College basketball: Heels, Wolfpack on cruise control

Published 9:32 pm Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Associated Press

CHAPEL HILL — Armando Bacot had 11 rebounds, reaching double digits for a program-record 62nd time, and scored 14 points as North Carolina rolled by The Citadel 100-67 on Tuesday night.

Bacot passed Billy Cunningham for the record while also posting his 55th double-double of his career and sixth this season. His 11 rebounds led a 47-31 advantage on the boards.

Caleb Love hit four 3-pointers and scored 17 points for the Tar Heels (7-4), who made 15 of 31 from the arc for 48%, besting their 29% season average. Pete Nance and Tyler Nickel both had three 3-pointers and 16 points. Nickel’s point total is a career high.

Stephen Clark and Jackson Price scored 15 points apiece for the Bulldogs (5-5), who didn’t take their first free throw until more than midway through the second half. They finished 1 of 5 at the line to 21 of 27 for the Tar Heels.

The Citadel had a two-point lead 90 seconds into the game then the Tar Heels went on a 10-0 run and led the rest of the way.

North Carolina is 20-0 against The Citadel, the most wins for the Tar Heels against an opponent without a loss. The teams’ previous meeting came in 1991 when current Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis led North Carolina with 16 points.

N.C. State forces 20 turnovers in 92-73 win

RALEIGH (AP) — Terquavion Smith scored 24 points, Casey Morsell added 17 points and North Carolina State forced a season-high 20 turnovers in a 92-73 victory over Furman.

Morsell scored 12 points in the opening eight minutes, making 3 of 4 3-pointers, to help N.C. State build a 26-10 lead. The Wolfpack led 48-29 at the break after shooting 52% from the field and scoring 15 points off 14 Furman turnovers. Smith led the way with 14 points for the Wolfpack.

Smith and Morsell each had a 3-pointer in the opening three minutes of the second half for a 27-point lead.

Jack Clark scored 15 points, LJ Thomas had a career-high 14 points and Jarkel Joiner added 10 for N.C. State (9-3), which rebounded from an 80-73 loss to Miami. D.J. Burns Jr. was the lone Wolfpack starter not in double figures with seven points in 17 minutes.

Nine different N.C. State players had a steal, led by Thomas’ four and three apiece from Smith and Clark.

Mike Bothwell scored 14 points for Furman (7-4).

N.C. State plays Vanderbilt (5-5 Saturday.

LSU tops NC Central

BATON ROUGE, La.  (AP) — KJ Williams scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Derek Fountain also recorded a double-double and LSU beat North Carolina Central 67-57.

Fountain scored 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting and recorded a career-high 14 rebounds. LSU (9-1) remained unbeaten at home posting its sixth win of the season. The Tigers have won 10 straight at home since suffering its last loss there on Feb. 1 against Ole Miss.

Knotted at 23 with 5:29 remaining before halftime, Williams threw down a dunk then made three foul shots and that ignited a 17-3 outburst to close the half and the Tigers were ahead the rest of the way.

North Carolina Central (5-6) scored the first seven points out of the break to close within 40-33, and Justin Wright’s 3 pointer brought the Eagles within 49-45 with 11:07 left but they couldn’t get closer.

No. 5 Houston 74, NC A&T 46

HOUSTON (AP) — Ja’Vier Francis had career highs of 17 points and 15 rebounds, Marcus Sasser scored 17 points, and No. 5 Houston rebounded from its first loss with a 74-46 win over North Carolina A&T.

Sasser, a preseason All-American, was 6 of 10 from the field after shooting 2 of 11 and scoring nine points in Houston’s 71-65 loss to Alabama on Saturday. Francis was 7 of 10 as Houston (10-1) shot 50% on the night.

Emanuel Sharp scored 10 points off the bench.

Kam Woods scored 26 points to lead the Aggies (4-5). Woods scored 17 of North Carolina A&T’s 21 first-half points and finished 10 of 18 from the field. Demetric Horton added 11 points.

UNC Asheville 94, SC State 84

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — Tajion Jones’ 30 points led UNC Asheville over South Carolina State 94-84.

Jones added six rebounds for the Bulldogs (7-4). Nicholas McMullen scored 20 points while going 7 of 9 and 6 of 7 from the free throw line, and added 10 rebounds. Drew Pember was 4 of 9 shooting, going 7 for 10 from the line, to finish with 16 points, while adding 18 rebounds and three blocks.

The Bulldogs (1-11) were led in scoring by Rakeim Gary, who finished with 17 points, five assists and three steals. Raquan Brown added 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals for South Carolina State. In addition, Rahsaan Edwards finished with 14 points.

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