No. 25 Tar Heels beat Cougars 74-69

Published Nov. 28, 2010 7:05 p.m. ET

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By AARON BEARD
AP Basketball Writer

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- John Henson scored a career-high 19 points and ignited the decisive second-half run to help No. 25 North Carolina beat College of Charleston 74-69 Sunday night.

Henson also had seven rebounds and two blocked shots for the Tar Heels (4-2), who rallied from a five-point deficit midway through the second half to win their second straight game.

North Carolina had all kinds of trouble avenging last year's overtime loss to the Cougars (4-3), who never let the Tar Heels put away the game after they finally went back ahead.

The Tar Heels, who led by just a point at halftime, shot 53 percent after the break.

Andrew Goudelock scored 28 points to lead College of Charleston, which hit nine 3-pointers but missed plenty of good looks in the second half.

The Cougars also consistently pounded the boards, grabbing 19 offensive rebounds and scoring 22 second-chance points against the bigger Tar Heels.

Goudelock had a huge day against the Tar Heels last year, hitting the tying 3 in the final seconds of regulation on the way to a game-high 24 points in the win. He got off to a slow start Sunday, missing his first five shots and scoring just five points in the opening half before he got rolling with an dazzling 2-minute flurry.

He made five straight shots for 10 points -- including back-to-back 3-pointers from a several feet behind the arc -- that gave the Cougars a 48-43 lead with 13 minutes left.

It was one of many sequences that proved College of Charleston just wasn't afraid of North Carolina, down to when Trent Wiedeman stuffed down a 1-handed reverse dunk against Tyler Zeller for the Cougars' final lead at 54-52.

Yet the Tar Heels -- whose transition offense has been missing in action for much of this season -- finally got out on the break and even started scrapping on the offensive glass to take back control. Henson banked in a shot in the lane off an offensive rebound to put the Tar Heels ahead for good with about 7 minutes left, which started an 8-0 run that finally gave them some breathing room.

Dexter Strickland followed with a dunk after a steal from Harrison Barnes, while Henson capped the run with a confident hook over Jeremy Simmons to make it 64-56 with 4:51 to play.

North Carolina overcame shaky performances from top scorers Zeller and Barnes. Zeller had eight points on 4-for-12 shooting and fell short of double figures for the first time all year, while Barnes had eight points on 3 for 12 shooting.

Updated November 28, 2010