Dec. 31, 2004
Contact: Brian McCann
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina -- North Carolina shot 57 percent from the field and turned 31 CSU turnovers into 47 points to race past the Vikings, 107-64 on Thursday night in the Dean Smith Center.
Sean May scored 16 points to lead six players in double figures as the fifth-ranked Tar Heels cruised to their 11th straight win.
Last season, the Tar Heels struggled to an 82-76 victory at Cleveland State. But the 2004 version of the Tar Heels is a far different team.
May led the balanced attack for the Tar Heels (11-1), who shot 57 percent (41-of-72) as they surpassed 100 points for the third time this season.
North Carolina is unbeaten since a season-opening 77-66 loss to Santa Clara.
Omari Westley scored 18 points to lead Cleveland State (3-5), which has dropped five straight following a 3-0 start.
Patrick Tatham and Modibo Niakate added 10 points each for CSU.
Using their pressure defense to set up their explosive offense, the Tar Heels forced a season-high 31 turnovers and held the Vikings to 41 percent (24-of-58) shooting.
After Westley hit a pair of free throws with 6:41 left in the first half to pull the Vikings within 37-29, the Tar Heels opened things up with a 14-3 run.
Jawad Williams scored inside to start the surge before freshman Marvin Williams and Rashad McCants added layups. May's basket capped the surge and gave the Tar Heels a 51-32 lead with 2:57 left before intermission.
Felton made all three of his 3-pointers and has converted his last 12 overall, three short of the NCAA record of 15 set by Todd Leslie of Northwestern in 1990.
Marvin Williams added 14 points and Jawad Williams, Melvin Scott and point guard Raymond Felton each contributed 13 for the Tar Heels, whose 43-point margin was their largest lead.
The Vikings open up Horizon League play on Monday night (Jan. 3) with an 8 p.m. contest at Loyola before heading to Wright State for a Jan. 6 matchup with the Raiders.
