortable, the Hurricanes put together a run by hitting 5 of 7 shots to pull within four at 31-27 and force a UNC timeout with 7:15 to go in the half.
• Back-to-back three-pointers by Seth Trimble gave Carolina its biggest lead to that point at 40-29 with 3:08 left in the half, forcing a Miami timeout.
• Carolina closed the first half on a 12-2 run to take its biggest lead at the half at 46-31. It was the fifth time this season UNC led an ACC opponent by double digits at the break.
• The Tar Heels have scored at least 45 points in four consecutive halves for the first time since doing so in the first four games of the 2018-19 season. Prior to this stretch, UNC had scored at least 45 in the first half only twice all season (51 vs. Elon and 46 vs. Boston College).
• Carolina shot 51.6 percent as a team in the first half, doing so for the fourth game in a row. The last time UNC shot at least 50 percent in four straight first halves against ACC teams was in 2016-17.

Second Half
• The Tar Heels upped their lead to 21 points in the first three minutes of the second half as Lubin scored 10 of UNC's first points coming out of the break.
• Carolina hit 12 of its first 17 second-half shots and finished at 68.0 percent as a team from the floor after intermission.
• UNC has scored at least 80 points in five straight ACC games for the first time since February 3-17, 2018.
• UNC led for 38:29 of the game while UM led for just 1:16.
• Carolina out-rebounded Miami, 38-26.

Up Next
Carolina will play its final road game of the regular season when it visits Virginia Tech on Tuesday March 4 at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.