The Tar Heels survived a very discombobulated middle stretch in the first half to stake a seven point halftime lead on the way to a 80-69 win over Northwestern in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.
The game started well enough from an offensive standpoint with Justin Jackson hitting a three to open the game and the Tar Heels offense operating with a fair amount of efficiency on the way to an early 18-8 lead. Northwestern responded with a flurry of threes to cut the lead to one. From there the Tar Heels struggled on both ends. With Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson rotating out of the game the offense sputtered and defensively the Tar Heels had trouble stopping dribble penetration.