Bullock leads Tar Heels past Maryland

CHAPEL HILL – So seamless were his opportunities and his shooting stroke early on that it seemed as if Reggie Bullock had people changing allegiances Saturday afternoon.

“Go Reggie!” a Maryland fan shouted from behind the Terrapins bench, catching Bullock’s attention after he buried another 3-pointer in the first half, the free-flowing foundation upon which North Carolina built its disjointed 62-52 victory in Atlantic Coast Conference basketball at the Smith Center.

Go Reggie?

Is that some kind of sarcastic smack talk?

“I was like, ‘that’s got to be my cousins,’ “ said Bullock, the junior swingman, after he finished with a career-high 24 points.

Technically, it was the mother of Maryland guard Nick Faust. Bullock, who was born in Baltimore, Md., before growing up in Kinston, discovered last season that he and Faust are distant cousins.

Back to the issue at hand, so was Mama Faust getting mouthy?

“Nah,” Bullock said. “I believe she was actually cheering for me. … It’s a family thing, I guess, all fun and games.”

With the Tar Heels (12-5 overall, 2-2 ACC) harassing Maryland (14-4, 2-3) into mistakes, Bullock and James Michael McAdoo asserting themselves like the weapons they can be and this building roaring in approval of what became a 22-point lead, it was easy to get lost in the baby-blue-tinted blur of the first half – “the best half we’ve played all season,” as McAdoo and Marcus Paige said later.

Bullock rifled in eight points during the game’s opening 86 seconds. He poured in 15 of North Carolina’s first 24 points – his third 3 of the first 10½ minutes sparking the chirping from Faust’s mom – and went on to score more first-half points (21) than Maryland managed as a team (20).

“Bananas,” McAdoo said. “He just looked great. And none of it was selfish. All of it was in our system, and that’s Carolina basketball.”

More vintage Tar Heels moments at the other end of the court conspired against the Terrapins, who, three days following their court-storming edging of North Carolina State, ultimately were undone by a bumbling beginning in their final game here as an ACC member.

Fifteen of Maryland’s 21 turnovers were coughed up in the first half. The Terrapins, disrupted by North Carolina’s run-and-jump traps on the perimeter and guards dropping down for double-teams in the post, had an unsightly 14-1 turnover-to-assist ratio at one juncture during the last five minutes of the first half.

That was the same timeframe in which McAdoo attacked for eight of his 19 points. In the last 18 seconds of the first half, McAdoo’s cutting bucket inside – nicely assisted by Paige – preceded Dexter Strickland’s steal and flying, one-hand dunk that sent the Tar Heels bouncing toward the tunnel and their locker room ahead 42-20.

“We came out with a lot of intensity, just pressuring right away from the beginning,” Paige said.

“When we really go out there and play with a sense of urgency, the crowd’s into it, we’re into it and we’re just out there losing ourselves in the game,” McAdoo said. “It’s just so much more fun.”

And then it stopped, the avalanche that appeared poised to break loose giving way to a flat, 20-point second half.

North Carolina’s lead never dipped below double digits, but focusing on that aspect would be missing the point, coach Roy Williams said.

“The second half we got away from being quite as active defensively and we really got away from what had gotten us the lead on the offensive end,” he said. “We were really, really good in the first half. I want our guys to focus on that. And then the second half, I want us to be able to show them on tape and watch it and learn from that.”

Or for a more succinct description, Williams went on to say: “The first half, it was really, really pretty. And then the second half it was really, really ugly. Young guys do that.”

Bullock, who McAdoo had pegged at halftime for a possible 40-point performance, missed all except one of his six shots from the field in the second half. He connected on his fourth 3 with 5:50 remaining, putting the Tar Heels up 60-43, one of only two North Carolina field goals in the game’s final nine minutes.

“I know I probably could’ve had more than what I had,” Bullock said. “It’s just up to me to be able to knock those shots down and finish well. I missed some easy, point-blank ones. There were some shots that were wide open that I’ve got to be able make.”

So for Bullock and the Tar Heels, there was a distinct contrast to sort through by the end.

“It was feeling good in the first half,” Bullock said. “I wasn’t thinking. I was just catching the ball and shooting. I was feeling it and just trying to get the crowd in it and just trying to play with a lot of emotion, play with that sense of urgency.”

TIP-INS …: Dez Wells, the Raleigh native and Xavier transfer, scored 21 points to lead Maryland. Alex Len, the Terrapins’ 7-foot-1 center, added 10 points. … McAdoo grabbed 11 rebounds and finished with a double-double. … Bullock’s previous career best was a 23-point effort in November 2011 against Tennessee State. … Bullock (24 points) and McAdoo (19) combined for 43 of North Carolina’s 62 points, or 69.4 percent of the team’s scoring. … As for where his family tree intersects with Faust’s, Bullock said the Maryland guard is “kin to me by my mom’s dad’s side of the family.” … The Tar Heels’ 62 points were their lowest in a victory against Maryland since February 1985. Maryland’s 52 points marked its weakest output in the series since January 1982. … North Carolina reserve guard Leslie McDonald missed his third game in a row due to a knee issue.