Appalachian State knocked back North Carolina early, but North Carolina shook off the blow and cruised to a 97-82 victory Saturday night at the Smith Center.
Ahead only 34-30, after surging in front by 11 points in the first 3:18, North Carolina pulled safely in front by halftime behind Tyler Zeller's inside scoring and Kendall Marshall's passing.
The Tar Heels put together a 12-0 run to build their lead to 46-30 with 42 seconds left in the first half. Zeller and Marshall provided sparks in the first seven minutes of the second half, and baskets inside and at the end of breaks produced a 75-46 lead with 11:34 left.
The victory was the Tar Heels' 22nd straight at home, but coach Roy Williams said he wasn't pleased with his team's consistency or the reserves' inability to hold the lead in the final six minutes.
"It was a W. It's Christmas time, and I'm not going to be Scrooge," Williams said. "We were really good for about the last four minutes of the first half and the first four or five minutes of the second half, and then we went brain dead there for a while."
The Tar Heels improved to 9-2. The Mountaineers fell to 4-6 in the homecoming for coach Jason Capel, who played for the Tar Heels in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Capel commended his team for not backing down when North Carolina took its early lead and after it built the 29-point margin. He tried to help his players with his knowledge of the North Carolina system, but that was of limited benefit.
"It's funny because everything they ran, I knew it was coming," Capel said. "I'm screaming out everything that's going to happen, but it's a little different. Nothing can prepare you for a 7-footer (Zeller) running that fast. It's impossible to do."
Zeller led the Tar Heels with 31 points, one shy of his career high, and added 10 rebounds. John Henson scored 17 points, and Marshall handed out 13 assists.
Reserves Reggie Bullock and P.J. Hairston added 10 points each. Harrison Barnes scored nine and had his 24-game streak of double-figures scoring stopped.
North Carolina was playing for the first time in a week because of final exams, and practice time was limited because of academic responsibilities, but Zeller said he didn't think his team was rusty.
"I was very thankful to have finals over with so I could just play basketball," Zeller said. "We're young enough that there shouldn't be any rust. Finals are exhausting, but you've also got to be able to be prepared to play basketball."
Omar Carter scored 21 points for Appalachian State. He didn't start, a decision made by Capel, and said that being demoted lit a fire.
Four players scored all the points in the 12-0 run that reestablished control for the Tar Heels in the final 4:18 of the first half. A Mountaineers' basket cut the lead to 46-32 with 11 seconds left, but the Tar Heels tacked on a basket off a broken play.
Marshall looked ahead for Zeller and fired a long pass downcourt. The ball sailed high and hit near the top of the backboard. Dexter Strickland ran it down and dished to Zeller for a layup with two seconds left.
The play was a chief reason why Williams didn't think Zeller's game was his best of the season.
"I thought he scored (well), but like he said, he threw one up there, and it hit a light bulb and went in," Williams said. "He turned to the bench and said, 'It's just one of those nights.' "
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