Roy Williams has reason to smile after beating Washington Sunday. (Creative Commons)

Although the Tar Heels trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and allowed the Huskies to shoot 10-of-19 from 3-point range, Roy Williams’ team prevailed thanks in large part to an 11-7 run to close the game.

In a contest that had 20 lead changes and 11 ties, the Tar Heels gained control of the Round of 32 game as the Huskies self-imploded with five costly turnovers down the stretch.

If Friday night’s win over No. 15 Long Island was a coming out party for the talented trio of Tyler Zeller, Harrison Barnes and  John Henson, Sunday’s encore wasn’t a bad second act.

Zeller scored a game-high 23 points and had seven rounds in the North Carolina victory. Barnes looked comfort all afternoon from distance, connecting on 4-of-7 3-point attempts to finish with 22 points. And although Henson missed several opportunities at the rim (4-for-12 shooting), he still finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and a game-changing deflection with less than 10 seconds to go.

For the reigning Pac-10 tournament champions, star guard Isaiah Thomas struggled much of the afternoon. Hampered by guards Kendall Marshall and Dexter Strickland, Thomas had just 12 points on 5-of-15 from the field. He did manage to get his teammates involved with eight assists, however.

Speaking of his teammates, talented freshman Terrence Ross matched Barnes shot for shot on Sunday. Coming off the bench, Ross scored well above his season average (7.1 points per game), hitting 7-of-10 field goals en route to a team-high 19 points. Forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning was also effective in the post, recording 14 points and eight rebounds in his final collegiate game.

Player of the Game:
Kendall Marshall (G, North Carolina)

Going toe-to-toe with Isaiah Thomas is by no means an easy challenge. But Marshall, in just his second career Tournament game, not only went tit for tat with Thomas, he thoroughly outplayed him.

From full-court outlet passes to Tyler Zeller to clutch free throw shooting late in the game, Marshall’s double double (13 points and 14 assists; Washington had just 17 as a team) proved to be the difference in Charlotte.

Pivotal Moment:
The Tar Heels managed to secure some brief breathing room, going up seven with two minutes remaining, however, the Huskies had two final opportunities to tie the score at 83 at the end of regulation.

Following two Strickland free throws and a UNC timeout, Huskies guard Venoy Overton threw up an ill-advised half-court shot with five seconds to go in an attempt to draw a foul. His shot fell short of the basket, but Henson complemented the error with one of his own.

The sophomore attempted to grab the missed shot with the clock winding down but couldn’t secure possession and the ball fell out of bounds to the Huskies with what looked to be 1.2 seconds left.

The officiating crew never went to the scorer’s table to replay the out of bounds call, though. Instead, they signaled for a minuscule 0.5 seconds to remain on the clock.

Washington’s final opportunity came on a Thomas desperation shot from the left corner that fell short of the rim as time expired.

What This Means:
Roy Williams will be making his 14th appearance in the Sweet 16 as the Tar Heels travel to Newark, NJ to take on the winner of tonight’s Big East clash between No. 3 Syracuse and No. 11 Marquette on Friday night. [Editor's note: Marquette beat Syracuse and will advance to play UNC.]

Williams is a career 9-4 all-time in the Round of 16, but the Tar Heels have faced just one team from the Big East conference in the past two years (an 87-71 home loss to Syracuse last season).

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