Praise the Lord and pass the biscuits, the Tar Heels are back in the Sweet 16.
After a year in which it ended its season in the purgatory known as the NIT, Carolina has regained the style the country has come to know since Roy Williams returned from Kansas.
UNC (28-7) will play Marquette (21-14) in Newark, N.J., on Friday at 7:15 p.m. in the round of 16, popularly known as the Sweet 16 to NCAA Tournament fans across the country.
“I think it’s something to be proud of, making the Sweet 16,†said freshman point guard Kendall Marshall, who set a school record against Washington for the most assists in an NCAA Tournament game, with 14.
To get to this next round, the Tar Heels cruised past Long Island, 102-87, in their first-round game in Charlotte and then survived a hard-fought, nail-biting whirlwind of a game against Washington. UNC beat the Huskies, 86-83, in a game in which Washington matched the Tar Heels in running the court and creating chaos.
Tyler Zeller may have played a better game during his career at Carolina, but he has never played with greater toughness and ferocity. His offensive rebounding and determination to score against a strong Washington front line played a critical role in Carolina winning.
Zeller led the Tar Heels with 23 points. He ran the floor, made all seven of his free throws and finished with five rebounds, the three offensive ones being of the greatest importance.
“Their bigs were great, with a lot a talent,†Washington’s Matthew Bryan-Amaning said. “Tyler Zeller doing his work on the inside.â€
Now the Tar Heels will play an athletic Marquette team that upset Syracuse, 66-62, on Sunday.
The Golden Eagles don’t have the size of UNC or Washington, but they have quickness. Syracuse shot 55.3 percent compared to 41.2 for Marquette, but the Eagles made 11 steals and forced 18 Syracuse turnovers.
Marquette scored 23 points off those turnovers.
The Tar Heels regained some of the in-game continuity they created down the stretch of the regular season but lost at the ACC Tournament. They could not find it in the opening game against Long Island. UNC won that one by being much larger and more talented.
But Carolina seemed to find itself, or at least get back on that path, against Washington. They ran whenever the opportunity arose, and they played better defense as the game progressed. UNC created just enough key stops down the stretch to make the difference.
“All year long, we practice on having to stop on one possession,†Williams said. “We call it ‘must stop.’ We must stop them right now. If we stop them right now, we have a greater chance to win the game. And sometimes I even say, ‘We stop them right now, we win the game.’
“With four minutes left, that’s what we started talking about. We need to stop right now. … We got some stops.â€
UNC sophomore big man John Henson, the ACC defensive player of the year, made a huge defensive play when he tipped an inbounds pass that resulted in a turnover for Carolina with the game nearing the end.
“We changed and started using that defense this year,†Williams said. “He’s been great for us. He’s quite an obstacle in front of that ball, trying to get it over him.â€
Now the key is to keep it going and advance to Sunday’s round to play either Kentucky or Ohio State for the right to go to the 2011 Final Four.
Not bad for a team that started the season 4-3 and looked as if it might not even make the NCAA Tournament again.
“We got to keep the same mental focus, just go out there and just try to win and contribute, do whatever you have to do to help this team win,†sophomore guard Dexter Strickland said. “You got to do it well.â€