No. 10 North Carolina runs wild to overwhelm Hawaii on national TV

Playing at the speed of blur, the 10th-ranked North Carolina basketball team ran away to an 87-69 victory over Hawaii in Friday’s nationally televised game in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 8,377 saw the Tar Heels’ starting guards combine for 48 points and lead the charge into the lane.

The Tar Heels (3-1) colored the paint Carolina Blue, outscoring the ’Bows 26-6 at the rim in the second half. The Tar Heels also constructed a 19-1 advantage in fast-break points.

“One of the things we talked about was attacking the basket,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Penetration. We felt like our guards could get to the rim any time they wanted to. We put a lot of pressure on the rim.”

The ’Bows (4-1) went with three-guard lineups and even used a sliding 2-3 zone to slow lane entries.

“Kind of the theme was easy to say, hard to do,” UH coach Eran Ganot said of creating the “wall” to defend the paint from UNC’s driving guards.

All-America guard R.J. Davis led the Tar Heels with 18 points. Elliot Cadeau, who was limited to six first-half minutes because of early foul trouble, finished with 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting. Sean Trimble contributed 13 points.

“We have good guards, good guards that compete on both sides of the floor,” Hubert Davis said.

Ganot noted the Tar Heels were able to parlay turnovers and UH misses into extremely fast turnarounds the other way.

“You saw the power of what they do when they get a miss or a turnover,” Ganot said. “They dominated us at the rim versus what we were doing at the rim.”

The ’Bows controlled the boards, building a 40-27 advantage, including 15-5 off the offensive glass.

Half of center Tanner Christensen’s 10 rebounds were grabbed off missed UH shots. Gytis Nemeiksa came off the bench to grab 10 rebounds and score a team-high 16 points. Nemeiksa and reserve wing Akira Jacobs each buried three 3s.

“You beat a team 13 on the boards — (against) a really good rebounding program — you put yourself in position,” Ganot said.

The Tar Heels used a 10-0 run to take a 13-2 lead with 13:41 left in the first half.

Spurred by a crowd of white shirts — some emblazoned with “Save Craig” in honor of recently fired athletic director Craig Angelos — the ’Bows cut a once 11-point deficit to 35-32 when Ryan Rapp pump-faked then scored on a floater with 1:16 left in the first half.

But R.J. Davis shuffled at the top of the key, then buried a 3 to extend the Tar Heels’ lead to 38-32.

UH guard Tom Beattie answered with a layup with 38.5 seconds to play. But then Ian Jackson got the ball on the right wing and swished a 3 for a 41-34 lead to complete the first-half scoring.

Christensen’s pivot-pivot-pivot dunk opened the scoring for UH in the second half. But the Tar Heels reeled off 11 unanswered points to make it 52-36 with 17:15 to play. The ’Bows would not get under double digits the rest of the way.

“Start of the game, start of the second half, really brutal,” Ganot said. “Maybe that’s what our team needs to go through. I do believe that. And as we have some of these new faces, we had a lot of lapses in possessions, disorganization. They took advantage of us.”

The Tar Heels’ drives also created free-throw opportunities. The Tar Heels hit 12 of 14 from the line in the first half, 26 of 34 overall. The ’Bows were 17-for-24 on free throws.

“Give them credit,” Ganot said. “Some bright spots we can build off of. But obviously, when we were good, we’re good, and when we were bad, we’re really bad. Good teams take advantage of that.”

Ganot also indicated the ’Bows would not settle for fighting the good fight.

“We’re not going to be OK with this,” Ganot said. “We’re not going to be OK with some of the bright spots. It’s not what we do.”