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CHAPEL HILL -- If John Henson and Reggie Bullock keep shooting like this, fourth-ranked North Carolina is going to be even tougher to defend.

Henson had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Bullock added 15 points off the bench to spark a spurt that helped the Tar Heels beat Long Beach State 84-78 on Saturday night at the Smith Center.

Henson, a 6-foot-10 forward, has been a defensive specialist who uses his long arms to pull down rebounds in traffic or swat away shots. But he made 12 of 17 shots for the Tar Heels (8-2), many on long jumpers.

Meanwhile, Bullock scored eight consecutive points to help ignite a 13-2 run that gave North Carolina some breathing room against Casper Ware and the 49ers (4-5).

While Harrison Barnes (20 points) and Tyler Zeller (17) had typically solid scoring games, any offensive improvement from Henson and Bullock could be a significant boost.

"I think it's just practicing all summer and then hitting the shots in the game is something that builds more confidence than anything," Henson said. "That's what I've been doing, hitting them in practice and building off of it and trying to become a complete player."

The junior got off to a fast start offensively, scoring 14 points on 7-for-9 field-goal shooting in the first half. But Henson made his biggest impact with his trademark defense by blocking layups -- on one, he grabbed the ball with two hands and snatched it from T.J. Robinson -- on three separate possessions in the final 4 minutes. Long Beach State trailed by six each time, the last coming when Henson blocked a shot from Ware in the lane with about 30 seconds left.

"I think he made some jump shots and yet I think that is fool's gold sometimes," coach Roy Williams said. "Our chances are better with Reggie or Harrison shooting and John rebounding as opposed to the opposite way. John took one down the stretch that I didn't want him to take, but in the second half, I thought he was so much more effective offensively than just shooting jump shots. He got involved defensively."

To listen to Bullock, it was easy to see Henson's big performance coming. The two shoot together during pregame warm-ups, and both Henson and Bullock said Henson wasn't missing.

"When he hit those big shots at the top of the free-throw line to start the game off, I was like, 'Yeah, he's still feeling it from pregame,' " Bullock said.

Bullock did his best to keep pace. He hit two 3-pointers in his personal 8-0 run, the second snapping a tie at 59 and starting the run that ended with Henson's dunk off a feed from Bullock for a 72-61 lead with 8:41 left. It was his second consecutive game with 15 points.