Chapel Hill — For a moment in time Thursday night, Elon University had done the unthinkable. The Phoenix had outscored the mighty University of North Carolina Tar Heels at their place.
Of course, there were still almost 39 minutes to play and Elon's lead was 3-2. But in that moment, Elon was supreme.
It wouldn't last. North Carolina pulled away early in the first half of their 100-62 win, using a 23-0 run to catapult the Tar Heels to a 27-point lead, erasing all doubt in the game's outcome. That's what can happen when facing North Carolina, a national powerhouse with four players on the Naismith Award Preseason Watch List, an award given each year to the best player in the nation.
"They have to be arguably the best team in the country," Elon coach Matt Matheny said. "They have NBA-talent players coming off the bench."
A Lucas Troutman tip-in cut the North Carolina lead to 18-14 with just under 12 minutes to play in the game's first frame. The Phoenix's next basket was a Sebastian Koch jumper. The problem was there were eight minutes in between the buckets, during which time the Tar Heels used their size advantage to put the game away.
A Dexter Strickland dunk started the run, one of 13 jams the Tar Heels had on the night. Add in a few Harrison Barnes jumpers, some poster-worthy slams by North Carolina junior John Henson (who had 14 of his 16 points on dunks) and a few Tyler Zeller put-backs, and you have a recipe for destruction.
"We could have done some better things to keep the game closer," freshman Austin Hamilton said. "But they're the No. 5 team in the country for a reason."
The 23-0 spurt was part of a 35-5 run North Carolina used to finish off the first half. The Phoenix went into the locker room trailing 53-19. Elon shot just eight-for-39 (20.5 percent) from the floor and was outrebounded 38-21 by the bigger, more explosive Tar Heels in the game's first 20 minutes.
Elon went into the second half trying to save a little bit of face. The Phoenix went on a 4-0 run to start, using a Ryley Beaumont basket and two Drew Spradlin foul shots to get the deficit within 30. It was the start of a much-better half for the Phoenix overall. Elon shot 46 percent from the floor, in the process impressing a preseason All-American.
"There's no real structure to (Elon's offense)," Barnes said. "They just read off of each other, whether it's back screens, backdoors, double screens, staggers, stuff like that. It's hard to guard."
Koch led Elon scorers with 17 points. Troutman registered a double-double, pulling down 10 boards to go with his 11 points.
The defeat extends the Elon losing skid to a season-long three games. All three losses were on the road in completely different parts of the country. The Phoenix tries to break the streak Jan. 5 at home against Georgia Southern University.
"This is the same team that beat South Carolina," Matheny said. "And this is the same team that beat Princeton. And this is the same team that is 2-0 in the Southern Conference. We have a ton to build on"