By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE 12th Battle 4 Atlantis men’s tournament got off to a hot start for the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels yesterday at the Imperial Arena, Paradise Island.

The Tar Heels obliterated the Northern Iowa Panthers 91-69 and the Wildcats dominated the Texas Tech Red Raiders 85-69 to arrange a Thanksgiving meeting in today’s semifinals at 2:30pm.

Stakes are high for both teams as the Tar Heels hope to make it to their first Battle 4 Atlantis finals and Villanova remains hungry for their third title in the three-day men’s tournament.

The 1-3 (win loss/record) Panthers started the opening round of the tournament on fire in the first half. The team scored at will, canning 15-for-25 of their field goals on an efficient 60 per cent shooting clip. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels could not buy a bucket and shot a dismal 33.3 per cent from the field and 23.1 per cent from behind the arc.

However, the second half of the game featured a revitalised UNC men’s basketball team after they fell behind 41-35 in the first half.

Hubert Davis, head coach of the Tar Heels, talked about the second half turnaround which translated into a win.

“We had to respond. I just didn’t feel like we were playing our best on both ends of the floor. I just challenged them to be better. The change in the second half was 100 per cent them, just the energy and the effort defensively.

“In the second half, it started off defensively then we rebounded the basketball and offensively we were taking really good shots and just executing on

the offensive end. We started to find a lot of confidence when Harrison and Cormac were hitting shots and we just took it from there,” the head coach said.

The teams reversed roles in the second half because the Tar Heels were suddenly on a roll offensively following a shaky effort in the opening period. They pushed out to a 16-1 start to get the second half going and that blossomed into a 34-6 run to strike back against the Panthers.

In this period, the no. 14 ranked Tar Heels earned their biggest lead of the contest with 24 at the 1:28 juncture of the game.

Forward Harrison Ingram came to put in work at the Imperial Arena on Wednesday. He exploded for a game-high 16 points, 10 rebound double-double complemented by three dimes in the round one win.

Tar Heels guard Ryan Cormac was also brilliant for the undefeated Atlantic Coast team. He scored a total of 15 points on the Panthers defence along with four rebounds and three big blocks.

Ingram and Cormac were just two of six Tar Heels players to score in double digits. The team collectively improved in all shooting statistical groups in the second half with 50 per cent on field goals, a scorching 69.2 per cent from behind the arc and 86.7% at the charity stripe. It was no doubt their best half of the game as they outscored the Panthers 56-28.

The bench players also showed up in a big way, besting the Panthers 37 to 22 in that category.

Cormac, the team’s second highest scorer, shared what their experience has been like playing and being in The Bahamas.

“It has been fun. It is a blessing to come down here and play at an event like this in such a beautiful location.

“I think at the end of the day our focus is that it is a business trip so we play a game today, tomorrow, and we will play a game Friday. Being focused is our priority,” he said.

He added that the team is a group of disciplined players that can put aside fun to lock in and be ready for the match against Villanova today.

The Wildcats will be a tough opponent as their two appearances in the men’s tournament in 2013 and 2017 have both resulted in championship wins.

They came into the Thanksgiving tournament with a 3-1 record which improved to 4-1 after they steamrolled the Red Raiders by 16 points and booked their ticket to yet another semifinals round. Forward Eric Dixon led all scorers with 19 points and pulled down six rebounds.

Justin Moore, Red Raiders guard, had a balanced game with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists.

The Red Raiders and Wildcats game is slated to get underway 2:30pm today in the Imperial Arena and will be broadcast live on ESPN.