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Heels tour the country for two victories

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Staff

By Eddy Landreth
Staff Writer
Top-ranked Carolina is predicted to accomplish even bigger objectives before this basketball season ends, but the Tar Heels had a start none of them will ever forget.

Yes, the 67-55 victory over Michigan State in the opener was important, but the memories will encompass far more. The two teams played on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which was docked in San Diego, Calif.

Watching the game was an astounding experience.

The game was attended by a large number of military personnel. Among those were many of the 5,000 who live and work on the ship. There were soldiers wounded from their service in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To top off the night, President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, sat courtside as part of this Veterans’ Day celebration.

Obama chatted with the players as if he had known them his whole life.

“Having the president was pretty humbling,” said UNC sophomore forward Harrison Barnes, who scored a team-high 17 points. “It wasn’t so much about us as about him. It was a great experience.”

The teams gave their jerseys to some of the wounded soldiers after the game.

“It was great,” Barnes said. “To see the excitement on those guys’ faces, for all the things they do for us. They literally give part of themselves just so we can live our everyday lives. It was gratifying to see they got so much enjoyment out of our jerseys.”

The Tar Heels returned to their hotel immediately after the game, showered, dressed and caught an all-night flight to Asheville. On Sunday, Carolina played UNC Asheville to open the Bulldogs’ new arena.

Carolina won the game 91-75 by going to their clear advantage: their big men.

Point guard Kendall Marshall fed Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Harrison Barnes a steady diet of passes down low, and the frontline players responded. Some of the early shots failed to drop, but eventually they fell like a steady rain.

Carolina shot 59.3 percent for the game and attempted just seven 3-point shots out of their 54 total field-goal attempts.
Zeller led the Tar Heels with 27 points, making eight of 13 field goals and going 11-of-13 at the free-throw line. Henson had a double double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He blocked two shots, coming off nine blocks against Michigan State. Barnes, who settled for a lot of 3-point shots last season, attacked the basket much more in this game and was rewarded with 17 points to go with five rebounds.

“When we have that size advantage, I think we’re stupid to shoot 25 threes,” said coach Roy Williams, a native of Asheville. “We do want John, Harrison and Z, they were the only guys who got into double figures, [to shoot]. They took 34 shots between them. They scored 27, 20 and 17. You don’t have to be a nuclear physicist to figure out that is pretty good.”

Marshall’s performance showed why he is so vital to the Tar Heels’ great hopes for this season. His skills at the point accentuate the talents of his teammates. His 14 assists were one short of his career high.

“I did make some very poor passes against Michigan State,” Marshall said. “I even made one tonight that I know Coach is going to get on me about, but at the end of the day, I was just trying to make plays to make our team better.”

The team got a much-needed rest this week. The Tar Heels (2-0) do not play again until Sunday afternoon at 2 against Mississippi Valley State at the Smith Center, the first home game of the season.

Marshall said the memories from the opening weekend will stay with him for the rest of his life, but he also brought back plenty of fatigue.

“After that trip, I felt like I was halfway through the season,” Marshall said. “It was a very emotional trip, very mentally draining. But I think if you want to be a great team, you have to learn how to persevere these things and figure out a way to win.”

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