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UNC tops Boston College in low-scoring affair

Feb 20, 2011 - 4:24 AM Chapel Hill, NC (Sports Network) - Tyler Zeller had 16 points and nine rebounds as No. 19 North Carolina survived to take a 48-46 win over Boston College.

This game was in stark contrast to the previous matchup between these schools. In that game on February 1 at Boston College, the two teams combined for 180 points as North Carolina took a 106-74 win.

Boston College shot just 14-for-52 (26.9 percent) on Saturday while North Carolina connected on 21-of-57 (36.8 percent) shots.

Kendall Marshall had 10 points and seven assists and Harrison Barnes added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Tar Heels (20-6, 10-2 ACC), who have won three straight since a loss at Duke on February 9.

"I was really impressed defensively with some of the things we did," said North Carolina head coach Roy Williams. "I had a lot of confidence at the last 30 seconds."

Joe Trapani had 13 points and nine boards and Reggie Jackson added 13 points for the Eagles (16-10, 6-6), who failed to build on last Saturday's win against Maryland.

Trailing by 13 points, Boston College mounted a comeback as a 9-0 run saw consecutive three-pointers from Corey Raji and a Trapani free throw made it a 45-41 game with under three minutes to play.

Barnes countered with a jumper and Josh Southern answered with three from the line. After Tyler Zeller hit a free throw, Jackson drained a three-pointer with 1:12 to play to make it a 48-46 game.

Marshall missed a jumper at the other end and Dallas Elmore grabbed the defensive rebound. Off the timeout, Jackson held the ball at the top of the arc. He waited several second before taking a step forward and lofted up the three-point attempt, but it rimmed out and went out of bounds off of North Carolina with 0.3 seconds left and there was not enough time to mount another shot.

Boston College didn't score its first points of the game until almost eight minutes in when Trapani drained a three-pointer. However, North Carolina wasn't shooting much better and it was just a 7-3 game at that point.

The poor shooting continued through the rest of the first half and North Carolina held a 21-20 lead after 20 minutes.

The schools combined to shoot just 16-for-52 in the first half.

North Carolina scored 14 straight points in the second half and held a 37-23 lead on a Zeller layup with 12 1/2 minutes to play.

Game Notes

North Carolina plays at North Carolina State on Wednesday...Boston College hosts Miami-Florida on Wednesday...It was a season-low in scoring for both teams...North Carolina holds an 8-5 edge in the series thanks to winning six of the last eight games.