No. 5 Tar Heels show signs of a champion

COLLEGE PARK, MD --- North Carolina needed a test like this. The Tar Heels had been cruising fairly comfortably for a few weeks, but after a while a team can get stagnant in its growth. And not knowing everything about itself could lead to an early exit from the NCAA Tournament, clobbering a season of promise just like that. UNC's 83-74 win at Maryland on Saturday wasn't 40 minutes of the Tar Heels' best hoops by any stretch, but as the game unveiled itself, Carolina responded like a champion. Consider: Playing at Maryland is never an easy task for UNC, as decades of hate from the home folks is unloaded onto the baby blue visitors. The Terrapins, desperate for a resume-enhancing victory to gives its fledgling NCAA hopes a boost, gave Carolina its best effort and one of its best performances. UNC star wing forward Harrison Barnes was questionable before the game because of an ankle injury suffered Tuesday at Wake Forest, and he re-injured the same ankle in the first half. And UNC faced serious adversity when Tyler Zeller picked up his fourth foul with 11:39 remaining and then point guard Kendall Marshall picked up his fourth with 8:34 left. But Roy Williams' team handled the adversity like a team with Monday in-April fiber. The Tar Heels closed the game outscoring the Terrapins 44-26, quieting the crowd in the process. They turned the tide on Maryland's first-half success of getting to the rim via penetration and using its strength in the paint. Barnes erupted late with some huge baskets and finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. The Heels elevated their play once Zeller went out, and Marshall got a dose of education on how to finish a tough contest without having a foul to give. "Tonight, we made some shots down the stretch, and at the same time, boy, I thought defensively was our best game of the year in the second half," Williams said. "We were real good." Zeller was UNC's only consistent scoring threat through the first 28 minutes of the contest, and when he picked up his fourth foul, it appeared Carolina was in trouble. But the rest of the team stepped up and handled business. How about that as a sign of growth and maturity? "I think they responded fantastically," said Zeller, who had 22 points in 22 minutes of action. "I can take over games like that at times, and at the same time when I do get in foul trouble we have a team that has the ability to pick me up, pick the team up, pick the team up. We actually started moving better when I went out and defensively we really picked it up." UNC (20-3, 7-1 ACC) ferociously attacked the glass, making up for Zeller's absence, grabbing 10 offensive boards the rest of the way, leading to some easy put-backs. "Coach just told us when anyone took a shot just go to the boards," said UNC sophomore wing Reggie Bullock, who grabbed four offensive rebounds on the afternoon. "We weren't getting them earlier, and we knew in order to win this game everybody had to get to the boards no matter who took the shots, and we finally came up with them." And then there was Marshall's maturity in playing with four fouls. With Dexter Strickland out for the season, UNC simply can't afford to lose Marshall for any amount of time. Freshman Stilman White subs for Marshall a minute at a time, but he's not the long-term answer. So Marshall got a dose of dealing with the delicate balance of playing with no fouls to give without becoming a liability trying to avoid that final foul. "Hopefully, it won't occur again, but it teaches me how to play," said Marshall, who tied his career-high with 16 assists. "I still have to be aggressive getting my teammates involved, but I'm not going to be able to put as much ball pressure on. Only in-game experience is going to teach me that." And only games like this will fortify a team for most important month of the season.