Terrence Brown played his best game of the preseason and led the way for the Tar Heels with 27 points on 9 of 18 shooting.
"You’ve seen a more aggressive Terrence," Jaydon Young said. “You saw him miss some shots early and still be in a good frame of mind. So that’s the Terrence we’ve come to expect. That’s the Terrence we know.”
The Tar Heels only led for 25 seconds, all in the first half, until a three-pointer by Young with 11:51 left in the game gave them a 50-49 advantage. Carolina never pulled back but led most of the rest of the game before allowing the 49ers to regain a five-point lead in the final four minutes.
With the 49ers leading, 78-77, with 16.9 seconds left in regulation, Frank Oguche turned the tide by calling a timeout when Charlotte was out of time, resulting in a technical foul. Brown made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game and force overtime. UNC outscored the 49ers, 11-4, in overtime and held them scoreless for the final 3:41.
He was the head coach Michael Malonefirst game at the Smith Center.
“You’re never satisfied,” Malone said. “So I think our guys are, of course, happy with your win, but I think we all collectively know that we can and we need to play a lot better. The season is upon us. There are no more exhibition games. We’re done… So we have to clean things up quickly. We have to take ownership of it… I think everyone was grateful to have finished the game. We were able to come away with a win. Nobody got hurt, fully understanding that it There’s a lot of work to be done.”
Young scored all 11 of his points in the second half, connecting on 3 of 4 three-pointers. Neo Avdalas continued to showcase his all-around skillset, posting 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds and five assists. Sayon Keïta And Jarin Stevenson each scored 12 points.
Charlotte’s Keyshaun Tillery scored 16 points in 16 first-half minutes and finished with 24, hitting five three-pointers. Chaze Harris made 6 of 7 shots and scored 14 for the 49ers.
Charlotte started firing from the floor against a flat Tar Heel team, hitting 10 of its first 18 shots before calming down to shoot 45.5 in the first half. The 49ers made six three-pointers in the first 20 minutes, leading for 18:17 and as many as 15 points before Carolina began to chip away at the deficit.
“I told them at the beginning of one of the groups, I said, ‘Dude, take a deep breath, relax,'” Malone said. “These guys are working so hard…and the first time in front of a home crowd, and I thought they were just really excited.”
The Tar Heels got within three at 36-33 on a three-pointer by Maxime Adamscapping a 19-7 run to end the half. Charlotte missed 9 of its last 12 shots before the break.
After shooting below 30 percent for much of the opener, UNC made 7 of its final 10 attempts to finish at 39.3 percent at halftime. Brown led Carolina with 12 points, while Tillery made 4 of 5 three-pointers for a game-high 16 at the break.
Tar Heel second-year guard Matt Able was not in uniform and did not play Tuesday night. Neither does the graduate transfer center Cameron Fenswho is still awaiting a decision on his possible fifth-year eligibility.
The 49ers are led by head coach and former Tar Heel guard Wes Miller and assistant coach Marcus Paige, another UNC alum who served three seasons on former head coach Hubert Davis’ staff in Carolina.
“I’m really thankful for Coach Malone, he did an amazing job embracing the Carolina family and all that, and that meant a lot to me,” Miller said. “I know a lot of teammates and friends that have been through this program in the past, so I’m really grateful to him for allowing us to come play.”
How it happened
First half
• Carolina missed 8 of its first 10 shots and allowed the 49ers to take a 10-5 lead in the opening minutes. Meanwhile, Charlotte made four three-pointers in the first eight minutes to take an 18-8 lead into the second timeout.
• The 49ers then used a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 25-10, making seven straight shots while holding the Tar Heels without a field goal for more than five minutes until Stevenson ended the drought with a corner three.
• Charlotte led by 15 at 29-14 with 5:28 left in the first half. Carolina finished the half on a 19-7 run.
Second half
• A three-pointer by Young with 13:39 remaining tied the score at 45, the first time the 49ers had not led since the game began at 3:17.
• Ninety seconds later, another triple from Young gave Carolina its first lead since 17:08 of the first half at 50-49.
• The teams traded baskets for most of the rest of the game. Charlotte regained the lead at 74-69 with a 6-0 score in 1:29 in the final four minutes.
• Carolina tied it at 78 on a Brown free throw with 16.9 seconds on the clock after officials assessed Charlotte a technical foul for calling a timeout with none remaining.
Over time
• Standing immediately in front of the UNC bench, Stevenson made a three-pointer with 2:12 left to give Carolina an 85-82 lead, then the Tar Heel defense forced a stop and Avdalas made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 86-82 with 1:24 to play.
• After another miss by Charlotte, Brown ran a bit up the middle of the court, then nailed a three to take an 89-82 lead with 40 seconds left.
• The 49ers missed their final seven shots of the game as Carolina finished on a 9-0 run to earn the victory.
Following
Carolina will open its regular season Monday night at 7 p.m. on ACC Network against Western Carolina.
Stay up to date with the latest Tar Heel men’s basketball news on @UNC_Basketball And @UNCMBBstats and on Instagram at UNC_Basketball.
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