Robert Morris suffers blowout loss at No. 6 North Carolina

Forward Brice Johnson led North Carolina with 23 points, and hulking forward Kennedy Meeks added 21 points and 12 rebounds.

The Tar Heels opened up by scoring the first 12 points of the game, but Robert Morris settled down and went on a 10-3 run to pull within five at 15-10.

"They just put so much pressure on you with their athleticism, with their size, with the way they were pounding the ball into the paint," RMU coach Andy Toole said. "We have good basketball players so they settle in and say, 'OK, this is basketball.' Unfortunately you're down 12-0 at that point and you're swimming upstream."

The Colonials remained competitive most of the opening half, but North Carolina closed strong and took a 53-38 lead into the half.

An 11-0 UNC run put the game out of reach.

Preseason all-conference pick Lucky Jones was scoreless without a shot attempt in the opening half and finished with six points before fouling out with 5:50 left.

"We caught Lucky Jones on a night where it was fortunate for us," said North Carolina head coach Roy Williams. Robert Morris's Toole felt differently about his senior.

"It hurts a ton. He's our most experienced guy," said Toole. "He's one of our toughest guys in terms of rebounding the ball and in terms of physicality… I was hard for him to get into a rhythm and a flow in the game."

Reed, a 6-foot-3 guard, finished 10-for-15 off the bench in his first college road game. Reed scored his 24 points in just 24 minutes of action.

"He ought to feel awfully good about it, but I'm sure their coaching staff feels even better than he does," said Williams.

Sunday night's game at UNC was the first of a five-game road trip for the Colonials. Robert Morris plays four more road games, including a Nov. 22 date at Georgetown, before returning to Coraopolis.