RJ Davis had 21 points, Seth Trimble added 15, and North Carolina used a series of first-half runs en route to a 97-73 Atlantic Coast Conference rout of North Carolina State in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Wednesday.

Tied with the Wolfpack 6-6 less than four minutes into the game, North Carolina (16-11, 9-6 ACC) outscored the Wolfpack 25-6 over nearly seven minutes to take control. The Tar Heels led by as many as 30 points on the way to their third victory in four games.

Ven-Allen Lubin scored all 13 of his points in the second half for North Carolina, and Ian Jackson finished with 12. Trimble chipped in seven rebounds.

Jayden Taylor paced NC State (10-16, 3-12) with 19 points, Dontrez Styles chipped in 18 and Paul McNeil had 14. That trio hit 20 of 31 shots from the floor, while the rest of the team went just 7-for-28 as the Wolfpack lost for the 10th time in 11 games.

When the teams met on Jan. 11 in Raleigh, N.C., the Tar Heels had nine second-chance points. On Wednesday, they had 17 in the first half and finished with 21 for the game. Overall, the Tar Heels outrebounded the Wolfpack 40-21.

The Tar Heels also forced NC State into 10 turnovers, including nine in the first half.

After a layup by Styles evened the score at 6-6, North Carolina put together a 10-0 run, capped by Davis’ layup, to begin its takeover. When Elliot Cadeau buried a 3-pointer with 9:25 left in the half, the Tar Heels led 31-12. They were up 54-26 at intermission.

After the break, the Wolfpack hit seven of their first nine shots to cut into their deficit, scoring 17 points in under six minutes, with 15 coming from Styles and Taylor. But Lubin kept the Tar Heels in control at 67-43 as he accounted for nine of the their first 13 points, including a massive two-hand dunk down the lane.

The exclamation point came with three minutes remaining, as Davis sprinted out in transition and lobbed an alley-oop pass to Drake Powell to put the Tar Heels in front 91-65. They won their seventh straight over NC State in Chapel Hill.

–Field Level Media