Michigan started its first matchup on the hardwood against North Carolina since the infamous 1993 national championship game on fire in Chapel Hill Wednesday night. The Wolverines made their first eight shots from the floor, including four from three-point land.
However, they couldn’t keep pace with the Tar Heels in an eventual 86-71 defeat. After its hot start, U-M made just seven of its final 21 shots in the first half — and then got colder — while North Carolina made 20 of its first 31 attempts (64.5 percent).
That allowed Carolina to break it open from a 29-29 tie with 8:07 left in the first half and finish the opening frame on a 22-8 run. They didn’t look back in front of the home crowd with the 1993 national championship squad on hand to be honored during the game.
UNC outscored the Wolverines 17-2 to start the second half and put the game out of reach. During that time, the Tar Heels made half of their 14 shots while the Wolverines could make just one of 10.
Junior forward Moritz Wagner led the way and finished with a Michigan-best 20 points points and nine rebounds, plus three assists, which tied for the team lead.
Redshirt sophomore guard Charles Matthews looked like the former star recruit he was early in the biggest game of his career so far in the Maize and Blue, making his first three shots, including two from deep, and notching a pair of nifty assists in the first 5:39 of action. However, he was limited to 0-of-3 shooting the rest of the first half with two turnovers, and finished with 12 points and three assists.
Stay tuned for more coverage from Chapel Hill on TheWolverine.com.
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