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Zeller helps Tar Heels thump Hurricanes

Jan 11, 2012 - 5:46 AM Chapel Hill, NC (Sports Network) - Tyler Zeller totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds, helping third-ranked North Carolina to a 73-56 win over Miami- Florida.

Dexter Strickland added 14 points, while John Henson chipped in 11 points and 14 boards for the Tar Heels (15-2, 2-0 ACC), who went undefeated on their nine-game homestand.

Kendall Marshall ended with 12 points and eight assists, but Harrison Barnes struggled with just six points on 2-of-12 shooting.

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams was happy that his team won all nine games on their homestand, but wished his players would have shot better than their 44.9 percent Tuesday.

"I told the kids I think nine home games in a row is really good because we won nine games. But I do think we perhaps got a little complacent and thought things were going to be easy," said Williams. "We can shoot the basketball but we didn't shoot it very well tonight."

Kenny Kadji had 16 points to lead the Hurricanes (9-6, 0-2), who have lost two in a row since a four-game winning streak. Reggie Johnson had 12 points and nine rebounds in defeat.

"I think their size and athletic ability and especially their length is certainly a factor, but I thought when we did what we planned on doing and got the ball inside. I thought our big guys could score," said Miami coach Jim Larranaga.

"It was our guard play and a lack of getting quality shots from them, and we're going to have to really work on that to become a better offensive team."

UNC blew the game open by scoring 17 in a row. The run spanned the first and second halves. Kadji's jumper had the visitors within 31-25, but then came the UNC blitz.

Henson jammed in the closing minute to make it 40-25 at the half, and the Tar Heels continued to dominate. Zeller's jumper moved the margin to 48-25, and the Tar Heels were comfortably in front the rest of the night.

Game Notes

Starting Saturday in Tallahassee (Florida State), UNC will play four of six games on the road...UNC has won 28 in a row at the Smith Center and 29 straight at home (including a 2010 NIT game in Carmichael Arena). The overall UNC home winning streak record is 32 games, set from 1926-29...North Carolina leads the series with the Hurricanes, 17-2, including nine consecutive victories...Durand Scott also scored 12 for the Hurricanes.