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Off the cuff: A lot of Carolina players got to play significant minutes against NCCU. Marcus Ginyard had the most minutes with a mere 23. Twelve players got at least 10 minutes of playing time.

It appears that Carolina fans will have problems syncing up the radio sound with the TV picture again this year. When the game started the Tar Heel Sports Network signal was ahead of the TV signal but by the end of the game the signal was behind the TV signal. If you have a DVR, you can try pausing briefly to sync the radio sound with the TV picture. It's worth exploring when you have announcers like Jay Williams and Rob Stone who want to chat and tell stories rather than call the play-by-play action.

I was hoping that the Jump-Around song prior to the tip off would have been canned now that the dancing Danny Green is no longer on the team. It seems this is going to last as long as the long pants look has lasted. On a related note, if the Tar Heels are going to use throw-back uniforms during this, the 100th anniversary of Carolina basketball, then it should include the short pants from years gone by. Are the players really afraid that teams like FIU or NCCU will make fun of them? I wouldn't recommend any team making fun of the talented Heels. Commentators like to make fun of the shorts that were worn the first eight or so decades of Carolina basketball when they should be making fun of the "dresses" these guys today wear.

John Henson, UNC's most anticipated freshman, slapped away three of Carolina's nine blocked shots and he had four assists. He certainly looked a good bit better than he did in the first game but so far he's looking more like Warren Martin than Brandan Wright. I liked Martin but his expectations weren't as high as Henson's. Henson has a lanky frame that I imagine will be filled out next season but for this team to be really good this year, they'll need solid play from him in the bruising ACC trenches.

Heels 89, Eagles 42
Carolina runs away with it in first half

North Carolina went on a 32-3 run in the first half to put away North Carolina Central University 89-42 in Chapel Hill. (11/11)

Despite three 3s in the first eight minutes of the game, the Tar Heels couldn't shake the Eagles, who trailed just 19-17. But a number of fast-break points off steals and turnovers broke it open, starting with a Justin Watts steal and layup by freshman Dexter Strickland who converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give Carolina a 24-17 edge.

A pair of buckets inside by Tyler Zeller upped the lead to 30-17 before redshirt senior Marcus Ginyard scored three straight buckets over the span of a minute to make it 36-17, the last two points coming on a two-handed, behind-the-head dunk.

The Tar Heels continued to extend the lead and got its largest lead of the first half in the last minute when Deon Thompson sank a short jumper in the lane to make it 51-20 at the break.

Carolina worked the lead up to 40 at 66-26 following a Ginyard triple from the right side with 12:30 to go in the game. Five quick points by freshman Leslie McDonald followed by a free throw from fellow freshman John Henson gave the Heels a 50-point lead at 85-35 with about four minutes to go. The largest lead was 52 after a pair of free throws by Will Graves made it 89-37.

"I'm much more please than I was Monday night," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "Our work around the basket was good - it's hard to score on us inside."

Williams said his Heels were just more gifted and bigger than the Eagles. It was the coaching debut for Central's LeVelle Moton, who ranked third on the NCCU's career scoring list. C.J. Wilkerson led Central with 16 points but the Eagles as a whole shot only 26 percent from the field.

"We're not happy to have just played well for 10 minutes," Moton said. "Their big bodies and depth began to wear us down."

Ginyard tied his career-high with 17 points to lead the Tar Heels. Thompson had 13 points and seven rebounds while Zeller came off the bench to add 12 points on a six-for-six performance.

As a team, Carolina, now 2-0, shot nearly 60 percent from the field but turned the ball over 19 times. Many of those miscues came late, long after the game was decided. Defensively the Tar Heels came up with nine blocks and 10 steals.

UNC hosts Valparaiso Sunday at 4 p.m. in a game being televised by Fox Sports South.

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