BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- For nine minutes of the first half of Saturday's matchup against UCLA, North Carolina star forward Brice Johnson was a spectator, benched by Tar Heels coach Roy Williams for using profanity.
When Johnson re-entered, he took over the game, finishing with a career-high 27 points during the final 27 minutes of the No. 11 Tar Heels 89-76 win over the No. 22 Bruins in the first game of the CBS Sports Classic doubleheader at the Barclays Center.
Johnson, a senior, has scored in double figures in each of the 11 games for the Tar Heels (9-2) this season. The 6-foot-10 Johnson dominated in the paint, going 11-for-12 from the floor with nine rebounds and two blocked shots
Guard Joel Berry II contributed 17 points and forward Isaiah Hicks came off the Carolina bench to add 12 points.
Forward Isaac Hamilton topped UCLA (8-4) with a season-best 23 points and guard Bryce Alford contributed 15 points.
Johnson was summoned to the bench by Williams with a little less than four minutes into the game and the Tar Heels trailing.
"I don't care what got him (Johnson) upset, I just didn't like what he said," Williams said. "I think Brice's energy level was so much better in the second half. I almost hugged him and kissed him but you got to do that on a more consistent basis."
When he returned with about eight minutes remaining in the half, UCLA was in control, leading 28-19. But Johnson's 13 points during the final seven minutes of the half helped the Tar Heels overcome their sluggish start.
In the second half, Johnson and the Tar Heels dominated. Carolina outscored the Bruins 51-38 in the final 20 minutes.
Johnson's jumper with 7:55 to play gave the Tar Heels a 67-57 cushion and his layup on a feed from Berry increased the Carolina advantage to 73-57 with 6:18 to go.
"I kind of used some bad language and coach was really upset at me about it," Johnson said. "So he sat me for it. It put a fire into my butt and when I got back in there I was ready to go.
"It's just, I got to learn from that. Even my dad tells me the same, I got to change my language sometimes. Sometimes it gets the best of me. I just got to make better decisions when I'm coming off the court and not yell a profanity and saying things like that because I probably could have been in the game a little longer and got a couple of more points."
The Bruins were able to claw into the Carolina lead at 60-57 on forward Jonah Bolden's tip-in, but Johnson scored four of the next nine points to extend the Tar Heels' lead to 69-57 at the 7:35 mark.
Besides stopping Johnson, the Bruins were plagued by 17 turnovers.
"We did a nice job in a lot of areas," said UCLA coach Steve Alford. "We had two glaring weaknesses today. We had too many turnover and we just couldn't get stops in transition.
"This is a really good basketball team (Carolina). It's got a lot of experience, a lot of seniors, depth and size. I appreciate how our guys fought. "
The Tar Heels opened the second half on an 8-0 run to take a 56-48 lead, spurred by a 3-pointer from guard Justin Jackson.
Alford's runner with five seconds left in the first half tied it at 38-38.
Johnson scored seven straight points for the Tar Heels to bring them to within 33-32 with 2:54 remaining in the first half and his lay-in tied it at 36-36. He led Carolina with 13 points in the first half.
UCLA took advantage of Carolina's poor perimeter shooting, moving out to a 23-13 lead with 11:55 left in the half. The Tar Heels were just 1-of-10 from beyond the arc during that span.
Hamilton scored 12 of UCLA's first 16 points.
NOTES: North Carolina and UCLA met for the second straight season. Last year at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, the Tar Heels defeated the Bruins 78-56. ... UCLA's 11 NCAA championships are the most in college basketball history. North Carolina's five titles are tied for third-most. ... Tar Heels junior F Kennedy Meeks is out for several weeks with a bone bruise on his left knee. ... Thomas Welsh started at center for UCLA after missing one game with a stomach virus. ... Carolina and UCLA have combined for 93 NCAA Tournament appearances and 35 Final Fours.
