NCAA Basketball north carolina Tar Heels

When Roy Williams was asked exactly where he felt his North Carolina team stood at this point in the season, he responded with the sort of enthusiasm usually reserved for a weekend with your mother-in-law.

And, being Roy Williams, it was in the form of an anecdote.

"I had a friend of mine tell me, Roy, you have more patience than anyone I've ever seen,'" the Tar Heel coach said. "So I looked at him and said, 'What are you talking about?' He said, 'You haven't used any of it yet, so you've got it all stored up."

Now might be the appropriate time to start using a little.

In the Tar Heels first real test of the season against Ohio State, North Carolina opened with a Broadway worthy debut, pushing around Big Ten title hopeful Buckeyes on the way to a 77-73 victory-slash-statement.

At least for the first 39 minutes.

The remaining 60 seconds served precisely as a reminder as to why Job never picked up a clipboard.

NEW YORK (AP) -- There was so much to talk about after No. 6 North Carolina held on for 77-73 victory over No. 15 Ohio State in the 2K Sports Classic semifinals Thursday night.

There was the Tar Heels' big early lead that dwindled to two points in the final minute, something that can happen even to a sixth-ranked team early in the season. There was the exceptional defensive job by Marcus Ginyard on Ohio State's Evan Turner, something that has become common for a player considered one of the top stoppers in the country. There was coach Roy Williams' halftime rant directed at Ginyard, something that never happens.

"I chewed his rear end out probably the hardest I've ever got on him," Williams said of the fifth-year senior. "If I'm going to chew him out, it scares the dickens out of the rest of the team. He's one of my pets."

Once again, North Carolina beats Duke. And just about everybody else in the nation.

Harrison Barnes, the nation's top basketball recruit, selected the defending national champion Tar Heels over the Blue Devils, long rumored to be Barnes' fruont-runner, as well as UCLA, Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa State at a press conference at his high school in Ames, Iowa on Friday.

And if Barnes can play basketball half as well as he can draw out the suspense, Roy Williams is in for another banner year.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The talk of the Atlantic Coast Conference's basketball media day Sunday was the trouble a player could get into if he talked too much.

Or said the wrong thing, or gestured the wrong way, or celebrated excessively, or did anything else that might be considered "unsporting behavior,'' according to a new zero-tolerance policy approved for this season by the NCAA.

Many of the players and coaches gathered at Greensboro's Grandover Resort bluntly said they either did not like the change, didn't understand why it was necessary, or both. The biggest issue: there is too much room left for the wrong interpretation.

John Wall, the nation's top point guard recruit and possible No. 1 pick of the 2010 NBA draft, was charged with misdemeanor breaking and entering yesterday.

Contrary to what my colleague wrote, this will likely have minimal impact on the teams recruiting him.

I never was clear why Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington waited until now to make their decision to enter the NBA Draft. The choice was never really in doubt.

The junior guards both are likely to go in the first round of the NBA Draft. Both nearly went pro as sophomores last season so the chances that they would stick around after winning the NCAA championship seemed slim at best.

On a night North Carolina coach Roy Williams tried to start seven seniors, it turned out to be another reminder that all the Tar Heels really need is one junior.

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The Maryland Terrapins broke out the Ronald McDonald, french-fry yellow unis for Saturday afternoon's game against the third-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, and for 30 minutes they played like a bunch of players destined for careers in the fast-food industry, or at least a profession that doesn't involve dribbling basketballs.

Junior guard -- and on-court cheerleader -- Greivis Vasquez scored the Terps' first 16 points to keep the game close, and then he didn't make another basket until 21 game minutes later. By that time, Maryland trailed by 16 and their already slim chances of backing into the NCAAs seemed pretty much gone.

North Carolina effectively handled N.C. State last night, further cementing their status as top dog in the ACC. Roy Williams, however, didn't really have a predictable reaction. See, normally, you expect Williams to toast everyone with a Coca-Cola and to throw out an "Aw, shucks, ya'll" to help complete his public persona.

Instead of doing that, though, when repeatedly asked by ACC writer Andrew Jones about his team's inability to properly apply full court defensive pressure, he let loose with a little F-bomb.

North Carolina remained one of the nation's hottest team heading into the conference home stretch last week, beating up on Duke and then squeaking by a dangerous Miami team. They now have a very minor speed bump in their quest to win the ACC regular-season championship with a rivalry game against N.C. State Wednesday.

However, that hump may have gotten a touch bigger with the news that Tyler Hansbrough suffered a concussion during Sunday's game against the Hurricanes.