Top-ranked North Carolina stayed unbeaten on Tuesday night in a game at the Smith Center, but only after surviving a tougher time than expected against Tennessee State.
UNC captured a 102-69 decision to improve to 4-0 but had to pull away early in the second half after Tennessee State made a run at its lead.
The Tar Heels' lead was down to 55-45 after Kharon Butcher hit a 3-pointer for Tennessee State on the first basket after halftime. Thereafter, however, UNC's size and fast break proved too much for Tennessee State.
UNC responded by going on a 14-0 scoring run in the next five minutes for a 69-45 margin. The lead kept growing, and UNC carried an 82-54 advantage into the final 8:12 after P.J. Hairston, a freshman guard, made two free throws.
Coach Roy Williams told his team at halftime that it had to play better defense, after holding a 55-42 lead at the break.
"I chewed their rear ends out because I didn't think we were very good defensively," Williams said. "It's an easy game. You've got to guard your man so everybody doesn't have to spend all day helping you.
"If we do that, then our defense has got a chance to be really good. This team has got to do a better job of guarding the basketball."
The second basket of the decisive run seemed to get UNC going. Tyler Zeller had the ball outside the foul line but threw a pass inside to John Henson, who was near the basket.
Henson started to move for the basket, but saw Zeller cutting down the lane and passed back. Zeller dunked for a 61-45 lead.
The 6-11 Henson then contributed on defense. Wil Peters drove to the basket for Tennessee State, but Henson raced over just as Peters shot from about 4 feet. Henson didn't block the shot, but his presence forced Peters to shoot higher than usual and miss.
UNC turned the rebound into another basket and a 65-45 lead. Two possessions later, Henson made the same defensive play when Michael Green shot a 15-foot jumper. UNC rebounded and Henson caught a pass on UNC's trip down the floor and dunked for the 24-point lead.
Reggie Bullock, a sophomore guard, came off the bench to score 23 points, a career high, and hit 6 of 7 3-point shots. Williams said Bullock had been struggling in his outside shooting in the first three games, but Bullock said Tuesday night that he simply caught the ball and fired at the basket.
"It's a big relief because I've been thinking about my shot so much," Bullock said. "I just need to make shots."
Henson added 16 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high six assists.
Kendall Marshall handed out 15 assists. He has had at least 15 assists in three games; no other UNC player had 15 assists more than once. It took Marshall only 24 starts to get 15 for the third time.
Tennessee State fell to 2-3. Kellen Thornton led its scoring with 15 points.
UNC had to fight for all 20 minutes of the first half to keep its lead and be up 13 points at the break. UNC made 13 of its first 17 shots to open a 33-17 lead, but Tennessee State wouldn't crack and kept firing 3-pointers that chopped into the margin.
With 5:54 left before halftime, UNC's lead was 37-33. Bullock made two 3-pointers and a layup in the final 5:08 to help rebuild the margin by the halftime break.
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