North Carolina ends suspense early, routs Marquette

NEWARK, N.J. - If America was waiting to find out the difference between the first-place team in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the 11th-place team in the Big East, it became readily apparent over 9 first-half minutes last night at the Prudential Center. North Carolina scored 19 points in that time. Marquette did not score any.

Marquette coach Buzz Williams kept calling 30-second timeouts. He needed 30-minute timeouts. Actually, he needed a different opponent in a different place. On this night, he was the wrong Williams.

UNC, the ACC regular-season champion, dominated that period and cruised home from there, winning, 81-63.

Rumors are the Buzz might be heading to Oklahoma to take that job. He might have considered leaving at halftime when his team trailed, 40-15. Downtown Newark had to look better than what he was seeing on the court.

UNC coach Roy Williams is not going anywhere. He will reappear in the building tomorrow with a chance to take another Carolina team to the Final Four. This was a Sweet 16 game that looked like a 1-16 game.

How bad was it?

The Golden Eagles (22-15) actually led, 10-8. They should have left, declaring themselves the victors. They missed their next 14 shots, while finding time to commit five turnovers. Their first-half shooting bottomed out at 4-for-26. After 20 minutes, they had 12 turnovers and zero assists, which has to be some kind of record.

"I looked up at the clock and it was 10-8 their favor, and the next time I looked at the clock is when I went off at halftime, and it was 40-15," Roy Williams said. "I knew we were doing very well, to say the least."

Carolina (29-7) wasn't really great, but did not have to be. All the Tar Heels had to do was dribble, catch and make layups. If there had been a 20-point rule, this would have been declared a no-contest long before it became official.

"I thought they were outstanding," Buzz Williams said. "I knew they were really good, and I thought they played even better than good. I thought we were completely uncharacteristic the entire first half."

And there was also this.

"I thought in the first half we were pitiful," Buzz Williams said.

The numbers sort of backed up his assessment.

UNC big men John Henson and Tyler Zeller combined for 24 points and 17 rebounds - in the first half. They finished with 41 and 24 combined. Zeller (27 points, 12 rebounds) scored at will near the rim against much smaller Marquette. UNC freshman star Harrison Barnes had 20 points and nine rebounds. Carolina's starters outscored Marquette's, 76-21.

The first-half defense, however, was all the rage.

"We did a great job of forcing them out of their offense and then just not letting them ever take a comfortable shot," Zeller said.

The second half began as the first ended.

Carolina's lead stretched to 51-18 before the Heels lost interest, no doubt looking forward to tomorrow, when the Heels will play Kentucky. Marquette actually got it to 69-55 with 4 1/2 minutes left, but that was just window dressing for a game that was over from that 19-0 run to the finish line.

"I have been in a national championship game a few years ago we were up 21 at half and against a great team [Michigan State] and a great coach, and they cut it to 13," Roy Williams said. "But you keep playing. You know the teams you are playing at this level aren't going to quit and give in, so you have to finish games."

The finish was not nearly as good as the start. But it surely said that this very young Carolina team will be a very big factor when it plays one game for a shot at Houston. *