CHAPEL HILL — In the December 2012, a surprisingly confident ECU team coached by former Tar Heel point guard Jeff Lebo came into the Dean E. Smith Center and left with one of the biggest moral victories you’ll ever see — a competitive 93-87 loss.

Sunday was a different story.

North Carolina, coming off a disappointing 60-55 home loss to Iowa, played almost to its full potential in response, and ECU became the punching bag in a 108-64 loss.

“I thought North Carolina was terrific,” said ECU head coach Jeff Lebo. “When I saw that they lost to Iowa, I about had tears in my eyes because I knew what I was going to get into when we got back here for their next game.”

The Pirates’ 64 points were just three more than the 61 they put on the Tar Heels in the second half of the 2012 matchup.

“[The 2012 team] was a good team. It was the team that won the CIT,” said Lebo. “We had size, experience and athleticism. [This year], we’re battling right now to get an inside game. We’ve got two starters out — our best defensive guy (Paris Roberts-Campbell) and our best inside guy (Marshall Guilmette) who is really skilled. [Former guard] Akeem Richmond made four or five threes late in that game to bring us right back. That’s something we’ve relied on the last two years — him making shots. We haven’t had that person step up like he did.”

The Pirates are really feeling the loss of their best all-time sharpshooter, Richmond. ECU was 4-for-25 from beyond the arc Sunday and 0-of-11 in the first half. UNC wasn’t much better, shooting 1-for-7 from 3-point, but the Heels didn’t need to rain threes. North Carolina head coach Roy Williams’ squad got everything they wanted down low, outscoring ECU 72-32 in the paint.

The Tar Heels dished 27 assists and actually had more dunks (7) than ECU assists (5).

UNC used a balanced offensive attack as 12 different Tar Heels got on the scoreboard. Forwards J.P. Tokoto and Brice Johnson were offensive standouts, however, both totaling 19 points. Johnson was unstoppable down low with 17 boards, while big-man Kennedy Meeks grabbed 11 rebounds of his own.

The Pirates were out-rebounded, 51-29, and the 26-15 UNC advantage in that category before the half set them back with a 48-29 halftime deficit that they never came close to cutting.

No Pirate topped five rebounds and point guard Antonio Robinson was the only player who shot over 50 percent; Robinson, who was in foul trouble early, only took three shots (2-for-3). ECU finished shooting 23-of-69 (33.3 percent).

There weren’t many positives for ECU on the stat sheet, but freshman B.J. Tyson (13 points) and Lance Tejada (eight points) were both extremely aggressive with drives and didn’t look intimidated by the environment. Shooting guard Terry Whisnant led the Pirates in scoring with 15 (6-for-18).

Roy Williams said after the game that Lebo has some nice, young pieces to work with.

“It’d be helpful if he had all his guys healthy,” said Williams. “He’s got two very important players out and he has no idea when he’s going to get them back. He’s got some good ingredients and some good parts and they play the right way. But today they caught us when we were really good. B.J. Tyson and Whisnant — those guys can really score. Caleb [White] can score. The big guys can rebound the ball. [Lebo] has some good parts and if [his team] listens to him, they can continue to get better throughout the entire year because he’s a really good coach — a really good coach.”

The Pirates will have to wait almost a full week before they can get back on the court. Next up for ECU is JMU (5-5) back at Minges Coliseum at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13.