Heels roll past Belmont Abbey in exhibition

CHAPEL HILL - The day before North Carolina hosted Belmont Abbey in an exhibition game, the Tar Heels hosted the Crusaders for a viewing of their practice.

You can have that kind of confidence when you’re a team in the top five of the preseason rankings and your opponent is a Division II school.

The results played out predictably in UNC’s only exhibition game, as it went on to crush Belmont Abbey 107-59 three days before the start of the regular season.

“It was just a chance to play against a new team because we’ve been going against each other every day in practice,” said sophomore Ed Davis, who had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists for Carolina.

Senior Deon Thompson led the way with 23 points, 16 of which he scored in the first half.

Thompson missed just one shot in the game and also grabbed eight rebounds.

“Deon’s not going to go 11 of 12 every night, but I wish he would,” UNC coach Roy Williams said.

Carolina used a series of bursts to gradually bury the Crusaders.

A 9-0 run early in the second half pushed the lead past 30 and a 14-0 run midway through the half to pushed it beyond 40.

When Davis dunked the ball so hard it went careening off of Belmont Abbey forward Kyle Phillips’ head, the Heels were up 50.

Just another ho-hum exhibition game.

Maybe the only thing not as predictable was UNC’s new pro-style set of introductions, complete with spotlights and booming music.

The starting lineup consisted of Thompson, Davis and Will Graves up front, with Marcus Ginyard and Larry Drew II in the backcourt, but Williams said that was no indicator of what he’d do going forward.

“There’s no plan there,” Williams said. “If Will doesn’t sprint back on defense like he didn’t on the third play, then he’ll come out even faster.”

Graves, who left the game late with what appeared to be tightness in his back, was first replaced a little more than two minutes into the game by freshman John Henson.

Despite some hiccups, Carolina dominated when it wanted to, forcing 30 turnovers and holding the Crusaders to 31 percent shooting.

Belmont Abbey was within 13 points late in the first half but then the Tar Heels turned up the tempo and went to the locker room with a 57-31 lead.

The Tar Heels shot 57 percent and enjoyed a 20-rebound advantage in the game thanks to their big size advantage.

It was the first public game action for Carolina’s freshmen, who had hit-and-miss moments in their debuts.

Dexter Strickland, for instance, came in made a steal and then finished at the other end with a dunk. That was part of a 17-2 Carolina run that blew the game open in the first half.

Fellow freshman guard Leslie McDonald, though, came in and immediately let a Belmont Abbey guard blow by him, forcing McDonald to foul.

And Henson, a stick-thin wing player, air-balled a free throw just seconds after checking into the game (and did it again in the second half).

“They definitely can be nervous going out there in front of a big crowd,” Thompson said. “I think they all can play well.”

Clearly, the Tar Heels were more talented.

But Williams wasn’t pleased with everything just because the margin was a big one.

He certainly didn’t like the fact that his team had 20 turnovers of their own. Or that sometimes the Heels had trouble with their spacing on offense.

“All in all, I think we got more out of it than we would have if we had a really spirited practice,” Williams said.