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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- Still feeling down following consecutive road losses to Indiana and Louisville, North Carolina struggled in the first half before pulling away from winless Howard.
Brendan Haywood had a season-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Kris Lang started for the first time since last year's NCAA
tournament in the Tar Heels' (No. 14 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, No. 13 AP) 86-53 win over the Bison on Sunday.
|  | | North Carolina's Joseph Forte slams home two of his 14 points Sunday. |
"This was a big game for us emotionally," Haywood said.
"After the Louisville game, some guys had their heads down. Some
guys had issues that had to be dealt with. We all sat down as a
team and got back into the right frame of mind."
The Tar Heels (9-4) took a 39-30 halftime lead then opened the
second half with a 25-3 run. Ed Cota assisted on five of the Tar
Heels' first seven baskets of the second half and finished with 12
assists and five points.
"We just wanted to get out there and execute our offense better
than we had been," Cota said. "We finally played together as a
team, and that helped us lot in the second half."
Joseph Forte added 14 points for North Carolina. Lang, who
chipped in 10 points, started all but two games last season as a
freshman. But he was nagged by a series of injuries and kept from
the starting lineup until Sunday's game.
The game was North Carolina's last tuneup before Thursday's
Atlantic Coast Conference opener at home against Clemson. The Tar
Heels only have played three home game this season after a brutal
road schedule that resulted in their worst start since opening 8-5
in 1989.
"I told the team I may have overscheduled them," coach Bill
Guthridge said. "I don't know if that's true, and we won't really
know if it was good or bad until the end of the season."
Reggie Morris scored 17 points and Aquil Bayyan 10 for Howard
(0-9).
North Carolina led by as much as 70-35 before pulling its
starters with 8 minutes to play.
The 7-foot Haywood, seven inches taller than any Bison regular,
dominated the first half with 13 points and nine boards. He made
eight of a total 12 shots for the game and went 5-for-6 at the
line.
Howard connected on just 12 of its first 28 shots, but made five
of 11 3-point tries in the first half to stay within single
figures. Each of the Bison's first four baskets came from well
beyond the arc, and they led 9-6 early on.
Ahead just 19-18 after a layup by Howard's Ron Williamson with
8:42 left in the first half, North Carolina took control with a
15-2 run over the next 4:33.
Cota moved in front of Clemson's Grayson Marshall for third
place in the ACC career assists list with 867. Cota said North
Carolina needed a game like Sunday's to purge memories of its
recent road trip.
"We definitely looked drowsy at Louisville and we got blown out
of the gym because of it," Cota said. "I think we still had the
loss to Indiana on our minds. We never gave the game 100 percent.
We never looked in synch."
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Howard Clubhouse
North Carolina Clubhouse
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