Wednesday, February 24, 2021 07:00 PM (ET)

Dawson Garcia scores 24 as Marquette beats North Carolina

Field Level Media
Feb 24, 2021

Dawson Garcia recorded 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead Marquette to an 83-70 road victory over North Carolina on Wednesday in a nonconference game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

D.J. Carton scored 17 points and Greg Elliott added 15 points and matched his career best of four steals as the Golden Eagles (11-12) won for just the third time in the past nine games. Theo John contributed 11 points for Marquette.

Garrison Brooks scored 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting to pace the Tar Heels (14-8), who lost for just the third occasion in the past nine contests. RJ Davis tallied 11 points and Walker Kessler scored 10 as North Carolina fell at home for the first time in nine games this season.

The loss prevented Roy Williams from becoming the fourth member of the 900-victory club. Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim and Bob Knight have previously achieved the milestone.

The contest was scheduled Saturday after Boston College was unable to play North Carolina on Tuesday due to COVID-19 issues.

Marquette shot 51.8 percent from the field, including 9 of 24 from 3-point range.

The Tar Heels shot 41.7 percent and were 5 of 18 from behind the arc.

North Carolina scored the game's first two points and never led again.

Marquette's lead was 18 points after Carton's basket with 16:44 remaining in the game. The Tar Heels responded with a 10-2 run to move within 55-45 on a 3-pointer by Andrew Platek with 13:54 left.

Three minutes later, the Golden Eagles were back ahead by 14 as Symir Torrence knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 63-49 with 10:53 remaining.

North Carolina scored nine of the next 11 points to move within 65-58 on a 3-pointer by Davis with 7:51 left.

Back-to-back inside hoops by Theo John pushed the Marquette lead back to 11 with 5:59 left.

A short time later, Carton scored six points during an 8-0 run to boost the lead to 79-63 with 2:38 remaining as the Golden Eagles finished off a quality victory.

Garcia scored 16 first-half points and Elliott added 13 as Marquette led 45-29 at the break.

The Golden Eagles led 14-4 just six-plus minutes into the contest. The Tar Heels ripped off the next nine points before Marquette answered with a 14-3 burst to take a 28-16 lead with 6:27 remaining in the half.

--Field Level Media

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