Freshman Anthony stars as UNC beats Notre Dame 76-65
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Cole Anthony didn’t need much time to make his mark on the record book for the University of North Carolina men’s basketball program.
Anthony set the program record for scoring by a freshman in his debut, finishing with 34 points and 11 rebounds while leading the ninth-ranked Tar Heels past Notre Dame 76-65 in the opener for both teams Wednesday night.
With his father, former UNLV and NBA guard Greg Anthony, in the stands, the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason freshman of the year broke Rashad McCants’ 17-year-old scoring record by a freshman in his first game and finished 12-of-24 from the field with six 3-pointers.
“It’s cool. I’m going to — not celebrate, but be happy about it a little bit tonight, give myself a little pat on the back,” Anthony said. “But we’ve got practice tomorrow. We’ve got to lock back in. We’ve got a game on Friday.”
Anthony scored 15 points during a 29-13 second-half run that put the Tar Heels in control.
Prentiss Hubb scored 22 points — a high for his Notre Dame career — T.J. Gibbs added 19 and John Mooney finished with 10 for the Fighting Irish, who led 37-32 just less than two minutes into the second half.
That’s when Anthony took over. He started the blitz with a runner, reeled off seven straight points for his team and hit three 3s in a four-minute span, the last of which gave the Tar Heels their first double-figure lead at 61-50 with nine minutes remaining.
“Sometimes I used to say Tyler Hansbrough carried us,” North Carolina coach Williams said of the former national player of the year. “Cole Anthony carried us tonight. … That was pretty impressive, to say the least.”
Anthony, who wears glasses off the court, started the game wearing a pair of prescription goggles but ditched them during the first half because they affected his depth perception, he said after the game.
“When I took those off, something clicked,” Anthony said.
He certainly lived up to the hype, becoming the first North Carolina freshman with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in a game since Hansbrough against Georgia Tech in 2006. He helped the Tar Heels reach a milestone, too, as they earned their 700th Atlantic Coast Conference victory and became the first program in the league with that many wins.
The Fighting Irish had never opened a season with a conference game — in any of their conferences — and this was a tough task, though they did more than simply play the foil in Anthony’s debut. They outscored North Carolina 12-2 during the few minutes when Anthony was resting on the bench and built that second-half lead on Hubb’ shooting, but they couldn’t contain the Tar Heels’ freshman star down the stretch.
“I thought his dagger 3s were a big part of it,” Irish coach Mike Brey said. “I love how we played. We came ready to battle, but he just got on one of those rolls that we’ve all seen on the AAU circuit. You guys just didn’t see it yet. But you saw it tonight. So I thought that was really the difference.”