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TAMPA, Fla. - Before traveling down to Tampa for the ACC Tournament, North Carolina head coach Roy Williams showed his young team last year's banner listing the accomplishments of the 2005-2006 squad.
"NCAA Tournament, that's all it says. This year's banner is going to say regular season champions … maybe it'll have a chance to say something else," said Williams.
After a convincing 71-56 victory over Boston College in the semifinals, the chances of "something else" on that banner look very good for the Tar Heels.
In the first half, the Eagles played right into the hands of one of the most athletic teams in the country with one of their worst shooting halves of the year, shooting 24.1 percent from the field on 7-of-29 shooting.
BC was down by 15 once the dust settled at the half, and never really threatened the commanding lead of the Tar Heels in the second half.
Sean Marshall led all scorers with 23 points, shaking off a tough outing against Miami to lead the Eagles.
Tyrese Rice, who had a career-high 32 points in the Eagles quarterfinal win over Miami, was held to a season-low five points, frustrated by the tough defense of UNC's Ty Lawson.
North Carolina's transition offense flustered the Eagles all afternoon, as the Tar Heels converted on an array of pull-up jump shots, easy lay-ups, and thunderous dunks. Benefiting most from BC's shooting woes was ACC Rookie of the Year Brandan Wright, who led the Tar Heels with 20 points in the contest.
Wright, a 6-9 forward out of Nashville, Tenn., has the soft hands of a power forward and can run and jump like a guard. He used all of his abilities in a strong performance against the Eagles.
"Brandan did a great job for us inside and also was able to run the floor. He can run a heck of a lot faster than he even realizes he can run and if I can get him to do it more consistently it would really be a lot of fun," said Williams.
BC kept it close in the opening minutes, trailing 8-5 after Rice sank two free throws for his only points of the half at 14:29.
The Tar Heels used a 9-0 run to take a commanding 17-5 lead, after Bobby Frasor scored an uncontested lay-up at 11:32 after one of Rice's six misses in the half.
UNC stretched the lead to 16, before the Eagles used a 5-0 run to cut the lead back to 11 at 30-19 with 3:45 to play.
The Eagles had the ball, and a chance to extend their run, but Tyrelle Blair missed an open lay-up and Wayne Ellington was fouled on a transition lay-up attempt in a sequence indicative of BC's troubles throughout.
The result was a commanding 38-23 UNC lead at the break.
"That's the biggest difference in the ball game is that I thought we missed some opportunities and because of that it allowed them to push the ball up the floor and get some transition baskets. If we make those lay-ups, then the transition goes away," said BC head coach Al Skinner.
Jared Dudley, who struggled to get any shots in the first half yesterday against Miami, had plenty of open looks, but could only manage four points and two rebounds on one-of-eight shooting.
"I had good looks … I felt like I was rushing my shots," said Dudley.
Dudley who had 20 points in the contest, was, however, more effective in the second half, scoring six quick points on jump shots to ignite the Eagles on a 13-2 run that cut UNC's lead to nine at 50-41 with 13:01 left to play.
The Tar Heels quickly pushed the lead back out to 14 after a three pointer by Reyshawn Terry, and a steal and dunk by Wright.
"We made shots and got them into a halfcourt. And then we turned around and turned the ball over two times in a row to stretch it back out again…There were not enough stretches of the game that were played at out tempo. That clearly was the difference in the game," said Skinner.
The Eagles never threatened the double digit lead the rest of the way.
For the game, BC was out rebounded 41-27, and outscored in points in the paint by a 40-14 margin.
"The ACC is the best conference in the country. I think it's proven that this weekend. I told my guys, once we get out of this freaking ACC we're going to do OK... I'm really proud of my team to be able to finish in the top half of this league and have as much success as they've had," said Skinner.
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