North Carolina landed some tough news tonight, finding out that both Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves will miss the remainder of the season because of injury and suspension, respectively.And while the news might have dampened spirits after the game, you couldn't really tell throughout a 108-91 beatdown that saw the Tar Heels hit 16 3-pointers -- seven from Wayne Ellington -- as they inspired an already exuberant Dean Dome crowd that showed up to see whether or not the Tar Heels could break a losing streak against a Maryland team that was suddenly slightly arrogant for no apparent reason.
So the question with the loss of Ginyard now becomes if North Carolina can play enough defense to contend for the national title. Based on tonight's game, they seem content simply to keep scoring in lieu of defense.
Maryland played well, shooting 48 percent from the field, but Ellington's outside shooting and the Tar Heels' transition game was just too much for the Terps to handle.
Ty Lawson and Danny Green each added four 3-pointers and Tyler Hansbrough chipped in with one as well as he scored 24 points. That these four players counted for all 16 of those 3-pointers and all but 13 of the team's total points score has to be slightly terrifying.
Graves' absence and Ginyard's injury mean increased minutes for Carolina's stars, and might seriously challenge the Tar Heel's depth.
As for Maryland, well, again, they played well, and a few times seemed poised to make a run that could actually cut the lead down to less than 10. But there's definitely something that can be said about not running your mouth before heading into someone else's house. Especially when "someone else" is a "top-five nationally ranked team."
