North Carolina's Win Over Maryland a Prelude of Things to Come?

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- It wasn't the extreme opposites of the Atlantic Coast Conference facing off Sunday night, but it was the opposites of the NCAA tournament equation.

North Carolina polished off Maryland 87-76 at the Smith Center, holding up the first part of its end of the bargain with Duke. Combined with the then-top-ranked Blue Devils' loss at Virginia Tech the night before, the 19th-ranked Tar Heels (22-6, 12-2) climbed into a tie for first place in the conference. Each has two regular-season games left -- and, of course, one of them, the last one, is against each other, in the same building Saturday night.

Maryland, however, missed its last chance in the regular season to get a signature victory, against a highly-ranked opponent. The Terps are now theoretically behind ACC foe Virginia Tech in the tournament-bid pecking order; besides having lost twice to the Hokies, they were not able to knock off a marquee opponent as Virginia Tech just had. Maryland (18-11) also lost to Duke twice, and Sunday was its only game this season against North Carolina.

It was a complete, tipoff-to-buzzer performance for North Carolina, from Harrison Barnes' three three-pointers in the first four minutes, to Tyler Zeller's nine points in four minutes in a critical first-half stretch to break an early tie, to John Henson's shotblocking at one end and offensive board work at the other. Through it all, freshman point guard Kendall Marshall played another unselfish game, continuing his rise since becoming the starting point guard in mid-January. At one point midway through the second half, he had picked up 16 assists without having scored a point.

Zeller (photo right) finished with 25 points and Barnes 21. Maryland -- now needing nothing less than a long run in the ACC tournament in two weeks to reach the NCAAs -- was led by guard Terrell Stoglin with a career-high 28 points.

How It Was Won: When North Carolina signed Zeller, Henson and the rest of the trees up front; Maryland was outmatched from the start. Henson blocked five shots in the first half, and the Tar Heels outrebounded the Terps 34-24 in the half, including a devastating 15-6 on offensive rebounds.

How It Was Lost: Jordan Williams stayed out of foul trouble for much of the game, but was largely ineffective as Maryland struggled to establish him on offense. He did take eight shots in the first half, but scored only six points, and he needed lots of help at the other end against the Tar Heels' size. For the most part, he didn't get it. He fouled out in the final minute with 16 points and 19 rebounds.

What It Means: North Carolina has won five in a row, 10 of 11, and 15 of 17 since falling to Texas at Greensboro Coliseum the week before Christmas -- a loss that made many wonder if the Heels weren't ripe to repeat the underachievement of the previous, NCAA-free season. They are also 6-1 since Larry Drew II quit the team in early February.

Turning Point: Maryland trailed by only seven, 54-47, six minutes into the second half after a Stoglin jumper. But Barnes pushed the ball the other way for a quick layup. Two possessions later, Barnes finished a break for another layup, then after North Carolina stole the inbound, hit a jumper from the right baseline. It capped an 8-2 spurt in about a minute and a half, forced a Terps timeout, and put the Heels up 62-49 with 12:26 left.

Up Next: No breather for either team in the final week of the regular season. North Carolina plays at Florida State Wednesday night before the prime-time finale at home against Duke Saturday. Maryland travels to Miami Wednesday and finishes at home against Virginia Saturday afternoon.