Updated 7:55 p.m.
CHAPEL HILL — About 25 years ago, Roy Williams helped recruit King Rice to North Carolina, where Rice became one of the best point guards in school history. It makes sense, then, that Williams took sympathy for Rice on Sunday during the Tar Heels’ 102-65 victory against Monmouth, where Rice is a first-year head coach.
“I was almost apologizing because we made so many shots in the first half, because you feel for that other guy,” Williams said, referencing Rice.
CHAPEL HILL — No. 5 North Carolina defeated Texas 82-63 here tonight at the Smith Center.
A look back at the Tar Heels’ victory:
Updated 11 p.m.
CHAPEL HILL — Seven hours before the start of his team’s game here against Texas on Wednesday night, North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes was already in the Smith Center, waiting for the Longhorns shoot-around to end. Roy Williams, the Tar Heels coach, had told his players to arrive at 1:45 for a shoot-around of their own.
But Barnes was there by noon, waiting to go onto the court. Williams recounted the story after North Carolina’s 82-63 victory against the Longhorns – after Barnes scored a season-high 26 points and broke out of a slump, by his standards, in which he’d scored just nine points in each of UNC’s past two games.
CHAPEL HILL — No. 5 North Carolina defeated Nicholls 99-49 here at the Smith Center on Monday night. A look back at the Tar Heels’ dominant victory:
Updated 10:30 p.m.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina already had been planning to practice Tuesday, starting at 9 a.m. But for a while on Monday night at the Smith Center during the Tar Heels’ 99-49 victory against Nicholls, UNC coach Roy Williams thought about changing the practice time.
Forget 9 a.m., he thought at one point. Make it a couple hours earlier.
And the focus of the practice: Running. A lot of running.
CHAPEL HILL — No. 5 North Carolina defeated Appalachian State 97-82 here at the Smith Center on Saturday night. It was an easy win, but one that didn’t come as smoothly as Tar Heels coach Roy Williams would have preferred.
A look back at UNC’s victory against the Mountaineers:
Updated 9:28 p.m.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Roy Williams referenced the time of year it is on Saturday night and, given the season, he said, “I’m not going to be Scrooge.” But then, the more he spoke about his team’s 97-82 victory here at the Smith Center against Appalachian State, the more curmudgeonly he became.
The No. 5 Tar Heels (9-2) had practiced but once in the past week while players focused on exams. They hadn’t played a game in seven days. Given the time off, and the time away from practice, Williams liked certain aspects of how his team played.
CHAPEL HILL — No. 4 North Carolina defeated Long Beach State 84-78 here at the Smith Center on Saturday night. And, as Tar Heels coach Roy Williams expected, it wasn’t easy.
A look back at UNC’s victory against the 49ers:
Updated 10:15 p.m.
CHAPEL HILL — Reggie Bullock went through dark, difficult times after he suffered a season-ending knee injury late into his freshman season at North Carolina.
But his performance here at the Smith Center on Saturday night, when Bullock sparked the Tar Heels’ key second-half run during their 84-78 victory against Long Beach State, provided further proof that he has rediscovered the confidence that went missing after his injury. Bullock has scored more points than he did on Saturday.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina hadn’t had a game like this in a while – one in which coach Roy Williams could give his reserves significant playing time and experiment with different lineups without much thought or worry about the final score.
Days after playing what’s likely to be remembered as one of their most difficult games of the season, the Tar Heels on Tuesday night played what could be remembered as one of their easiest – a 97-48 victory against Evansville in which UNC built a 30-point halftime lead.
