Postgame analysis: No. 1 Indiana 83, No. 14 North Carolina 59

No. 1 Indiana pulled away early in the second half to defeat No. 14 North Carolina 83-59 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

By Sean Bielawski

Nov 28, 2012 at 12:27 am ET • 3 min read

Will Sheehey had 19 points for Indiana off the bench against North Carolina Tuesday. (US Presswire)

Top-ranked Indiana flexed its muscles Tuesday night, defeating No. 14 North Carolina 83-59 in front of a rowdy Assembly Hall crowd to cap off the first day of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The Tar Heels (5-2) hung around for the majority of the first half, but the Hoosiers (7-0) eventually overwhelmed their visitors from the ACC, putting on an impressive offensive display to pull away.

Indiana had 21 assists on 33 made field goals and led by as many as 32 points in the second half. The Hoosiers opened the final period on a 22-3 run as North Carolina missed its first 11 shots after halftime and 19 of its first 20.

C Cody Zeller, G Victor Oladipo and F Will Sheehey each went 8-for-13 from the field to lead the Hoosiers. Zeller had a game-high 20 points and nine rebounds while Oladipo and Sheehey each put in 19 points.

North Carolina G Dexter Strickland had a team-high 14 points, but F James Michael McAdoo struggled with 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting.

It was the second consecutive Tuesday that McAdoo and the Tar Heels had a night to forget. Last week, North Carolina fell behind against Butler by 29 points before eventually losing 82-71 in Maui. McAdoo had 10 points with seven turnovers in that game.

When the game turned: The game was tied 31-31 with 4:13 to play in the first half, but the Hoosiers closed the opening period on a 15-6 run to take a nine-point halftime lead. Indiana then scored the first 13 points of the second half and cruised from there.

Highlight moments: Late in the first half, Zeller followed his own miss in the lane to slam home the rebound with two hands. The dunk helped Indiana build its halftime lead. ... With the game out of reach midway through the second half, North Carolina freshman PG Marcus Paige hit F Brice Johnson for an alley oop from just across midcourt. It was one of the few highlights for North Carolina all night. ... Indiana F Christian Watford blew by Joel James on the right wing and threw down a one-handed slam for his first points of the game with 4:55 to play.

Top-shelf performances:

Indiana C Cody Zeller: 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks

Indiana G Victor Oladipo: 19 points, 4 rebounds

Indiana F Will Sheehey: 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3-for-4 from three

North Carolina G Dexter Strickland: 14 points, 3 assists

North Carolina PG Marcus Paige: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists

They tweeted:

From Dustin Dopirak of the Bloomington Herald-Times:

Oladipo: "We've been working really hard. You guys know just as well as I know that this program over the past couple of years ...
— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) November 28, 2012

Oladipo: "... has really been struggling. For us to get a win like this is a humbling experience."
— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) November 28, 2012

From rookie Golden State Warrior and former Tar Heel Harrison Barnes:

Hard loss for the boys....we have to compete more...but we're young so hopefully we'll learn and be better!
— Harrison Barnes (@HBarnes) November 28, 2012

Numbers you should know: Indiana -- Watford, the team’s second leading scorer, had just two points on 1-for-9 shooting… The Hoosiers had 19 points off 12 Tar Heels turnovers. Conversely, North Carolina had six points off 10 Indiana turnovers. North Carolina -- The Tar Heels shot 48.5 percent from the field in the first half and 27.8 percent in the second half… With G P.J. Hairston out with a left knee injury, North Carolina went 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.

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