Indiana's 3-point barrage buries North Carolina in top-10 matchup
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Mackenzie Holmes scored 25 points, Sydney Parrish added 24 and No. 5 Indiana hit 12 3-pointers to defeat No. 6 North Carolina 87-63 on Thursday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The battle of unbeatens had drastically different shooting nights. The Hoosiers got hot to improve to 8-0 and the Tar Heels did not to drop to 6-1. The Hoosiers hit eight 3s to build a 16-point lead by halftime. Parrish, a junior transfer starting for injured senior guard Grace Berger, hit four 3s as did senior guard Sara Scalia.
That opened up inside room for Holmes, the Big Ten Player of the Week. When the senior center wasn't scoring, she was drawing Tar Heel fouls.
Indiana finished 12 of 22 from beyond the arc. The 12 3s tied a season high, the other dozen in a season-opening blowout of Vermont.
North Carolina was 7 of 14 from beyond the arc, but shot just 35.4% overall (23 of 65).
Tar Heels junior guard Kennedy Todd Williams had 20 points. Junior guard Deja Kelly added 11.
The game started in streaks as North Carolina scored the first seven points, then Indiana responded with the next 13. The Hoosiers went on a 10-0 run for a 34-21 advantage. The largest first-half edge was 49-33 at halftime after Indiana outscored North Carolina 22-12 in the second quarter.
BIG PICTURE
North Carolina: After winning back-to-back games against ranked foes, the Tar Heels took a step back due to shaky perimeter defense and cold shooting. But this team is talented so expect the players to use this humble road experience as motivation.
Indiana: After a series of double-digit wins against non-ranked opponents, the Hoosiers were quite impressive in what was supposed to be their first real test of the season. Excellent 3-point shooting and solid defense gave this team confidence early on and that momentum kept building.
UP NEXT
North Carolina: Host North Carolina-Wilmington on Wednesday.
Indiana: Host Illinois on Sunday.
___
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25