UNC vs. UCLA: Score and Twitter Reaction for 2015 CBS Sports Classic

No. 11 North Carolina overcame a slow start Saturday to score a comfortable 89-76 victory over No. 22 UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The Tar Heels improved to 9-2 on the season, while the inconsistent Bruins fell to 8-4 and jeopardized their Top 25 status in the process.

Senior forward Brice Johnson paced UNC with a career-high 27 points and nine rebounds, as North Carolina silenced a UCLA team that entered the contest on a five-game winning streak, including victories over both Kentucky and Gonzaga.

UCLA carried the play in the early going, as it led by as many as 11 points. Much of that was due to the hot shooting of junior guard Isaac Hamilton, who knocked down all four of his three-point attempts for 12 points in the first half.

Zach Helfand of the Los Angeles Times noted that Hamilton was playing much better than he did last season against UNC:

A big reason for the Bruins' early success in addition to Hamilton's play was their ability to prevent the Tar Heels from getting out in transition.

Per Doug Gottlieb of CBS Sports, North Carolina simply couldn't get anything going out of offensive sets, as it was shooting well under 30 percent before a strong close to the half:

"

UCLA keeping #UNC in the half court, going under all screens except Paige- Heels have no offense 28-19 #CBSSportsRadio #CBSSportsClassic

— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) December 19, 2015"

The tide started to turn with UNC trailing by nine points with roughly eight minutes remaining in the opening half, however.

UNC went on a 19-10 run for the remainder of the half, and Johnson led the way with 13 points after having not scored in the opening 12 minutes.

In addition to that, the Tar Heels started to play pressure defense, which seemed to catch the Bruins off guard, according to Gottlieb:

"

#UNC traps out of made FT/ Timeouts — #UCLA hasn’t scouted that — Been doing it since Roy was at KU

— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) December 19, 2015"

It resulted in 11 first-half turnovers by UCLA, four of which were by senior forward Tony Parker, who looked extremely uncomfortable in double-team situations outside the paint.

North Carolina seized the lead with one minute and 20 seconds left in the first half thanks to this emphatic dunk from Johnson, courtesy of CBS Sports:

UCLA managed to even things up at 38-38 just prior to the buzzer, though, by virtue of a strong drive to the basket by junior guard Bryce Alford.

Despite Alford's late basket, North Carolina clearly had the momentum entering the second half, and it made good on that advantage by scoring the first eight points of the second stanza to seize a 46-38 lead.

UCLA managed to settle in after that initial flurry, as a tip-in from sophomore center Thomas Welsh closed the gap to three at the television timeout with just over 11 minutes remaining.

UNC took control from there, however, as it rattled off 13 consecutive points to make it 73-57 with about six minutes to go. 

Johnson and Co. continued to dominate down the stretch for UNC, which prompted Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports to comment on the big man's NBA prospects:

UCLA ultimately couldn't get a defensive stop to disrupt North Carolina's momentum, which led to a double-digit victory for the Tar Heels.

According to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, UNC played at a truly elite level in the second half:

While North Carolina has hit some speed bumps this season, including losses to Northern Iowa and Texas, Saturday's performance showed just how good it can be when head coach Roy Williams' offensive system is firing on all cylinders.

The Tar Heels struggled mightily to get out in space early, but once Williams made adjustments and changed the flow of the game, the Bruins didn't look like they belonged on the same court as UNC.

North Carolina should see a significant bump in the rankings after beating a team with some quality wins on its resume, while head coach Steve Alford will be left to figure out how to extract more consistent performances out of the Bruins.

March Madness and the NCAA tournament remain fairly far off in the distance, but the Tar Heels reminded everyone why many considered them the favorites to win it all when the season began.

Postgame Reaction

While North Carolina's win over UCLA wasn't exactly a tale of two halves, there is no question that the Tar Heels were a totally different team from midway through the opening half on.

Perhaps the biggest reason for that was the play of Johnson, who didn't score a single point until the final eight minutes of the first half. He went on to drop a career-high 27, and both he and Williams offered some background regarding why he was so locked in.

According to SNY's Adam Zagoria, foul language got Johnson benched by Williams for a period of time in the first half:

Although some players may not have reacted well to the situation, Johnson said it motivated him to perform, per Ross Martin of 247sports:

Williams wasn't happy with Johnson prior to his offensive outburst, but it didn't take long for the veteran coach to change his tune:

Johnson's big game resulted in a fairly easy win for the Tar Heels despite a slow start, which is something Williams has been waiting for on the road, according to Carolina Blitz:

Even though UNC's winning margin was a large one, Johnson believes the Tar Heels have the ability to be much better:

North Carolina ran UCLA ragged for the final three-quarters of the contest, but it wasn’t a complete performance due to how flat the Tar Heels were in the opening 12 minutes.

If UNC can somehow manage to play like it did in the second half for 40 minutes on a consistent basis, then it could be the best team in the nation. 

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.