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Barnes, Tar Heels hook Horns

Dec 22, 2011 - 3:27 AM Chapel Hill, NC (Sports Network) - Harrison Barnes recorded a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds as No. 5 North Carolina extended its non- conference home winning streak to 54 games with an 82-63 thrashing of Texas.

"Everyone only looks at the points, but I look at what we're doing defensively, and I really thought he was more active tonight," UNC head coach Roy Williams said of Barnes. "If he's attacking the basket, I like that. I also like when he shoots the three-point shot. He's got a wide variety of options, and hopefully we moving forward where we can use all of them."

John Henson netted 14 points and snatched eight rebounds, Kendall Marshall added four points and nine assists, and Tyler Zeller scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (11-2), who snapped a four-game losing streak against the Longhorns.

J'Covan Brown, Jonathan Holmes and Sheldon McClellan each scored 16 points for Texas (9-3), which had its seven-game winning streak snapped.

"We just weren't disciplined on the offensive end - and that's my fault," Texas head coach Rick Barnes said. "I told them that we will get that fixed after Christmas because we are going to get the guys out there that understand that it's team game, and that we are going to really do the things that we practice. Not to take anything away from North Carolina, but we never gave ourselves a chance to win the game."

Dexter Strickland got the UNC crowd going right away, finishing with an emphatic two-handed jam in transition over Texas' Myck Kabongo for a 6-3 lead just minutes into the contest.

Brown nailed a three-pointer to tie the game at six, but the Tar Heels went on a 13-1 run to take a 19-7 lead with under 12 minutes to go in the opening half. The Longhorns had trouble against the length and size of UNC's frontcourt, hitting on just two of their first 13 shots.

The Longhorns, though, made a bit of a charge by going on a 7-2 spurt, capped by a Brown three-pointer for a 24-16 game.

But the Tar Heels quickly put their foot back on the pedal, scoring the game's next eight points to take a 32-16 lead with just under five minutes to play in the stanza. Using its exceptional transition game, UNC scored six of their eight points on the fastbreak during the stretch.

The Tar Heels took a 39-23 lead into the locker room. Barnes and Reggie Bullock each had seven points to pace UNC in the opening 20 minutes, and its defense held Texas to just 25 percent shooting in the first half.

The 20-point barrier was breached when Marshall fed James Michael McAdoo for an easy slam for a 50-29 game with about 16 minutes to play.

Texas then went on a 9-2 run, but once again UNC had the answer. The Tar Heels countered with an 8-0 spurt, capped when Henson hit a pair from the line to regain their 20-point bulge, 59-38, with 11 1/2 minutes left.

The Longhorns weren't able to cut into the deficit as UNC cruised the rest of the way.

UNC held a 49-34 advantage on the boards, and got to the line 22 more times than Texas. UNC finished 23-of-31 from the charity stripe, while the Longhorns made 6-of-9 free-throw attempts.

Game Notes

Texas leads the all-time series 4-3, and had defeated UNC in each of the last two seasons coming into Wednesday night's game... Cory Joseph's jumper with 1.4 seconds remaining gave Texas a 78-76 win over UNC last season...Roy Williams coached in his 300th game at UNC. He is 236-64 as head coach at the school...UNC has a 24-game home winning streak...UNC is 14-0 when Marshall records at least nine assists.