CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Western Carolina twice pulled within one point of North Carolina in the second half Monday night, but the Catamounts never found a way to take the lead, falling 80-72 to the Tar Heels before a 15,735 attendance at the Dean E. Smith Center in the season opener for both teams.
Matt Able scored 18 points to lead UNC (1-0), which used a 13-2 run over the final six minutes to turn a two-point game into a 77-64 lead and send Michael Malone to a win in his debut as Tar Heels head coach. Western Carolina (0-1), picked to finish eighth in the 11-team Southern Conference, went more than five minutes without a field goal during that stretch.
Jaxon Prunty paced the Catamounts with 18 points, going 7-for-8 at the free-throw line and 3-for-6 from three-point range. Jaeden Roberts added 17 on four three-pointers, and WCU shot 10-for-24 (42%) from deep as a team. Inside the arc, though, the shots would not fall. The Catamounts made just 10 of 35 two-point attempts and finished 20-for-59 (33.9%) overall, including a 1-for-12 night from senior Isaiah Manning, who still grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
North Carolina started fast, opening with a 10-0 run in less than four minutes, with Able scoring eight of the points. Prunty finally got WCU on the board with a three-pointer off a steal at 15:43. The Catamounts settled in and trimmed the deficit to 27-30 on a Roberts layup at the 5:00 mark, which drew a Tar Heel timeout. Freshman Maximo Adams came off the bench and scored seven points in a 9-1 UNC response, and North Carolina took a 39-30 lead into the locker room.
Western Carolina refused to go away after the break. Freshman Fola Sodipo, who finished with six points and six rebounds in just 11 minutes, drove for a layup at 14:14 that made it 47-48. Freshman Jacob Zhu, who scored nine points and pulled down five rebounds, buried a 29-foot step-back three to make it 52-54. Roberts then hit a three at the 9:35 mark, assisted by Prunty, to cut the deficit to 57-58.
That was as close as the Catamounts would get. After a Prunty jumper at 6:18 made it 62-64, North Carolina took over. A technical foul on Tayeshaun Smith at 5:25 sent the Tar Heels to the line, where UNC made four straight free throws, including two from Sayon Keita. Terrence Brown later converted a three-point play and Able added a driving layup. Neo Avdalas then drained a 25-foot three-pointer, with Smith fouling him, to make it 77-64 with 1:31 left. WCU did not make another field goal until Smith’s tip-in with 1:11 remaining.
The free throw line told much of the story. North Carolina went 25-for-35 to WCU’s 22-for-27, but the Catamounts were whistled for 28 fouls to UNC’s 17. Brown scored 14 points, going 8-for-10 at the line despite shooting 3-for-11 from the field, while Avdalas finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Adams ended with 10 off the bench, and Jarin Stevenson chipped in eight.
Malachi Brown logged 31 minutes for WCU and scored only one point, but the senior guard filled the stat sheet with five rebounds, three assists and two steals. The Catamounts also got eight points off the bench from Smith, who went 3-for-3 from the field.
The Tar Heels were hardly sharp, shooting 41.8% from the field and 9-for-30 (30%) from three. Western Carolina also won the rebounding battle 41-32, nearly doubling UNC on the offensive glass (13-7), and both teams committed nine turnovers. But UNC turned those giveaways into 12 points, compared to five for the Catamounts, and outscored WCU 24-18 in the paint.
Western Carolina, led by third-year head coach Tim Craft, now turns its attention to a Saturday trip to UNC Asheville.
