Fifth-ranked UConn dominates No. 9 North Carolina 87-76 at the Jimmy V Classic behind an inspired 23 point performance from transfer shooting guard Cam Spencer

A long-running joke in the UConn Twitter fandom is a light-hearted criticism of head coach Dan Hurley: He can never win a close game.

It's meant to be ironic, but it should also be taken literally: Hurley and the Huskies rarely lose these days, and when they do win, they do so by double digits.

It had been fifteen games since the Huskies had won a game by single digits. In this way they achieved the school's fifth national title. The North Carolina Tar Heels were hoping to give the Huskies a fight. But tonight at the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden, that streak didn't end.

Once again, Dan Hurley failed to win a close game as his fifth-ranked Huskies dominated late over a tired No. 9 North Carolina squad to earn an 87-76 victory.

They were led by Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer, who posted a 26-point game that was his best in a UConn uniform. He was joined by three other players who reached double figures: Alex Karaban, Tristen Newton and freshman Solo Ball.

UConn's Cam Spencer (12) led the fifth-seeded Huskies to a dominant win over North Carolina

In contrast, North Carolina got 19 second-half points from RJ Davis — who had 26 total on the night — but the Tar Heels shot under 40 percent from the field in the final half, dooming them against a Huskies team that wears down opponents . Harrison Ingram also made a strong contribution, posting a 20/4/5 slash.

The Tar Heels struck first with Elliot Cadeau. After sophomore Donovan Clingan turned the ball over, Armando Bacot threw down a dunk to quickly take a 4-0 lead. A triple from Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer made it a much more exciting game.

After struggling to find buckets inside in their last game — a loss to Kansas — the Huskies noticed people cutting more often in this game. Sophomore Alex Karaban made a layup, then Spencer cleaned up a Connecticut defensive rebound to take a 7-6 lead. Bacot quickly got it back for the Heels.

A block by Donovan Clingan saw the Bristol, Connecticut-born giant run onto the field, catch an over-the-shoulder pass and put it away to take a 9-8 lead after a media timeout with less than 16 minutes left.

Spencer cut to the hoop out of that timeout to extend the UConn lead to three points. He followed that up on the next possession by sinking two of three foul shots. North Carolina wasn't outdone – with players like Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan and sophomore Seth Trimble hitting key shots.

Tristen Newton (2) scored 14 points, five rebounds and five assists that evening

Tristen Newton, UConn's seriously underrated point guard, hit a triple and a layup on his first two shot attempts of the night.

Stephon Castle, UConn's freshman who missed games due to injury, returned to the field at the 12:30 mark of the first half – met by thunderous applause from the UConn half of the Garden. Bacot's ensuing shot went off and the Huskies took the field again. Consecutive misses led to Diarra being fouled and a media timeout. He hit one to make it a 19-16 UConn lead.

Freshman Soloman “Solo” Ball nailed UConn's first field goal out of the timeout on a North Carolina turnover. He later hit Connecticut's next basket before Harrison Ingram responded with a triple.

RJ Davis knocked down another shot for UNC and they drew the game within two points. A lob to junior Samson Johnson ended his dunk attempt, but the Togo native made up for it with a monster swat to send the game to the under-8 timeout at 23-21 UConn.

North Carolina veteran Armando Bacot (5) had a strong interior presence early on

The Tar Heels also benefited from a great game from forward Harrison Ingram

Bacot made a mistake and sank both shots to tie the game at 23-23. Newton tried to find an open shooter and did so in Karaban, who put up a floater for the two-point lead. He later managed an and-1 layup and converted his own charity shot to extend the lead to 28-23. Then he hit another jumper and had ten points within five minutes. Newton played the role of facilitator, eventually finding Johnson for a lob that he hammered home with authority and sent Huskies fans into hysterics.

All the while, the Tar Heels stayed within striking distance. Ryan knocked down a layup to make it 32-29. After a Karaban missed a triple, an error led to a timeout for the under-4 media. Davis hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to make it 32-31. Spencer's tre' brought it back to a four-point game. He hit another runner to extend the lead to six.

Then, in a brilliant sequence, Hasan Diarra knocked down a triple, ran back on defense, stole the ball and put back a layup to put the Huskies up 10 with a minute and a half left.

After Ingram missed a layup, Bacot committed a technical foul by entering the court too quickly. North Carolina coach Hubert Davis was furious, gesticulating and yelling at the officials over the call. Spencer drained both free throws to make it 44-36 in Connecticut's favor.

RJ Davis' performance in the second half was inspiring and kept the game very close

As the seconds ticked toward the half, Diarra made a three-point attempt and turned the ball over with a shot clock violation. UNC called a timeout, created a play and Ingram knocked down a triple to give the Tar Heels some much-needed momentum despite trailing 44-39.

At halftime, both teams had shot about 50 percent from the field, but the Huskies were especially underpowered from beyond the arc, making just a quarter of their three-point attempts. UNC had reached 37 and a half percent. But UConn's advantage was on the glass, grabbing 21 rebounds to the Tar Heels' 14. Included in those 21 boards are seven rebounds on the offensive glass.

Carolina's momentum from the Ingram triple immediately carried over into the second half. Bacot hit an and-1 layup right in front of the goal, but missed the free throw to make it a three-point game. Newton responded with a float to calm the nerves. Karaban, who shot just 2-for-8 in the first half, knocked down a triple to give himself confidence and then grabbed a steal at the other end.

Solo Ball got a triple. Suddenly, UConn was up 52-41 before you could even blink. Spencer knocked down a triple to put the Huskies up 55-43 and Ball responded to make it 58-45.

UConn coach Dan Hurley had another dominant performance in a win

Freshman Solomon “Solo” Ball had one of the best performances of his UConn career

At this point the game became choppy. After hitting that triple, Spencer wheezed too much and drew a technical foul. RJ Davis hit both free throws. After Ball's three, Newton picked up his third foul after getting too physical with Cormac Ryan. Davis hit the free throws again. UConn turned the ball over to Johnson after an overcooked lob. UNC missed the ensuing shot, but the ball deflected off Ball during the under-16 media timeout. Still, it was 58-47 UConn.

Karaban slowly but surely improved his shooting line with a layup to make it 60-47. Ingram responded with a layup. Spencer's triple lifted the Huskies to their largest lead of the night so far, at 13 points. Castle's return to the match led to him stuffing Bacot and drawing a foul on the other end. He missed the first, but drained the second for his first point of the night.

An Ingram layup was followed by an RJ Davis three. Then the Tar Heels stole the shot and Davis put back a layup to cut the lead to 63-58. Hurley called a timeout to calm the crowd, decked out in Carolina blue.

Connecticut got back on track when Castle rode the baseline and laid it in. A Clingan block and a UNC miss led to a Davis layup. Once again, UConn tried a lob – this time to Clingan – and it was simply too high for him, leading to the under-12 timeout. UConn 65, UNC 60.

Both teams traded misses until Clingan was able to put back a layup and drew the foul before missing the and-1. A few frenzied attempts followed before Karaban nailed a dunk. Davis sank a three-pointer just under the nine-minute mark to make it 69-63. The tension mounted and Hurley almost walked to the other side of the field and tried to talk to the officials when the under-8 timeout was taken.

Alex Karaban got off to a slow start, but improved to an 8-for-17 shooting line that night

Just like the under-16 timeout this half, Karaban opened the match with a shot from beyond the arc. Ball knocked down a corner triple to give the Huskies a 12-point lead. The turnovers went back and forth for about a minute until Newton put it in.

It became clear that the North Carolina shooting was becoming a problem. They finished the second half with XX percent from the field as Davis – the engine of UNC's second half – started to run out of gas.

The outcome began to seem inevitable. UConn just wouldn't stop scoring on a gassed Tar Heels team. By the time Hubert Davis called a timeout at 4:20, Madison Square Garden had truly turned into “Storrs South.” UConn 81, North Carolina 66.

The remainder of the match went as a formality for the national champion. North Carolina would keep shooting, but it was far too late to do anything.

“We got absolutely everything we wanted out of this game when we put it on the schedule,” Hurley told reporters after the game. “To have that kind of impressive performance (after the loss to Kansas), it speaks to these two guys (Karaban and Spencer) and it speaks to the group we have this year.”