North Carolina 92, Fairfield 65

Nate Britt matched his career high with 17 points and No. 1 North Carolina gradually pulled away in the second half to beat Fairfield 92-65 on Sunday.

He was sitting in the players lounge outside of the UNC locker room at the Smith Center, where the Tar Heels had slogged their way through a victory that, while never in doubt, wasn’t exactly an aesthetic masterpiece. They also took care of the pill only turning it over 10 times in the contest compared to 19 turnovers by the stags. Jillian Alleyne tallied a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

In the opener, the Oregon Ducks won 79-77 over the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill.

The Hurricanes’ embarrassing 59-21 loss to No. 23 University of North Carolina (UNC) was a brutal learning experience.

“The other night – one point – and then today Jamie’s shot could have easily been in, but it didn’t go in”. “Coach asks the same thing of all of us”.

Hatchell indicated that her team’s defensive play was not there yet; “gettin’ lost at times”, as she put it.

Ernie Duncan led Vermont (0-2) with 18 points, and Trae Bell-Haynes added 17.

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

The Ducks would start off with freshman Maite Cazorla, as their point guard – something new, because in the past the Ducks have not had a true point guard.

Here are the three things that we will take away from this game. The change made a noticeable difference, as he improved his percentage from deep and hit 26 three-pointers as a sophomore. OR would hold on from there to finish out the game. I’d like to see that cleaned up a little bit as the season goes on. “That’s part of who were are – we like to shoot the three”.

The Tar Heels trailed 78-74 with a minute to play.

North Carolina had most of the answers in this contest. During the run in which the game began to turn from competitive to blowout, Britt made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, pushing UNC’s lead to 14 points both times.

The difference was back down to one.

Not only has Paige been the Tar Heels’ best player over the last two seasons, but he’s also been the team’s undisputed leader.

He returned against the Tar Heels and was penalized multiple times; he finished with two tackles and a pass break-up in the loss. These Tar Heels had presumably learned all these lessons in years past and would not get caught relaxing after a solid opening win over Temple.

“They battled and fought hard and did what they needed to”, Hatchell said. “This is a great team and guys are committed to what we’ve been doing and guys are excited for the opportunities we get”.