Tulane Green Wave at North Carolina Tar Heels
· NCAA Men's Basketball
72 - 96
Johnson leads No. 11 North Carolina past Tulane 96-72
Johnson had a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds in North Carolina's 96-72 win over Tulane on Wednesday night.
Marcus Paige added 16 points and Justin Jackson had 13. The Tar Heels (8-2) won their first game without injured big man Kennedy Meeks and bounced back from a last-second loss at Texas that knocked them out of the top 10.
Joel Berry II had 12 points and Isaiah Hicks finished with 11 for North Carolina, which never trailed, shot 50 percent and built a 43-33 rebounding advantage.
Louis Dabney scored 18 points for Tulane (6-5), which pulled to 70-55 on Malik Morgan's jumper with just over 8 minutes left.
"We were hoping to get them just a little bit out of rhythm," Tulane coach Ed Conroy said. "For a while, it was OK. Then (later) in the second half, they got their rhythm back."
North Carolina also didn't have Meeks, who trails only Johnson among Tar Heels in rebounding but is out at least two weeks with a bone bruise in his left knee. Meeks averaged 12.3 points and 7.4 rebounds while starting the first nine games.
"For a while, he was really a man on the backboards," Williams said.
Johnson has scored in double figures in every game this season but never scored more than 16, hitting that mark four times.
Theo Pinson finished with 10 points for the Tar Heels.
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STAT SHEET
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Tulane is at Mississippi State on Saturday.
North Carolina plays No. 22 UCLA on Saturday in Brooklyn, New York.
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Follow Joedy McCreary at http://twitter.com/joedyap. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/joedy-mccreary
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How can I watch Tulane vs. North Carolina?
Recent Plays
| 2nd 0:00 | End of Game | 72 - 96 |
| 2nd 0:09 | T.J. Oliver Defensive Rebound. | 72 - 96 |
| 2nd 0:09 | Toby Egbuna missed Three Point Jumper. | 72 - 96 |
| 2nd 0:17 | T.J. Oliver made Jumper. | 72 - 96 |
| 2nd 0:19 | T.J. Oliver Offensive Rebound. | 70 - 96 |
Statistics
 TULN |
 UNC |
|
|---|---|---|
| 30-63 | FG | 36-72 |
| 48 | Field Goal % | 50 |
| 4-17 | 3PT | 10-24 |
| 24 | Three Point % | 42 |
| 8-14 | FT | 14-21 |
| 57 | Free Throw % | 67 |
| 33 | Rebounds | 43 |
| 11 | Offensive Rebounds | 17 |
| 22 | Defensive Rebounds | 26 |
| 9 | Assists | 30 |
| 1 | Steals | 8 |
| 5 | Blocks | 6 |
| 11 | Turnovers | 7 |
| 0 | Team Turnovers | 0 |
| 11 | Total Turnovers | 7 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Points Off Turnovers | 0 |
| 0 | Fast Break Points | 0 |
| 0 | Points in Paint | 0 |
| 17 | Fouls | 15 |
| 0 | Largest Lead | 31 |
Game Information
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Attendance: 16,199 | Capacity:
2025-26 American Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Florida | 15-3 | - | 25-9 |
| Tulsa | 13-5 | 2 | 30-8 |
| Wichita State | 13-5 | 2 | 24-12 |
| UAB | 11-7 | 4 | 20-12 |
| North Texas | 9-9 | 6 | 19-14 |
| Florida Atlantic | 9-9 | 6 | 18-15 |
| Charlotte | 9-9 | 6 | 17-17 |
| Tulane | 8-10 | 7 | 18-15 |
| Temple | 8-10 | 7 | 16-16 |
| Memphis | 8-10 | 7 | 13-19 |
| Rice | 7-11 | 8 | 13-18 |
| East Carolina | 6-12 | 9 | 11-20 |
| UTSA | 1-17 | 14 | 5-25 |
2025-26 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 17-1 | - | 35-3 |
| Virginia | 15-3 | 2 | 30-6 |
| Miami | 13-5 | 4 | 26-9 |
| North Carolina | 12-6 | 5 | 24-9 |
| Clemson | 12-6 | 5 | 24-11 |
| Louisville | 11-7 | 6 | 24-11 |
| NC State | 10-8 | 7 | 20-14 |
| Florida State | 10-8 | 7 | 18-15 |
| California | 9-9 | 8 | 22-12 |
| Stanford | 9-9 | 8 | 20-13 |
| Virginia Tech | 8-10 | 9 | 19-13 |
| SMU | 8-10 | 9 | 20-14 |
| Wake Forest | 7-11 | 10 | 18-17 |
| Syracuse | 6-12 | 11 | 15-17 |
| Pittsburgh | 5-13 | 12 | 13-20 |
| Notre Dame | 4-14 | 13 | 13-18 |
| Boston College | 4-14 | 13 | 11-20 |
| Georgia Tech | 2-16 | 15 | 11-20 |