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Tokoto, No. 19 UNC drop William & Mary

Dec 31, 2014 - 4:56 AM Chapel Hill, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - J.P. Tokoto finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds to lift No. 19 North Carolina to an 86-64 victory over William & Mary on Tuesday.

Marcus Paige supplied 14 points and six assists and Nate Britt netted 11 for the Tar Heels (10-3), who have won four straight games heading into their ACC opener at Clemson on Saturday.

"We can be great. We just have to be consistent," Tokoto said. "That was the problem last year when we started off ACC play going 0-3. After that, we had a couple guys who took the team by the reins and showed everybody that this is how we have to play. We are looking to do the same thing, but quicker."

Daniel Dixon paced the Tribe (6-5) with 20 points, while Marcus Thornton scored 17 in the setback.

"We got beat by a superior team, there's no question about that," Tribe head coach Tony Shaver said. "I thought in the second half we were a really tough basketball team, really competed hard and really played with a high level of confidence."

North Carolina has now won eight straight games against William & Mary since the 1977-78 season.

The Tar Heels were hot out of the gate as Tokoto started the scoring with a triple and made it a 12-2 game with a jumper just over five minutes into the game.

Later in the first half, Paige and Thornton traded triples and Justin Jackson netted jumpers on back-to-back possessions to give UNC a 32-13 advantage.

Kennedy Meeks supplied six points during a 13-2 spurt that pushed the lead to 25 points with 2:21 remaining in the first half and the Tar Heels held a 49-27 lead at the break.

Less than four minutes into the second half, Dixon's 3-point play and triple put the finishing touches on a 11-1 run that got the tribe within 53-38. He then scored nine straight points to make it a 68-59 contest with six minutes to go.

Paige scored five in a row to restore North Carolina's 14-point lead and Britt hit consecutive treys with under four minutes remaining to put the game out of reach.

Game Notes

North Carolina improved to 89-4 in non-conference home games under head coach Roy Williams ... Williams was given a technical foul in the second half due to arguing after he was not granted a timeout ... It was the first time that William & Mary allowed an opponent score more than 70 points this season ... The Tar Heels now lead the all-time series, 20-13 ... North Carolina shot 50.8 percent from the floor, while William & Mary shot 37.7 percent.