CHAPEL HILL — This wasn’t one for beauty pageants or school picture day but, North Carolina coach Roy Williams said after his team’s 60-57 victory against Wisconsin, “Sometimes you need to win like that.” The No. 5 Tar Heels rebounded from their first loss of the season to beat the ninth-ranked Badgers on Wednesday night at the Smith Center.

A look back at the Tar Heels’ victory:

Updated 12:46 a.m.

CHAPEL HILL — Kendall Marshall said he can sense these things – that he develops a feeling before Harrison Barnes does what he did in the second half of North Carolina’s 60-57 victory here on Wednesday night against Wisconsin. But more than a feeling, Marshall, the Tar Heels’ sophomore point guard, can see it, too.

“He gets that look on his face,” Marshall said of Barnes, UNC’s sophomore forward. “He wants the ball. And he wants to make that play. So I feel like our job is to just give it to him.”

The Tar Heels (6-1) midway through the second half at the Smith Center found themselves in a slow, plodding game against the Badgers (6-1), who prefer the pace that way. Wisconsin held a 36-31 lead with 13:19 to play, and the score was the same one minute later.

By the time the Heels had possession with less than 12 minutes to play, they were still down five, and they’d scored all of 10 points in a stretch of offensive futility that lasted more than 16 minutes. Then, Marshall said, Barnes got that look.

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina here tonight against Wisconsin plays the first of consecutive games against top-10 opponents. The Tar Heels and Badgers similar point guards but contrasting styles, as I wrote about here in the newspaper today.

As we approach tip-off – we’re still almost two hours away – some things to watch: 

CHAPEL HILL — Harrison Barnes is suffering from a sprained ankle and his status is in doubt for North Carolina’s game here on Wednesday night against Wisconsin, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said on Monday during his weekly radio show.

Barnes, the sophomore forward, sustained the injury on Saturday night during UNC’s 90-80 defeat against UNLV. He left the game with 6:13 to play in the first half but returned about three minutes later and finished with 15 points in 30 minutes.

DURHAM -- A brilliant performance by freshman point guard Kyrie Irving gave way to stellar 3-point shooting for Duke in the second half as No. 1 Duke remained undefeated with a huge nonconference win.

Four 3-pointers in a span of 3 minutes, 40 seconds helped the top-ranked Blue Devils open up a 10-point, second-half lead Wednesday night in an 84-79 defeat of No. 6 Michigan State at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the premier meeting of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

updated: 10:50 p.m.

MADISON, Wisc. -- They missed on jumpers and putbacks, runners and tip-ins. Shots clanked out, swirled out, and out-and-out missed.

By the time N.C. State sophomore Scott Wood’s steal-and-layup connected early in the second half, the Wolfpack had gone more than 10 minutes without any sort of bucket, and they trailed by 31 points. And methodical, sharpshooting Wisconsin easily added another checkmark to the Big Ten side of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, dominating 87-48 at Kohl Center.

updated: 12:47 a.m.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill -- North Carolina thought it might have a ‘big’ problem this season, what with its lack of depth in the post.

But its bigger deficiency Tuesday night during its 79-67 dismantling by No. 20 Illinois in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge was its backcourt.

Starters Larry Drew II and Dexter Strickland, along with back-ups Kendall Marshall, Leslie McDonald and Reggie Bullock, went bucket-less in the first half, accounted for 14 of their team’s 18 turnovers,  and were out-played in particular by Illini guard Demetri McCamey (17 points) , who UNC coach Roy Williams called “sensational.”

A rematch of the national title game will highlight the 11th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Michigan State will travel to national champion UNC on Dec. 1.

UNC beat Michigan State 89-72 for the Tar Heels' fifth NCAA title on April 6. The Heels also beat the Spartans in last year's Challenge.

The ACC has won every year of the Challenge. Duke, which is 10-0 in Challenge play, goes to Wisconsin on Dec. 2. N.C. State, which was left out of last year's Challenge, will host Northwestern on Dec. 1.

Did Hubert Davis, the former UNC basketball player who was working as an ESPN analyst for the Virginia-Minnesota game Tuesday, actually refer to former Virginia star Ralph Sampson as "arguably the greatest player in ACC history"? Sampson was in the stands at the game, where his son, Ralph Sampson III, played for Minnesota in a 66-56 victory over the Cavaliers.

If only Michael Jordan, David Thompson. Christian Laettner, Phil Ford, Tim Duncan and another half-dozen ACC greats had been sitting in the stands, too, Davis would have seen some historical perspective right in front of him.

Does that qualify as the dumbest comment you heard during the series? Post your nominees here.

In case you lost track, here's the TV schedule for the upcoming ACC/Big Ten Challenge in men's basketball.