Gamecenter: Penn 64, North Carolina 102

1st 2nd Final
Penn (6-6) 30 34 64
North Carolina (13-1) 39 63 102
Smith Center – Chapel Hill, NC Boxscore
 
Keys to the Game
Key sequence Penn jumped out to an 18-8 lead on a three-pointer by Kevin Egee just over seven minutes into the game. Frustrated with his team’s poor play early on, Roy Williams had subbed out all five guys, and the replacements sparked North Carolina. Bobby Frasor answered Egee’s three with one of his own, and while Penn was busy turning over the ball on its next four possessions, the Tar Heels got a bucket after each Quaker miscue to go on top at the midway point of the half. Baskets by Brian Grandieri and Ibby Jaaber were the only Penn points during a nine-minute stretch when North Carolina went on a 27-4 run to claim a 13-point lead.
Key sign it was over Another Egee three-pointer brought Penn back to withing 15 with 8:42 left in the contest. Egee tried to duplicate his feat on the next possession, but misfired, and Brennan Votel couldn’t put back the offensive rebound. Mark Zoller came up with a steal and hit Jaaber in the open court, but Reyshawn Terry appeared to get away with a foul on the Quaker guard, who committed a frustration foul on defense. Terry’s two free throws kicked off a late 23-4 Tar Heel run that turned a respectable game into a laugher.
Key performance Terry tied for high-scoring honors for the Tar Heels with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He also added nine rebounds, three assists, and a steal in just 16 minutes on the floor.
Key statistic Penn shot well (56.5 percent) in the first half, but committed 15 turnovers. The Quakers ended the game with 21 turnovers to just 10 for North Carolina, and the Tar Heels took advantage of this, outscoring Penn 36-11 in points off turnovers.
Notes

– Jaaber was the game’s top scorer with 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting. The Penn guard played an outstanding game with eight assists against just two turnovers, adding four rebounds, two blocks, and three steals.

– Steve Danley picked up his first and second fouls just 33 seconds apart and headed to the bench 2:09 into the contest. Brennan Votel came on in relief of him, but he also picked up his second foul at the 14:35 mark, forcing Glen Miller to turn to seldom-used Cameron Lewis in the post.

– North Carolina put up 63 points in the second half, outscoring Penn by 29 points after halftime.

– During the postgame handshake, Williams appeared to apologize to Miller for his reserves running up the score late to earn fans $1 biscuits at Bojangles as part of a 100-point promotion. The Tar Heels scored 10 points in the final 87 seconds.

– North Carolina’s gameplan clearly involved shutting down Zoller on the perimeter, and the Penn forward did not have one of his better games, finishing with just eight points and six turnovers.

– Penn will look to get back above .500 on the season when the Quakers stay in North Carolina to take on Elon (3-9) on Saturday, January 6 at 1:00 pm ET.

Jake Wilson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Basketball U.

Jake Wilson wrote 754 posts

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