UNC Forward: No Wolfpack Player Was 'Suited to Guard Me'

By halftime of Saturday's 79-70 victory over visiting rival NC State in the Smith Center, UNC basketball junior forward Harrison Ingram had 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the field. He had almost matched his combined total from the team's two previous contests: seven in the win at Virginia and eight in the home win over Miami.

And the 6-foot-7, 225-pound versatile bruiser followed that up with nine more in the second half. He tallied a season-high 22 points, helping the No. 10 Tar Heels (23-6, 15-3 ACC) remain alone atop the conference standings by overcoming a 45-37 halftime deficit to the unranked Wolfpack (17-12, 9-9 ACC) via a 42-25 edge after the break.

Ingram shot 8-for-14 from the field, 2-for-5 from three, and 4-for-4 from deep, also chipping in six rebounds and two steals across his 35 minutes on the floor.

"I don't think [State] had anyone on the court — I don't want to sound cocky — but that was suited to guard me," the 21-year-old transfer from Stanford, whose career-high 19 boards came in UNC's win at NC State on Jan. 10, explained afterward. "They had a four-man that was tall. They were playing guards. They were switching everything.

"We were just trying to take advantage of the mismatch. Their switching put me into a lot of ball screens and posting up."