After Oregon’s Alleyne, who scored her 70th double-double, made the second of two free throws with 25 seconds left, the Tar Heels had two chances to win.
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North Carolina cruised to its 11th consecutive season-opening win, without Paige, who will miss at least three weeks after breaking a bone in his right hand on November 3.
“We’ve been through a lot this season”, Scott said on his weekly Sunday teleconference.
-Matt Johnson (Bowling Green), Paxton Lynch (Memphis), Connor Cook (Michigan State), Dak Prescott (Mississppi State) and Anu Solomon (Arizona) are the only other quarterbacks that have accomplished this feat. On the one hand were the Tar Heels, a team that harbors legitimate Final Four hopes with four starters returning from last year’s team that won 26 games.
UNC senior Brice Johnson had 16 points and 11 rebounds, while frontcourtmate Kennedy Meeks pulled down 12 rebounds.
It wasn’t the 6-3 guard’s best night, as he finished 2-of-7 for his five points, including just 1-of-5 from the 3-point arc, but his shot selection was good-as was his assist-to-turnover ratio, with six dimes against two mistakes.
This, in the long run, is the best thing that could happen to the Tar Heels because other players are going to find their roles in the grand scheme in order to keep the ship afloat. The performance against Fairfield, which was competitive through the first 30 minutes or so, provided proof of how far the Tar Heels have yet to come.
“We weren’t as good as we needed to be rebounding, no question against that size and athleticism”, Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. “We’re going to make sure we finish the season the right way”, Scott said. “If anything it’ll probably give me a little more motivation, or give me an extra edge-just because I do know after this it’s my last game here”.
“This was a history week because they are now one of only two teams in 125 years of football at the University of North Carolina which has won seven games on this field”, Fedora said.
Conversely, the Tar Heels entered the week 39th nationally in fewest penalty yards per game (47.33) and 50th in fewest penalties per game (5.78). Head coach Roy Williams will turn to Joel Berry II and Nate Britt to try and bridge the gap, but it’s never easy losing the focal point of the team. The result: North Carolina led 31-0 after two quarters. Williams has rushed for 28 scores (UNC record for QB), passed for 52 and has three receiving TDs. Someone from North Carolina treating Miami like this? Temple’s Obi Enechionyia, not playing due to a foot related injury, was detrimental to the Owls big game. Britt didn’t finish, however, getting ejected after a brief shoving match with 59.4 seconds left. UNC is also 6-0 in the ACC for the first time since winning its last ACC crown in 1980.
North Carolina doesn’t possess any potential National Basketball Association lottery selections, but it does have plenty of quality college players, which is what gets teams ranked at the top.
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The game was part of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Classic, though it wasn’t part of the event’s elimination rounds.
