No. 20 North Carolina 74, Clemson 50: Kennedy Meeks scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds as the visiting Tar Heels cruised to their fifth straight victory in the ACC opener for both teams.

Freshman Justin Jackson scored 13 points, Marcus Paige finished with 11 points and three assists and Brice Johnson added 10 points and eight rebounds for North Carolina (11-3), which won the sixth time in its last seven trips to Clemson. The Tar Heels dominated inside, finishing with a 49-30 rebounding edge and a 34-12 advantage in points in the paint.

Jaron Blossomgame finished with 13 points to lead Clemson (8-5), which shot 28.3 percent and was just 6-of-26 from 3-point range. Damarcus Harrison also finished in double figures with 11 points and Donte Grantham added nine points and five rebounds for the Tigers.

Clemson, trying for its third win of a a top-30 RPI team this season, trailed just 16-9 after a Grantham jumper with a little over eight minutes remaining in the first half. But Jackson scored nine straight points to help fuel a 23-5 North Carolina run over the next seven minutes and the Tar Heels went into halftime with a 39-17 lead.

Clemson, which shot just 17.9 percent in the first half and was just 7-of-37 from the floor midway through the second half, trailed 56-26 after a Johnson layup with 11:30 to go. The Tigers never got closer than 21 points the rest of the way.

GAME NOTEBOOK: North Carolina improved to 51-11 in ACC openers. ... The 22-point halftime lead tied the largest of the year for the Tar Heels. ... Meeks, who played just 22 minutes, now leads the ACC with six double-doubles.