hgutmann@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
CHAPEL HILL — The loudest cheers during the pregame introductions at the Smith Center didn’t go to North Carolina’s biggest stars Thursday night.
Instead, they were directed at sophomore Reggie Bullock.
The Kinston native, who was making his first start, said he was so focused that he didn’t notice the crowd noise, but one thing did register.
“When they said ‘Kinston, North Carolina,’ hearing that in the Dean Smith Center just meant a lot to me,” Bullock said.
He can expect to hear that more often thanks to his performance in No. 7 UNC’s 74-55 win over N.C. State.
Bullock made 3 of 5 shots from behind the arc and scored 11 points, hitting double figures for the first time since Jan. 1. He also had five rebounds, three assists and just one turnover in 33 minutes.
Perhaps his biggest contribution, however, was hounding sharpshooter Scott Wood, the leading scorer for N.C. State (15-6, 4-2 ACC).
Wood, who came in hitting an ACC-best 45.3 percent from long range, had just three points on 1-of-7 shooting in the first 29 minutes as the Tar Heels (17-3, 4-1) built a 63-34 lead.
“You can’t give Scott an open look, so what you try to do is get there and hope you have a hand in his face,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “I thought Reggie did a good job of shadowing him around the screens.”
Wood finished with 11 points, but his disappointment was evident after the game when asked how frustrating it was to lose to UNC for the 11th straight time.
“I don’t know. Has your wife ever cheated on you?” Wood said. “That’s probably about how frustrating it is.”
Though Bullock was pleased with Thursday’s performance, he knows he still has a long way to go before he can make people forget about the man he replaced. Junior Dexter Strickland, who is out for the season with a right knee injury, was the team’s best on-ball defender.
“It’s just one game,” Bullock said. “I played good defense that one game, I just have to continue it for the rest of the season. I know Dex brings it every night, so I have to bring it every night when I’m out there.”
Stilman White also performed well while filling Strickland’s role as the backup point guard. The freshman from Wilmington scored his first points in ACC play on a 3-pointer and recorded his first conference assist on a pass that Tyler Zeller turned into a three-point play. White also didn’t turn the ball over in six minutes.
“Definitely I was just going out to get my feet wet and see if I could handle the pressure and everything, and I felt pretty confident out there, which I’m pretty happy with,” White said.
Three times against the Wolfpack, Williams subbed White in for starter Kendall Marshall with about minute to go before the scheduled media timeouts, giving Marshall extra time to rest.
Williams likely didn’t expect White to hit more 3-pointers than freshman P.J. Hairston, who continues his recent struggles by missing all five attempts from behind the arc and is now 4-of-24 in league play.
White’s 3-pointer came during UNC’s decisive 22-6 run in the beginning of the second half, and like Bullock’s introduction, the shot caused got a loud roar from the Smith Center crowd.
“It was just a huge energy surge; it’s something you can’t really explain,” White said. “That’s what you come to a place like this for, with 20,000 fans screaming and you get to hit a big 3.”
