ATLANTA – North Carolina needed a spark to start the second half Tuesday night, and Cam Johnson obliged.

Ninth-ranked UNC led Georgia Tech just 31-24 at halftime and appeared at times playing at about 85 percent speed, in part because of Georgia Tech’s zone defense and also perhaps due to the Heels not having played a game in eight days.

So, the Tar Heels needed a jolt to open the second half. They didn’t want to let Tech’s home fans and boisterous student body get into the game, so someone had to step up.

Johnson, who’s hoisted the Heels on his back several times already this season, met his team’s need, scoring eight quick points to open the second half; six on a pair of 3-pointers and two on a steal and slam for a 39-27 UNC lead.

It sparked a 25-5 start to the half for the Tar Heels, which included a 15-0 run. It very well could have happened without Johnson’s spurt, but the way the Heels reacted on the court and the bench, his push clearly gave them a welcomed juice injection.

“It was needed,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said about Johnson’s spurt. “There’s no question, but I didn’t really care who it was…. (He) had a big guy guarding him out on the court and he wasn’t as comfortable coming out as far as Cam was going to shoot it.”

Johnson said he simply took advantage of the situation.

“They were in a zone and I just found a little pocket between the two guys, and I hit both of them from the same spot,” he explained. “I knew there was going to be a little bit of a late contest, but I knew I’d have as much time as I needed.”

And as a result, the Heels took off. Their full run to begin the half reached 34-11 over the first 9:42. But it was that early spark that lit the fuse, something Johnson sensed as it was happening.

“I felt like we got some separation there and just some energy,” Johnson said. “The guys kept responding in a good way and I think we kind of picked it up.”

Johnson has stepped forward either initiating runs like Tuesday or hitting clutch shots when his team has most needed them.

Ten days earlier at Miami, Johnson hit a pair of long 3-pointers fending off Hurricanes’ charges that cut leads to just one point inside the final seven minutes in what was eventually a nine-point Carolina victory.

And on Tuesday in a building the Heels have struggled before, the graduate student from Pennsylvania infused his team once again on a night he finished with a game-high 22 points, the sixth time this season he’s hit the 20-point mark.

“It was big,” freshman point guard Coby White said about Johnson’s spurt after halftime. “It sett the tone, gave us a spark going on that 8-0 run in the beginning of the second half started our 25-5 run… It was big-time plays from a big-time player.”

A big-time player who is making a habit out of delivering for his team.