Meeks Drops 26, Leads North Carolina Over Temple in Veterans Classic

Despite taking the court without its best player, No. 1 North Carolina proved to be a deep, talented team in its season opener. The Tar Heels also totaled 17 assists.

California 75, No. 8 Louisville 71: Courtney Range and Kristine Anigwe had 19 points each to lift visiting Cal (2-0), which overcame 27 turnovers. UNC shot 55 percent in the second half.

Brice Johnson: Johnson started slowly for the second consecutive game but finished with a double-double – 16 points and 11 rebounds – and played through foul trouble in the second half. During the next five minutes the Tar Heels went on a 15-7 run to build a 16-point lead.

To hammer home the point, Theo Pinson drilled a long-range jumper at the buzzer, turned around and strutted toward the locker room with the score 47-36.

Here are the three things that we will take away from this game. “It’s a tight schedule, and I have so much respect for them”.

The college basketball season got off to another rousing start Friday night at the Veterans Classic in Annapolis, where the country’s top-ranked team opened the doubleheader with an overpowering performance.

Kennedy Meeks had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and three other Tar Heels scored in double figures Friday night in a 91-67 win over Temple.

However, OR had a big third quarter and led 65-59 as both teams began the final 10 minutes of play.

The Ducks were still ahead, by as many as 10, leading 73-63 with six minutes remaining.

Toss out your theories for why North Carolina didn’t seem all that fired up for its home opener.

The ‘Canes will have a tough test today in Chapel Hill, N.C. against the 8-1, Tar Heels (undefeated in conference play). OR would hold on from there to finish out the game.

“We separated a little bit from them. That’s part of who were are – we like to shoot the three”. Alleyne missed her first free-throw attempt but made the second to put OR up two. He finished 8-of-10 from the free throw line, getting there early and often.

But even the presence of the lengthy 6-foot-9 sophomore wouldn’t have made a difference against the huge and talented Tar Heels.

North Carolina felt it needed to have everyone step up with senior point guard Marcus Paige out until early December with a broken right hand. The Tar Heels have flown under the radar since their loss to the Gamecocks but their blowout win against the Blue Devils last Saturday put them back into the forefront of college football bettors.

Stacy Coley led the team with five grabs for 58 yards, but none of Miami’s receivers made an impact on the game.

The difference was back down to one. “Because we were playing as if we really didn’t care”, sophomore swingman Justin Jackson said. That was again the case in this game. The unranked Ducks are making up for the loss of two seniors.

He, along with his Tar Heels teammates, had arrived at the arena before their game at the Naval Academy.

“They’re hangin’ in there, and they’re workin’ hard”. “We’re happy to get out of here with a win and had a great time while we were here”.