UNC at N.C. State: Three things to watch

No. 7 North Carolina travels to N.C. State tonight for the second meeting between the Tar Heels and Wolfpack. Three  things to watch from a UNC perspective:

First …
Will the Tar Heels continue to dominate inside the 3-point line? When these teams first met on Jan. 26 in a 74-55 UNC victory, the Heels dominated in every conceivable way inside the 3-point line. For one, UNC outshot N.C. State on 2-pointers, 54.1 percent to 32.4 percent. When the Tar Heels did miss shots, they rebounded their misses 42.9 percent of the time, which gave UNC more than enough second-chance opportunities. The Tar Heels also blocked eight shots, while the Wolfpack didn’t block any.

N.C. State didn’t shoot poorly from the outside. In fact, the Pack was 9-of-20 from 3-point range. But with the way UNC controlled the interior – combined with how poorly N.C. State played on the inside – there was simply no way the Wolfpack were going to have a chance to stay close, let alone win.

The Heels’ most imposing inside player recently in this series has been John Henson. I wrote a story that ran today about his shot-blocking ability. Henson hasn’t had fewer than five blocked shots in each of the past three meetings between these teams.

Second …
Kendall Marshall vs. Lorenzo Brown. Before these teams played last month, Marshall said Brown was having the best season of any point guard in the ACC. But, as Marshall said yesterday, he’s been the better point guard of late.

A reminder of how Marshall and Brown played on Jan. 26 …

Marshall: 34 minutes, 7 points, 3-7 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 4 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 turnovers
Brown: 34 minutes, 9 points, 3-8 FG, 3-5 3FG, 0-1 FT, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 turnovers

Brown finished with two more points, but turned it over twice more than Marshall and had five fewer assists. Granted, it was difficult for Brown to compile assists given none of his teammates were making any shots. Still, Brown wasn’t all that effective in getting the Wolfpack into its offense. If Marshall outplays Brown tonight the way he did last month, this won’t be close.

Third …
How UNC starts the game and, in particular, how the Tar Heels play amid a loud, angry crowd. N.C. State fans are in a foul mood. This cannot be debated. First came the devastating loss at Duke last week, when the Wolfpack blew a 20-point second-half lead while three of their starters fouled out.

Then came Saturday, and a disappointing loss against Florida State. Towards the end of that game, referee Karl Hess ejected N.C. State greats Chris Corchiani and Tom Gugliotta – and that hasn’t sat well with the N.C. State fan base. Not at all. Wolfpack fans are angry and offended, and they will be loud at the start of the game tonight.

How long they stay that way will be up to UNC, which hasn’t started games all that well on the road. Since the debacle at Florida State, the Heels have been down early against Virginia Tech, Maryland and Miami – and UNC rallied to win all three.

The longer N.C. State hangs around tonight, though, the more momentum the Wolfpack will gain, and the more difficult it will be for UNC to assert itself. The Tar Heels would be best served to start fast and deflate a team – and a crowd – that’s out for vengeance.