UNC men’s basketball blows past Southern Cal in 2nd half. What stood out

Neo Avdalas was nervous pregame.

The 6-foot-9 Virginia Tech transfer guard eventually settled in. The entire North Carolina men’s basketball team did too, in an 88-70 win over Southern Cal on Friday at First Horizon Coliseum.

But it was hardly a lopsided effort the whole game — the first several minutes of the Michael Malone era with the Tar Heels actually got off to a slower start. New team, Avdalas said, new coach. They were trying to “play our way,” and it all contributed to the jitters. But all it took was just a little energy.

“The fans were amazing,” Avdalas said. “They helped a lot to get our energy back, and to get the lead in the second half.”

A 12-0 second-half run transformed a close game into a dominant win for the Tar Heels. It was uneven at times, but packed with enough brilliance to leave UNC’s Big Ten opponent looking overmatched.

A lot of Friday seemed to be about experimentation. Malone played 11 different players, having the 6-foot-11 Alex Samodurav and 7-foot-1 Sayon Keita share the floor in one iteration of a variety of lineups the new coach put on the floor. Malone also said that he expects starting guards Matt Able and Terrence Brown, who combined for five points as Able was held scoreless, won’t produce that little often.

“Matt Able and Terrence Brown are a lot better players than they showed tonight,” Malone said.

And the Tar Heels’ coach took some blame for why they performed below their expected level, adding that UNC will need them each to perform better. But their struggles, in a way, showed how much scoring and production North Carolina expects to have. Because Friday might also serve as a sign of things to come for the Tar Heels’ top returner, Jarin Stevenson, as the forward scored 25 points and was given a strong ovation when he checked out briefly with 4:06 remaining and a convincing lead he helped UNC establish.

Stevenson connected on four threes in the game, and added 10 rebounds and a double-double in a dominant start to his senior season.

“Honestly,” Stevenson said of his performance, “the game, I feel, just came to me.”

And it didn’t have to be pretty the whole time for the Tar Heels to run away with things in the end. Malone’s much-anticipated first starting lineup was a bit rusty to start. UNC missed seven of its first eight shots from the field. Southern Cal got out to a 10-3 lead 2:59 into the game.

But the Trojans weren’t exactly on fire themselves. It’s the preseason — the games don’t count, and the rims seemed determined that the shots wouldn’t, either.

“We had a lot of jitters at first,” Stevenson said, “and we’re messing up a lot of defensive coverages.”

When the Tar Heels turned to their bench, though, a pace finally started to take shape. Freshman forward Maximo Adams’ energy made an impact early, and he connected on a second-chance layup and a left-corner 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions.

It pulled UNC within 12-11 on a 3-pointer by reserve guard Isaiah Denis at the top of the key at 12:51, and it remained a one-possession game for the next 5:34.

The Trojans led for 21:15 of the game, despite not leading for the final 11:25. And a lot of that was because of how it controlled the start of the game and most of the first half. But UNC still only trailed 39-37 at the break, Malone had a chance to rally his group with the first halftime speech — which Stevenson said was brief and simple — and the Tar Heels carried a bit more momentum forward.

It took another seven-plus minutes of back-and-forth to get into any sort of groove. But with 12:43 left, the Tar Heels showed a bit of what they could be.

The 12-0 run over 5:27 for UNC was capped by an and-1 finish by 6-9 guard Avdalas and a steal and slam by 7-footer Keita, which sent the bench into a frenzy and had Malone with a wide smile and clapping in approval as the USC called a timeout with the Tar Heels up 61-53 with 9:16 remaining. And to keep that lead steady, Stevenson chipped in again, scoring the only two field goals of an 8-2 run that pushed the Tar Heels’ advantage to 11 points.

And even Brown, who didn’t score until there was 1:42 left in the game, found a few leakout opportunities. The first, he finished a layup. Then with seven seconds to go, he got free again and finished off a dunk for the game’s final score.

It took some time, but UNC logged its first rout.

Here’s what stood out in the game.

The first time UNC point guard Terrence Brown awakened the crowd came just over 3:30 into his Tar Heels career. The dynamic guard, who averaged 19.9 points per game at Utah last season, made a quick spin in the paint. His Southern Cal defender was left in the dust, he looked to have a layup and — if he took another step — maybe a dunk. Brown leaped … then turned and fired a pass to an open Matt Able at the top of the key for 3.

Able missed, and that was the first play of a peculiar start to Brown’s career at UNC. He took just five shots and scored just five points, on a free throw, layup and dunk all in the final 1:42 of the game. At several points, it seemed he was motivated to move the ball when he had it in his hands. And with Avdalas dribbling the ball up the floor a lot, he had limited opportunities to get into a scoring rhythm.

Isaiah Denis made it clear earlier this preseason he thinks he can do more.

The sophomore guard played sparingly in his first season for the Tar Heels, limited by a preseason injury. It nearly led to him leaving the program via the transfer portal. It would have been easy to go that way, Denis said, and for Malone to let it happen. Stevenson was the lone retention that Malone made who had legitimate production behind him, but Denis said Malone’s assistants called him one of the players — along with fellow reserve guard Jaydon Young — that UNC should look to retain. And on Friday, he showed a bit of why.

“This is definitely personal for me,” Denis said. “I feel like I could have showed a lot last year, and I feel like I wasn’t able to do that.”

Denis played the role of spark plug, a role he seemingly wants to fill in Malone’s first season. He scored 14 points total. His electric start to the game was capped with a fall-away 3 on the right wing that pulled the score even at 20 with 8:56 left in the first half, bringing his total to 10 of UNC’s first 20 points.

It was an exhibition, but it still felt like a repeatable breakout for Denis. He was quieter in the second half, but Malone still gave him the runway to run the offense, leaving him on the floor with the starters at times to see him in that environment.

And it clearly meant a lot to Denis to perform this way. Malone approached him after the game to credit the sophomore for his performance.

“Thanks for taking a chance on me,” Denis said to his new coach.

“No, thanks for taking a chance on me,” Malone responded.

“I’m not surprised by Isaiah’s performance — he has been waiting for this opportunity, and he took it and ran with it tonight,” Malone added. “And now the challenge is: can he continue to do so?”

After a first 2:59 that didn’t inspire much confidence in the Tar Heels’ ability to rebound the ball at a high level, one of first sequences of the freshman Maximo Adams’ college basketball career felt exactly like what the Tar Heels needed. Just 1:44 after checking in, Avdalas stepped back for 3 from the left wing and Adams crashed in hard, securing the offensive rebound and passing out to the perimeter.

It didn’t lead to any points for UNC, so the next time he grabbed an offensive rebound, he just took it himself.

After a second-chance layup at 14:27 and a left-corner 3 at 13:53 by Adams, the 6-foot-7 forward quickly established himself as someone who will likely be a key piece in his first season. His energy was evident as he flexed and roared after his follow, then just over a minute later, he slapped five with a fan after he was the closest defender on a shot-clock violation for Southern Cal at 13:20. He scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds, but the biggest impact he made was helping the Tar Heels wake up.

“Positive energy,” Adams said about what he expects he can bring. “Playing hard, that sets an example itself.”

This story was originally published October 9, 2026 at 9:26 PM with the headline “UNC men’s basketball blows past Southern Cal in 2nd half. What stood out.”