bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
CLEMSON, S.C. -- The North Carolina Tar Heels might want to avoid Littlejohn Coliseum the next time they're ranked No. 12 in the country.
No. 24 Clemson used a 26-6 run in the first half to build a sizable lead, and the Tar Heels could never recover in a 83-64 loss at a raucous Littlejohn Coliseum on Wednesday.
The Tigers ended a 10-game losing streak against UNC, as Clemson got its first win over the Tar Heels since Jan. 31, 2004, when they were ranked 12th in the nation.
"It's always satisfying when you beat a Duke or a North Carolina or any team like that with a storied program, but I don't look it at that way," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. "This is an early ACC win, which is good for our team, but you don't see me smiling yet."
It also was the Tar Heels' biggest margin of defeat under Coach Roy Williams, surpassing the 84-66 loss to Kansas in the 2008 Final Four.
"I've never felt like this before," UNC senior guard Marcus Ginyard said.
It arguably was the worst game of the season for the Tar Heels, who dropped to 1-5 away from the Smith Center and saw the home crowd storm the court in celebration for the second straight road game. UNC (12-5, 1-1 ACC) turned the ball over 26 times, tying the season-high, and Clemson (14-3, 2-1) scored 33 points off those miscues.
"It's tough to win when you turn it over almost 30 times," Ginyard said. "We never really gave ourselves a chance to win."
It also didn't help that the Tar Heels' top two scorers and rebounders disappeared for the majority of the game. Ed Davis, who had been averaging 16.3 points and 11.3 rebounds, finished the half with four points and five rebounds. Deon Thompson, who had been averaging 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds, finished with four points and four rebounds.
"Guys who are leaders on this team didn't produce as well tonight," Thompson said. "And we turned the ball over like it was going out of style, so we definitely have to do better with those things."
The Tar Heels turned the ball over on their first three possessions as the Tigers built a 6-0 lead -- and things only got worse for UNC from there. A layup by Ginyard cut the score to 9-6, but then Clemson went on a 26-6 run over the next 6:38.
The Tigers hit 5 of 7 attempts from 3-point range during the stretch before the Tar Heels scored six straight points to cut the lead to 35-18. But then Andre Young hit a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 38-18, and the Tigers went into halftime with a 50-32 advantage.
"I just coached a poor game tonight," Williams said. "They had a tremendous sense of urgency and tremendous passion. We went down [6-0] and I almost called a timeout, and I have never done that in my life. We turned the ball over 15 times [in the first half], had two veterans that couldn't pass and catch. There is no reason but to say that the head coach did a poor job."
Things didn't get much better in the second half. Two minutes in, Williams replaced his starting five of Ginyard, Thompson, Davis, Larry Drew II and Will Graves with the five freshmen after the starters turned the ball over twice in the backcourt and gave up four points.
The freshmen were able to score two straight buckets to put the score at 54-36 before the starters returned a minute and a half later, and the Tar Heels kept chipping away.
A Drew layup cut the score to 68-57 with 6:03 to play -- the closest the Tar Heels had been since the first half -- but a Demontez Stitt completed a three-point play on the other end to push the lead to 71-57. UNC never got closer after that.
