CHARLOTTE – The top seed in the West Region did top-seed stuff Thursday afternoon, as North Carolina dismantled 16-seed Wagner, 90-62, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Spectrum Center.

The Tar Heels started hot hitting eight of their first nine shots, then struggled for a stretch before hitting their stride again. In the end, Carolina checked a ton of positive boxes, and more than did enough to generate a positive mojo moving into the second round, when it will face 9-seed Michigan State on Saturday.

Four Tar Heels were in double figures led by RJ Davis with 22 points, Armando Bacot had 18, Jae’Lyn Withers 16, and Cormac Ryan 13. Bacot grabbed 15 rebounds giving him seven consecutive double-doubles in NCAA Tournament play, and he has grabbed at least 15 boards in six straight NCAA contests.

Withers also pulled down 10 rebounds for his second double-double this season as a Tar Heel.

Bacot (2,310 points) passed Phil Ford for second all-time in scoring and Davis (2,052) passed Lennie Rosenbluth for fifth all-time on Carolina’s scoring list.

UNC improved to 28-7.

Here are 5 Takeaways from UNC’s performance: