Jan. 31, 2008

By Lauren Brownlow

The Basics

No. 4/4 Carolina (19-1, 4-1) will return to action after an eight-day lay-off on Thursday night when it faces Boston College (12-6, 3-2) in the Smith Center. The Tar Heels last played on January 23rd, when they defeated Miami 98-82 in Coral Gables. Boston College is coming off of an 81-73 overtime loss at home to Virginia Tech on Saturday. The last time Carolina had this long of a break between games after conference play began was 2001. Carolina was No. 1 and had eight days off after a home win over Maryland, only to go on the road and lose at Clemson.

Carolina leads the all-time series with Boston College, 4-3. Carolina won the first two games in the series (in 1967 and 1975), only to drop the next three (beginning with the 1994 NCAA Tournament and continuing into the 2005-06 ACC season, when Carolina lost both meetings). Carolina has won two straight against the Eagles, sweeping the series last season.

Game Time: Boston College at North Carolina, 7:00 PM.

Last Time: Carolina beat Boston College 71-56 in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament last season despite attempting just nine free throws (and making seven of them). Carolina shot 48.4% from the game and held Boston College to just 34.5%, including 24.1% in the first half. Carolina held a 40-14 edge in points in the paint and even though Boston College got as close as nine points behind in the second half, the Eagles would not get closer. Boston College did not hit a field goal over the final 4:01 of the game.

Brandan Wright dominated the game with 20 points on 10-of-12 shooting. Wayne Ellington added ten points (on 2-of-9 shooting) and Ty Lawson had 10 points on 4of-9 shooting, but added eight assists and just one turnover. Tyler Hansbrough led the Tar Heels in rebounds with 13 but had just nine points in what was only his second game after suffering a broken nose against Duke. Sean Marshall led the way for the Eagles with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 4-of-5 from the three-point line. The rest of the team combined shot just 11-of-41 (26.8%) from the field and 3-of-12 (25%) from beyond the arc. Jared Dudley added 20 points on 18 shots. John Oates led the Eagles in rebounding with eight; Carolina out-rebounded Boston College 41-27.

Injury Report: Bobby Frasor tore his left ACL and is out for the season.

Storylines

Rebounding: Carolina has not shot the ball as well as it would like to in ACC play so far, making just 44.6% of its shots so far compared to 44.2% allowed by opponents. However, Carolina has been able to mount two victories by large margins and two close victories at least in part because of its ability to rebound the basketball. Carolina missed 24 shots in the first half of the Miami game and rebounded 13 of them. Carolina also corralled 56% of its misses against Maryland in the second half (14 offensive rebounds, a season-high in a half, on 25 missed shots).

"The first half, the thing that kept us in the game and kept us with the little lead basically was our work on the backboards. Then in the second half, we were really efficient offensively. We shot a high percentage. When we did miss, we got some rebounds. Again, it was the effort that you had to have on the road against a very good Miami team who scared us to death, and rightfully so," Williams said.

Carolina was in the Maryland game (even though the Tar Heels lost) because despite shooting 38%, Carolina scored 27 second-chance points on 21 offensive rebounds. Carolina had yet to score more than 20 points in its first three ACC games, averaging 14.3 second-chance points in that span. In its last two games, Carolina has averaged 24.5 second-chance points.

The Tar Heels have rebounded 45.3% of their missed shots in ACC play and allowed opponents to collect just 37% of their own misses. Carolina is out-rebounded ACC foes by an average of 7.8 rebounds per game and has actually increased their rebounding output from 44.5 on the season as a whole to 45.2 in league play. However, opponents have increased their rebounding output from 33.5 on the season to 37.4 in league play.

Carolina forcing its will offensively: Carolina is not a team that likes to shoot a lot of three-pointers. The Tar Heels have shot 20 or more three-pointers four times this season and made 40% or more in all but one of those games - the Maryland loss being the one exception (7-of-23 three-pointers, 30.4%). It was Carolina's most three-pointers attempted since the Iona game on November 18th in which Carolina took 24 three-pointers and made 10 of them (41.7 percent). On the season, Carolina has shot 51.6% from two-point range and shot 53.4% in its out-of-conference games. In ACC play, Carolina is shooting 46.8% from two-point range.

In Carolina's two closest games - an overtime win and a two-point loss - Carolina has shot 42.9% or less from two-point range. In all other ACC games, Carolina has shot 47.6% or better from two-point range. Carolina made 49.2% of its two-point baskets against Miami and attempted a conference-season high 65 two-pointers. Carolina has to be able to assert its will in terms of getting easy baskets and not just jacking up not only three-point shots, but off-balance jump shots.

Boston College is a team that is very adept at shot-blocking, particularly because of the skills of Tyrelle Blair who leads the league by a large margin with 77 blocks. Teams like Maryland and Clemson, both with capable low-post defenders, have given Carolina trouble this season. But Carolina will be more successful against shot-blocking teams if it can be aggressive and take what it wants.

"You've got to always be aware of a shot-blocker. The Blair youngster (Boston College's Tyrelle Blair) has 77 blocks. So you have to be aware of that, but I also think that you have to instruct guys, you have to coach guys how to play against a shot-blocker. Most people think if you go in there and you double and triple-pump and bring it way out here, that's going to make it harder for him to block it. The truth of the matter is that makes it easier for him to block it. You just give him more space to find it. The toughest block is when a guy takes it right at your face," Williams said.

Continuing the defensive improvement: The numbers may not tell the tale, but Carolina's defense looked much improved against Miami last week. Miami scored the same amount of points that Maryland did in its victory over Carolina - 82. But Carolina forced 17 Miami turnovers compared to 10 for Maryland and scored 27 points off of those turnovers against the Hurricanes compared to just seven points off turnovers against Maryland. "I do believe we are getting better defensively. Somebody asked me a question the other night if it ever bothered me about how many points the other team is scoring. My answer was, `In a way, no.' I'd like to shut them out but I'd rather be concerned about them shooting a low percentage because people are going to score against us because we're going to run it up and down and give them plenty of opportunities," Williams said. "I've always thought the number of points allowed to me was not a true indicator of how good you are defensively. But I do believe that field-goal percentage (defense) is, so we are constantly trying to get the other team's field-goal percentage down."

Carolina scored 27 points off turnovers against Miami, its most since the Rutgers game (30 points). In the four other ACC games, Carolina had scored just 42 points off turnovers (10.5 per game). Carolina forced just 53 turnovers (13.3 per game) in its first four ACC contests and forced 17 Miami turnovers. In its two ACC wins by ten or more points, Carolina has averaged 17.0 turnovers forced per game and in its close games (two wins and one loss), the Tar Heels forced 12.0 turnovers per game.

Carolina also held a very capable Miami front line to just 26 points in the paint, the fewest allowed by an opponent since the Valparaiso game (18 points in the paint). In Carolina's 15 non-conference games, it held opponents to 35.9% shooting from two-point range and in five conference games, it has allowed 48.4% shooting. What is more important, however, is that Carolina's 15 non-conference opponents averaged 19.3 made field goals from two-point range (52.4 attempts) and in conference play, opponents are averaging 48.8 attempts and 23.6 made two-pointers. Miami made 53.9% of its two-point attempts - a season-high allowed in conference play - but held the Hurricanes to a season-low 39 two-point attempts. Carolina needs to continue to keep opponents out of the paint and force them into tough shots.

This team has the capability to be a very good defensive team. But this is a team that, for whatever reason, is perhaps not always as mentally into the defensive aspect of things as it needs to be. "(Assistant) Coach (Steve) Robinson talks about us on the defensive end a lot and lately, he's been throwing out '75 percent' a lot, saying that we're playing with 75 percent of the energy and the intensity and what Coach Williams says a lot, the `want-to' on defense. But sometimes, I don't even know if it's that much - I mean consistently," Ginyard said. "At times, I think that we're playing great and that there is no doubt about it that we want it more than the other team and that we're going to fight for it more than the other team. Then there are other times where you're thinking, `When did this team start playing like this?' So right now, the biggest thing is I just feel like we just need to get to a point where we're playing more consistently at a high level - maybe not even the highest level that we can get to, but at least for the next couple of weeks, at least consistently high level at some point."

At The Game

Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium frequency in the Smith Center will be FM 92.7. That station will have a non-delayed feed of WCHL 1360, the local affiliate.

Watching At Home

Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.

A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.

ESPN coverage: The game will be available on ESPN.

Names To Know

Marcus Ginyard: In the absence of Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard has taken on much more of not only the leadership responsibility on the team, but also the responsibility for setting the tone defensively. He has been defensive player of the game in six of the last seven contests and despite being banged up, he made Miami's leading scorer Jack McClinton very uncomfortable last week. Ginyard has the ability to be a shut-down type of defender, but he is not a scorer - nor does he need to be.

But both Ginyard and the Tar Heels would like to see Ginyard make a higher percentage of his shots. After notching back-to-back double-figure scoring efforts against Nicholls State and Santa Barbara for the first time in his career, Ginyard has failed to reach double figures in the last nine games since and has shot 20-of-57 from the field (35.1 percent). Interestingly enough, Ginyard has made 3-of-4 three-pointers in the last two games (75%) while shooting 2-of-9 from two-point range (22.2%). In ACC play, he has made 10-of-30 two-pointers (33.3%). Ginyard has shot 26.7% from the field at home in league play and 47.4% on the road.

Despite Ginyard's offensive struggles, he brings a lot of intangibles to this team that helps it win. "He's going to be in the right place at the right time a lot - come up with a steal, come up with a loose ball. The other night, the shot clock's winding down at Miami and they throw it to him and he jumps up and makes a three. So he does so many things to help us win. He would like more of his shots to go in just like I would, but the fact of the matter is that he does so many things," Williams said. "You can't have a better leader, better kid, better guy that you enjoy coaching."

Ty Lawson: Against Miami last Thursday, Ty Lawson had his first 20-point game since the Rutgers matchup on December 16th. He did it on 9-of-16 shooting (2-of-3 from the three-point line) and added five rebounds, ten assist, one steal and just one turnover in 33 minutes. After scoring 15 points in the first half, he dished out seven of his ten assists in 17 second-half minutes to help the Tar Heels pull away. But according to Roy Williams and his staff with the way that they count assists and turnovers, Lawson's stats appear even more impressive.

"Ty Lawson, the way we (the Carolina coaching staff) counted which I think is probably a better way, he had 19 ½ assists and 2 ½ turnovers. We give you a half a turnover if they deflect and it goes out-of-bounds but it's still our play because if you make a play you shouldn't make. But we also give you a full assist if Ty throws it into Tyler (Hansbrough) and Tyler lays it up and gets fouled because Ty Lawson has done his job. But 19 ½ to 2 ½ is the best ratio we've had anywhere this year," Williams said.

Lawson's great game against Miami just solidified what Marcus Ginyard already knew - that when his teammate is focused and motivated, taking each game as a personal challenge, he is close to unstoppable. Ginyard, as well as the rest of Tar Heel nation, remembers last year's duel between Lawson and Boston College's Tyrese Rice last season at Boston College very well. It was like watching a ping-pong match - if you turned your head, you missed one of them taking the ball the length of the court and laying it in. Ginyard knows that if Lawson takes this matchup to heart, it can be as good as everyone anticipates.

"I just hope that Ty takes this as a challenge, as a personal challenge that these two are going to be going head-to-head a lot in this game. I hope that he doesn't see it as just another matchup, because it's a very important matchup and I think it's one that he needs to win. So hopefully, coming into this game, if he takes that as a challenge, then I think that he'll be able to respond and perform and have a great game," Ginyard said. "But I think that if he doesn't look at it as a challenge, then he won't think that he needs to do some of the things that he needs for this team to win. If he just thinks that it's just something else, then he'll just go through the motions and things like that. I want him to really push and try to win the matchup. I guess I just see it as a challenge and hopefully that will motivate him."

In two games against Boston College last season, Lawson shot 53.3% from the field (70% from two-point range) and averaged 11.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 2.0 turnovers and 32.0 minutes per game. In the game at Boston College, he had 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting and added six rebounds, seven assists, a steal, three fouls and three turnovers in 33 minutes, his fourth-highest number of minutes played last season.

In two ACC home games, he has made 6-of-12 three-pointers. In all other games, he has made 14-of-41 (34.1%) from beyond the arc. He has shot 50% from the field in two ACC home games and 47.6% in three ACC road games. However, the reason he has averaged 17.3 points per game in conference road games as opposed to 13.5 points per game in conference home games is that, oddly enough, he is not getting to the free-throw line at home. In two ACC home games, he has made just 1-of-2 free throws as opposed to making 10-of-11 in three league road games (3.7 attempts on the road to just 1.0 at home). After notching 30 steals in the first 14 games of the season (2.1 per game), he has had just five steals in five conference games. However, he is heading the offense much more efficiently, dishing out 31 assists to eight turnovers in his last five games.

Deon Thompson: Like the rest of the Tar Heel team, Deon Thompson has been going through a little bit of a shooting slump. In Carolina's first 14 games, Thompson shot 49.1% from the field and averaged 7.7 shot attempts per game (3.8 made field goals). In the last six games, Thompson has shot 40.9% from the field and has averaged 11.0 attempts per game (4.5 made field goals). He attempted 10 or more field goals in just four of Carolina's first 14 games (and in those games, he shot 50% from the field combined). In Carolina's last six games, he has attempted ten or more field goals five times.

In Carolina's close league wins or the loss, Thompson has shot a combined 12-of-27 (44.4%) from the field in those three games and has not passed ten points in any of them, scoring 26 points total (8.7 per game). In Carolina's two double-digit wins in league play, Thompson has had scored 26 points in those two games (13.0 per game) and shot 12-of-25 from the field (48.0%). After grabbing just 14 rebounds in Carolina's first five games, Deon Thompson entered into a ten-game stretch in non-conference play in which he pulled down 73 rebounds (7.3 per game). But in conference play, Thompson has pulled down just 23 rebounds in five games (4.6 per game), including a two-game stretch against Georgia Tech and Maryland in which he had just six rebounds in a combined 41 minutes (20.5 per game) after playing 56 minutes (28.0 per game) in the first two games and pulling down 12 rebounds (6.0 per game). Deon Thompson has nine games this season with more than five rebounds; just one of those games has been an ACC game (seven rebounds at Clemson).

Thompson has been frustrated with his own play at times this season and his coach does not mind that drive to improve. Thompson continues to improve in other ways; he was one of the close runners-up for the defensive player of the game award at Miami, notching 20 good plays to 11 bad plays. "I think he's still not happy and in some ways, that's good because I don't want guys that are fat and happy and think that everything is so smooth when they can be a heck of a lot better. So I like that part of it," Williams said. "But I do believe he's getting better. He had two games early in the season where he got no rebounds and he's had some double-figure rebounding games. He's shooting his free throws better - knock on wood. His jump shot around the basket has not gone in quite as much as he wants (it) to or anyone of us want (it) to. But nobody wants the ball to go in more than the guy that shoots it. So I think that just having some more success by the ball going in the basket would help him a great deal. Then the other thing, he's gotten much better defensively, too. So with each and every day, you have a kid who wants more and more and more and I sort of like that."

Tyrese Rice: The sophomore point guard has scored a little over a quarter of his team's points and dished out nearly a third of its assists, but Rice is the floor leader who sets the tone for this young Eagles team. Rice ranks second in the ACC behind only Tyler Hansbrough in scoring (20.0 points per game), fifth in assists (5.1 per game), third in free-throw percentage (85.3% on 6.8 attempts per game), tenth in three-pointers made per game (2.1) and first in minutes played (37.9 per game). "Last year, Tyrese sort of backed off a little bit because of Sean Marshall and Jared Dudley. Now this year, I do really believe it's his team. I believe he plays like act, acts like it, talks like it, walks like it," Williams said. "He's averaging 20 a game and everybody is trying to stop him. I think what he's doing this year is even more impressive because the other team's defense is aimed to do a good job on him and he's still getting 20 a game."

In Boston College's wins, he is dishing out 5.9 assists to 3.1 turnovers compared to 3.7 assists and 3.5 turnovers in the Eagles' six losses. He is averaging 17.5 field-goal attempts per game in the six losses compared to 13.1 attempts in the 11 wins that he has played in. He is also attempting 7.4 free throws (and making 6.5) in the Eagles' wins and attempting 5.8 (and making 4.7) in their losses. He has been in foul trouble (three or more fouls) in all but two of Boston College's six losses. In ACC play, he has averaged 22.4 points, 2.0 three-pointers made, 7.6 free throws made (on 9.2 attempts), 5.8 assists, 2.8 turnovers, 2.0 fouls and 40.0 minutes in those five games. In the Eagles' last two games (both losses), Rice, has shot 15-of-36 (41.7%) from the field and made 6-of-15 three-pointers (40.0%), making 11-of-17 free throws (64.7%), averaging 23.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.5 turnovers and 42.5 minutes in those two games, losses to Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Carolina faced Boston College twice last season and won both games. In the first outing, Rice had 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting and the duel between he and Ty Lawson was epic. Rice made just 2-of-7 three-pointers in that game but 6-of-11 two-point baskets, many lay-ups, as he sped through the Carolina defense. But in the second outing, Rice was coming off of a 32-point effort in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament and had just five points against Carolina on 1-of-9 shooting. His only made field goal was a three-pointer.

But he will present a tremendous challenge to the entire team, but particularly Ty Lawson, in stopping him. "He's a guy that sees those challenges and he wants to beat the other guy. Just having that mindset, it's very obvious out there on the court with his demeanor and his attitude on the court," Ginyard said. "He wants to beat everybody that's in front of him and I think that makes him the most difficult to handle other than the fact that he can get to the basket, he's a great passer, he's a great shooter, and all those other things."

Tyrelle Blair: The 6-11 senior center has stepped into the void left behind by Sean Williams and has become the Eagles' dominant shot-blocker, averaging a league-best 4.3 blocks per game. Blair leads his team in defensive rebounding (3.3 per game) and ranks second on the team in rebounds (5.4 per game), offensive rebounds (2.1 per game), and in free throws attempted (72). He is fifth in scoring (6.5 per game) but his presence down low is making teams think twice about shot selection. And it's not as if he racked up all those blocks against non-conference foes - in ACC play, Blair is averaging 7.0 blocks per game, including an ACC-record 11 blocks in the ACC opener against Miami. He blocked 25 shots (8.3 per game) in the Eagles' first three ACC games (all wins) and also pulled down 19 rebounds (6.3 per game). In Boston College's last two ACC games, both losses, he has pulled down 14 rebounds (7.0 per game) and blocked 10 shots (5.0 per game).

"You can't prepare for it because we don't have anybody that can block shots like that. You don't want to put a guy out with a tennis racket because that's not realistic either. It's not that he's that much bigger; he's just got great timing. He does have long arms but it's the timing factor of it. He does a nice job of making decisions which ones to go for. When you have guys that block 77 shots and only fouls out of two games, he makes good decisions," Williams said.

Shamari Spears: The 6-6 sophomore forward and native of Salisbury, North Carolina has been a force on the glass this season for the Eagles, particularly on the offensive glass. He leads the team with four double-doubles this season and ranks ninth in the ACC in rebounding (7.5 per game) and fifth in offensive rebounding (2.76 per game). He also ranks 17th in the league in minutes per game (30.2).

In the 11 Boston College wins that Spears has played in, he has shot 53.7% from the field and averaged 12.0 points, adding 7.4 rebounds and 2.1 fouls in 31.0 minutes. In the Eagles' six losses, Spears has shot 40% from the field and averaged 9.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.0 fouls in 28.8 minutes. Boston College won its first three ACC games. In that span, Spears shot 47.8% from the floor and averaged 5.7 free-throw attempts per game, making 76.5% of them. He averaged 5.0 rebounds and 30.3 minutes per game. But in the Eagles' last two ACC games - both losses - Spears has shot 40% from the field and averaged just 3.5 free-throw attempts per game (making 57.1% of them). He has gotten his rebounding back up to form, however, pulling down 10.5 rebounds (5.0 offensive boards) in the last two games compared to 5.0 rebounds (0.6 offensive boards) in the Eagles' first three ACC games.

Quotables

"I've been getting reports about what they (the College GameDay crew) said about Danny's dancing and me allowing Danny to dance and all that stuff. Opinions are like rear ends, everybody's got one. Some are just bigger than others. That's the way I look at it. They are good guys, but they would have a tough time with me if they came this year because they would have to understand some things. ... I have a difficult time, Woody, on finding some way, some how, that I'm doing something to hurt our team or hurt the other team. That's a bunch of garbage." -Roy Williams

"We lost to Oklahoma when they were No. 1 and we had eight players dressed out. I always put a JV players' name in the scorebook just in case. If we got in foul trouble, I made the JV player go get dressed at halftime. ... We had two guys foul out. I've got one sub on the bench and I've got two players in the game with four fouls. I swear that I'll never hit a golf ball if this is a lie - at one point, I looked down the bench and that poor kid dove back under those bleachers so hard I thought I'd never seen anything like it." -Roy Williams on the eight-game losing streak during his first season at Kansas

"Those were some tough times. Jerry Green, who is probably the most loyal friend I have in the whole world, he was my assistant. We were at the house and he knocked on the back door and I'm in the other room looking at the tape. He comes in and just opens the drawers up and starts taking the knives out of the house. He said, `I've got to get all the sharp objects away from the boy.'" -Roy Williams on the eight-game losing streak during his first season at Kansas

"That's probably as wild as my nights get. I didn't make them watch it, first of all. They wanted to watch it too, so. We all just enjoyed a nice evening in watching `Planet Earth.' ... It's funny, because we had a great story about me actually purchasing the `Planet Earth' DVD's on eBay. It was like the last ten minutes of the whole auction and we ended up coming out on top. So it was pretty exciting in my house when we won that. I actually haven't finished it yet. I'm still going through the first season. But every now and then when I have an hour, I'm watching `Planet Earth.'" -Marcus Ginyard on entertaining prospects

Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.