101 - 58 Awesome.
The Heels played extremely well. Granted they were playing a #16 seed but this is one of those situations where the Heels did what they were supposed to do and then some. If I had to pick one player that stuck out it was Wayne Ellington who looks like he is in some kind of groove. Ellington hit shots all over the court and could get a shot most anytime he wanted. Danny Green also appears to have gotten his mojo back. Yes, it was good to see Green hit jumpers but more important than that was the fact Green was active all over the court making plays. Green ended up with ten boards while Ellington pulled eight. That is huge rebounding from the 2 and 3 spots on the court. Tyler Hansbrough did not have a great shooting day but did get to the line a ton and hit all of his free throws, one of those breaking the ACC scoring record.
Besides that, this game have us an extended look at things to come. Roy Williams gave Tyler Zeller, Ed Davis and Larry Drew a lot of run in this game. All three played well, especially Davis who continues to look much more refined on the offensive end leading to a career day for the freshman with 15 points. Zeller has a ways to go, a byproduct of missing so much of the season. However his alley-oop dunk from Drew is something we will be looking forward to next season. Drew played mostly mistake free basketball posting five assists against one turnover. He did get four fouls way too quickly, something he will need to work on.
Overall, a great start to the tournament. It looked as though the Heels flipped a switch and kicked into high gear. Against a low seed it is tough to be certain that is the case. Saturday versus LSU will tells us if this is the case or not.
