Former UNC Basketball Guard Torches Hornets in Overtime Win
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UNC basketball product and Goldsboro, N.C., native Coby White returned to the "Tar Heel State" on Monday night, leading the Chicago Bulls to a 119-112 overtime win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Sure, Chicago (17-21) further deflated Charlotte (8-26). Except for that, though, it's safe to say the 23-year-old guard, in his fifth year with the Bulls since getting drafted No. 7 overall in 2019 following an electrifying one-and-done campaign in Chapel Hill, didn't disappoint all the UNC and Coby White fans on hand in the Spectrum Center.
White, a full-time starter this season for the first time in his career, finished with a team-high 27 points on 10-for-19 shooting from the field, including a 3-for-7 clip beyond the arc, plus 4-for-5 at the charity stripe. He added six rebounds, five assists, and only one turnover across his 42 minutes on the floor.
Elite playmaking by Coby, and Drummond finishes 🔥 pic.twitter.com/zfaX6V9Ujx
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) January 9, 2024
In overtime, he accounted for four of the Bulls' 12 points, including a pair of free throws with 16 ticks remaining to give Chicago a three-possession lead.
Give Coby the ball and get out the way pic.twitter.com/mQGeazX1D9
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) January 9, 2024
"It's always fun to come back home and see everybody who supported me throughout my career," White, who hasn't sat out a single game this season and is averaging a career-high 18.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per outing, noted to the media afterward.
Charlotte's UNC basketball talent, recent five-year Tar Heel forward Leaky Black, did not come off the bench against the Bulls. The 25-year-old from nearby Concord, N.C., undrafted this past summer and still on a two-way contract, has appeared in only seven contests as a Hornets rookie.
The Bulls now return to Chicago and gear up to host the Houston Rockets (18-17) at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday.
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