CHAPEL HILL — Talk about a battle of hard heads.

North Carolina got a bit of a scare during its 80-72 win over William and Mary in the first round in the NIT on Tuesday when, with 7:32 left in the first half, teammates Marcus Ginyard and Travis Wear collided -- leaving Wear with a bloody cut about his right eye, and Ginyard woozliy sitting on the court.

"Got hit right in the back -- his right eye to the back-side of my head,'' Ginyard said. "It was just startling. It knocked me down, and then getting up, it was a little fuzzy, and the referee just told me to stay down."

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Roy Williams went to watch signee Harrison Barnes win a high school state championship in Iowa over the weekend, and constantly had to avert his eyes from the television showing college teams qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

“I’ve been like a spoiled little brat, I’ve taken my ball and gone home,’” Williams said Monday. “I haven’t watched one play. And it’s the most unusual feeling I’ve ever had; it’s a feeling I never want to experience again. It’s painful, it’s frustrating … my first year, we were not eligible to go. And since then, in our mind, there was ever
any doubt we were in.”

ATLANTA — With only three ACC victories and their postseason hopes quickly dwindling, you’d think there would be a sense of desperation in North Carolina’s players.

But it sure didn’t look like it during their 68-51 blowout loss at Georgia Tech on Tuesday night – even to coach Roy Williams. Carolina committed 19 turnovers, shot only 32.2 percent, and never posted any sort of comeback to the Yellow Jackets’ 21-4 first-half run.

“I don’t know if it was a desperation game,” Williams said. “You know, I try to play every day in practice, and in every game. I didn’t say in the locker room, ‘Win this, or we’re not going to do that.’ I believe in doing the best you can every day.

“But if I’m desperate, I’m going to dive on the dad-gum floor for the ball. If I’m desperate, I’m not going to turn it over on a handoff. If I’m desperate, I’m going to sprint back. If I’m desperate, I’m going to know who I’m guarding.”

CLEMSON, S.C. -- For all of the talk of North Carolina's freshman being slower-to-learn than expected, it was the veterans who struggled -- equally, if not more --  during the 12th-ranked Tar Heels' 83-64 loss to No. 24 Clemson, the most lopsided defeat in the Roy Williams era.

Starting posts Ed Davis and Deon Thompson, for example, made a combined four field goals. The veterans combined for 17 of the season-high-tying 26 turnovers. A rookie reserve, Dexter Strickland, was the only Tar Heel in double figures (17 points). The Tar Heels had so much trouble breaking Clemson's press that at one point early in the second half, Williams benched all five starters and put in all five freshman -- then
spent about 90 second of game time coaching his upperclassmen about how inbound the ball.

It sounds as if UNC senior Marcus Ginyard’s right ankle is responding well, after playing 20 minutes during the Tar Heels’ victory over Virginia Tech on Sunday night. Ginyard had missed three straight game because of a right ankle sprain.
 
“He was by here 10 minutes ago, and said he felt better than he thought it would feel,’’ coach Roy Williams said during the ACC teleconference this morning. “So I think he’ll be fine.”

North Carolina shooting guard Marcus Ginyard, who has missed three games with a sprained right ankle, will go through pre-game warm-ups and may play against Virginia Tech tonight after all, a team spokesman said. Coach Roy Williams had said Friday he did not expect the fifth-year senior to play. But he practiced Saturday.

Meanwhile, wings Will Graves and Leslie McDonald, who were questionable because of right ankle sprains, will play.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — It was a quiet locker room after ninth-ranked North Carolina lost to College of Charleston 82-79 in overtime Monday night. Not so quiet on Twitter, though. Here's a sampling of UNC players' tweets in the hours after the Tar Heels blew an 11-point lead in the final four minutes of regulation:

Freshman John Henson (johnhenson31): Just made someone's college career relevant ... damn (note: since taken off his twitter page)

Sophomore Justin Watts (MyNameisJWatts): On the way back to chapel hill .. Going to sleep as soon as I get back

Sophomore Ed Davis (eddavis32): Just got back to chapel hill. In this business us got to have a quick memory forget fast and move on

Senior Marcus Ginyard (MGINYARD): Charleston police should have their hands full tonight

Walk-on Terrence Petree (tpetree): Say what u want. I believe in my 15 brothers....

CHAPEL HILL — UNC shooting guard Marcus Ginyard will miss his second straight game with a sprained right ankle tonight against Albany -- and his back-up, Justin Watts, will also miss the game with a right ankle sprain.

Watts sustained his injury during Monday's game against Rutgers. A replacement starter has not yet been named.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- After North Carolina’s 103-90 loss to Texas on Saturday, senior Marcus Ginyard repeated what is becoming a familiar refrain this season.

 “As a team, we just didn’t have any energy, their energy was high than ours, their intensity level was higher than ours, they were just competing out there for the majority of the game, and we weren’t,” he said.

 So is effort something the team is trying to work on?

At a Friday press conference at the Smith Center, North Carolina men's basketball coach Roy Williams said senior guard Marcus Ginyard will probably play in Saturday's game against the Texas Longhorns at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

"I did expect him to play," Williams said. "Sort of still do. His foot is a lot better."

Ginyard and freshman guard Dexter Strickland both missed Saturday's game with Presbyterian with injuries.