No. 11 North Carolina beats No. 22 UCLA 89-76

Between Joel Berry and Theo Pinson stepping up earlier in the year to Brice Johnson moving to the next level over the past two games, this team is taking advantage of extra opportunities.

The 6-foot-9 forward is shooting the ball better than ever, averaging a career-high in points and rebounds, and he’s scored in double-figures in all 11 games.

“I kind of used some bad language and Coach was really pissed-off at me about it”, Johnson said, and the fact that he explained his benching for bad language while using more questionable language garnered a good chuckle from the assembled media. UCLA’s Aaron Holiday (3) shoots over North Carolina’s Isaiah Hicks (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015, in NY.

Isaac Hamilton scored a season-high 23 points as No. 22 UCLA lost to No. 11 North Carolina, 89-76, on Saturday afternoon in a CBS Sports Classic game at the Barclays Center.

While the Tar Heels controlled much of the second half, UCLA raced out to the game’s first double-digit lead. “Coach got mad and took him out”, Williams said. “It put a fire into my butt and when I got back in there I was ready to go”. After another Johnson layup, which gave him his 27th point, UNC’s streak of made shots from the field ended at 11. Though the Bruins need to evaluate what went right and wrong in this game, you can guarantee they will come back stronger in their last non-conference game against McNeese State on Tuesday.

Williams didn’t reveal the magic words that got Johnson in hot water.

“No, didn’t care”, Williams said. “I nearly hugged him and kissed him one time”, Williams said. “We thought a key was going to be which bigs got in foul trouble and our bigs got in trouble”. Then Johnson had eight points and Berry seven in a 20-6 surge that pushed the lead back to 80-63. When Johnson sat down, Carolina was down by 7. Johnson had four points in the run and when UCLA (8-4) broke its 4:28 scoring drought, Johnson answered immediately to restore the 16-point lead. The Bruins were able to claw into the Carolina lead at 60-57 on forward Jonah Bolden’s tip-in, but Johnson scored four of the next nine points to extend the Tar Heels’ lead to 69-57 at the 7:35 mark. The Bruins finished 8-of-17 from behind the arc, just adding another game to the list in which the Tar Heels struggled to defend the perimeter. I didn’t think we handled the traps very well. 1 Kentucky and then-No. They defeated Ohio State in the inaugural year last season at the United Center in Chicago.

Before Saturday, UCLA had committed more than 10 turnovers just once in December. They also have a win over Gonzaga and took a 19-point beating from Kansas in the Maui Invitational in November.

When it was all over, the Bruins allowed 51 second-half points, even though they only allowed three 3-point baskets in the period.

Zach Stahl scored 18 with seven rebounds and David Walker had 13 with eight assists for Northeastern, which beat then-No. He made his next five shots and finished the half with 13 points.

No. 11 North Carolina returns home for one final game before Christmas break against Appalachian State.

North Carolina embarked on a 13-0 run after those missed free throws, removing any hope for UCLA’s third upset win in as many weeks. Paige has 1,495 points as he tries to become the 29th player in North Carolina history to score 1,500 points…. The Tar Heels opened the second half with an 8-0 scoring run before UCLA closed the margin to 50-47 with 15:47 remaining. Former North Carolina guard Wayne Ellington, who plays for the Brooklyn Nets, was in the crowd.

Four times North Carolina has stepped onto a neutral court so far, and four times it walked away with a win.