Temple Falls to #1 UNC 91-67 in Season Opener

After pounding Temple 91-67 to open the season there is no doubt the North Carolina Tar Heels will remain atop the national rankings.

Top-ranked North Carolina launched a season of lofty expectations by proving it can win handily without standout guard Marcus Paige.

That’s an astounding 20.4 points less than a year ago when North Carolina was one of the nation’s worst in that category.

“We felt like we had the advantage inside”, North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “Our big guys were getting in foul trouble. But I think you don’t do those things if you’re into it more, mentally”.

Tie in the absence of sophomore power forward and perhaps Temple’s best defender Obi Enechionyia, who watched the game from the bench while wearing a protective boot for what he called a right ankle sprain suffered in practice on Monday, and the Owls didn’t stand much of a chance.

An afterthought on the college football landscape for many years, the Tar Heels are 8-1 in 2015, and have won eight games in a row-including an undefeated 5-0 record against conference opponents. They wound up going to the NIT, reaching the semifinals there and winning 26 games themselves.

“That was our whole thing from the beginning of the game – just to get the ball down low”, Meeks said. “(We wanted) to get it as low as possible. That was for all the bigs.

Leading 31-0 at the break, UNC came out and added a 2-yard scoring pass from Williams to Brandon Fritts and a 3-yard scoring run by Williams to make it 45-0 before Miami scored on an 8-yard strike from Brad Kaaya to Lawrence Cager.

That’s what happens when you score 125 combined points in two games-people start to notice. Maybe the Tar Heels relaxed after a solid win over Temple to start the season. Coleman played just five minutes in the second half, saying afterward that cramps were bothering him but that he was fine. The North Carolina Tar Heels are 7-1 and 5-3 against the spread.

“In the first half, I felt that we came out strong and we competed”, senior guard Quenton DeCosey, who finished with 11 points, said. North Carolina missed seven of its first nine shots.

The Tar Heels, with the help of two Williams rushing touchdowns, jumped out to a 24-0 lead over the Hurricanes by about the time the second quarter was halfway done. But the Owls kept fighting. But without Paige, at least through two games, it has been Britt, who has been UNC’s best outside shooter and most efficient scorer on the perimeter. The team’s starters combined to shoot 9-of-32 with forward Marcus Gilbert (team-high 16.4 points last season) struggling to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.

“We weren’t as good as we needed to be rebounding, no question against that size and athleticism”, Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. “They’re really talented inside”. “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”. Hurricanes vs North Carolina Tar Heels live stream online NCAA College Football ESPNU TV broadcast coverage, live scores, Game Kickoff time & schedule and Radio Commentary info here.