CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — There wasn’t anything special that North Carolina coach Roy Williams told his players after P.J. Hairston, the Tar Heels’ sophomore guard, suffered a concussion that left him woozy and wobbly late in the first half at Boston College.

“Basically the old clichés,” Williams said following UNC’s 82-70 victory against the Eagles. In the locker room at halftime, Williams mentioned the fact that Leslie McDonald, one of the team’s best perimeter shooters, was back home serving the final game of a three-game suspension.

“And now one of our guys (Hairston) is down laying back on the training table,” Williams said he told his team. “So everybody’s got to pull together even harder. That’s and old cliché and it’s coach-talk, but I believe it’s true, too.”

Roy Williams has challenged P.J. Hairston (center) to play with more hustle. Will he at Boston College? ROBERT WILLETT

BROOKLINE, Mass. — And welcome to Brookline, Mass., folks, where there’s snow on the ground and it’s wet and cold and no place to wear clean sneakers. In a little more than five hours (have I mentioned that 9 p.m. games are too late?) I’ll be taking a cab over to the Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill for North Carolina’s game at Boston College.

Looking at the schedule entering ACC play, you might not have placed much emphasis on this game. But it’s a big one, given the way the Tar Heels played on Saturday night during that 91-83 loss at N.C. State. A couple of things I’m interested to see tonight: First, will UNC play with some urgency for once? Second, what kind of a role will P.J. Hairston have? There's a reason he didn't play more against N.C. State.

Without further delay … the preview:

Roy Williams and North Carolina will host Kentucky next season at the Smith Center. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina vs. Kentucky is back on. Officially.

News that the Tar Heels-Wildcats series would resume has been out for a while now, and North Carolina coach Roy Williams even referenced it on his radio show recently, but UNC made it official with a press release earlier today.

UNC coach Roy Williams wanted to see more hustle out of P.J. Hairston on Saturday at N.C. State. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — P.J. Hairston has been inconsistent thoughout his sophomore season at North Carolina. But he has been consistently good, at least offensively, during the Tar Heels’ past two games.

N.C. State dominated North Carolina during the first half on Saturday night. ETHAN HYMAN

CHAPEL HILL — Back in Chapel Hill after a long night in Raleigh. Though it was probably longer for North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who didn’t much care about the Tar Heels’ second-half rally.

“We stunk,” he said after UNC’s 91-83 loss at N.C. State. Here’s a look at our coverage from last night.

First, the main story of the game from our N.C. State beat writer, Joe Giglio.

A column from Caulton Tudor about the one-sided matchup at point guard.

A column from Luke DeCock about how N.C. State thrives in the spotlight.

A story from me about UNC's many shortcomings.

A story from Laura Keeley about N.C. State beating UNC at its own game, in transition.

A story from Cory Smith about how N.C. State "isn't playing for second or third" this season.

And without further delay, the look back:

Can Roy Williams and North Carolina make it 14 in a row against N.C. State? Stay tuned. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — Welcome to game day, folks: North Carolina at N.C. State.

Wanted to provide an all-in-one-place look at our coverage today. So here goes:

Thanks to one N.C. State fan, Dexter Strickland for a while has known exactly how many days remained before North Carolina's game against N.C. State. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — After Dexter Strickland said some things about N.C. State before the season – you know, about how the Tar Heels beat the Wolfpack “every single year” (and that has, in fact, been true for a while) – he told me during an interview that he’d been hearing just about every day from one N.C. State fan who sends Strickland messages on Twitter, counting down the days to Saturday, when the Wolfpack and Tar Heels play at PNC Arena.

I spoke with Strickland the other night after UNC’s victory against Georgia Tech, and he said that same fan had continued to send him tweet after tweet (most of them, it turns out, taking shots at Strickland’s jumpshot). That N.C. State fan is Ryan Forcina, and the majority of his tweets, going back to October, have been directed at Strickland.

Forcina deserves some credit for his relentlessness. It can’t be easy to talk smack day after day after day. He even managed to wish Strickland a happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year, all the while making fun of Strickland’s jump shot or, in the case of one tweet, writing simply, “You’re a scrub, bro.” I've reached out to Forcina but haven't heard back.

Of course, Strickland deserves some credit, too, for being a good sport. He told me he hasn’t even blocked Forcina.

Anyway, here’s what Strickland has been hearing from this guy for the past two months. This list doesn’t include every tweet, but most of them:

The transition to the college game hasn't been easy for North Carolina point guard Marcus Paige. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the story I wrote about Marcus Paige, the North Carolina point guard who is still transitioning to the college game.

If you’ve been thinking that Paige has looked like a different, better player lately, there’s good reason for that: He told me recently that after a difficult start, he is gaining confidence. It has made a difference.

Stay tuned for some bonus material at some point later …

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina was well on its way to a 79-63 victory here against Georgia Tech on Wednesday, but for a while the Tar Heels’ second-half performance resembled the disappointing one they gave during their victory against Maryland on Saturday.

At no point during the second half on Wednesday did the Heels (13-5, 3-2 ACC) struggle as badly as they did on Saturday, but still they had difficulty pulling away from the Yellow Jackets (10-7, 0-5) – and putting the game out of reach.

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina junior guard Leslie McDonald will serve a three-game suspension, the school announced in a statement on Wednesday.

UNC didn’t specify the reason for McDonald’s suspension but both McDonald and Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said in a statement that McDonald failed to meet his responsibilities as a “student-athlete.”