Tar Heels prepare for Washington State's stingy defense

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- In a perfect world, Roy Williams never would see his North Carolina team stop running.

The Tar Heels would sprint out in transition on every possession. They'd push the ball ahead for get-you-right-back baskets to answer scores. And by the end, their offense would leave demoralized opponents struggling to catch their breath.

His team lived up to that standard last weekend to start the NCAA tournament. Yet Williams knows that the No. 1 overall seed can't keep scoring at that pace, especially against a Washington State team that has been just as impressive defensively to reach today's East Regional semifinals.

Of course, Williams figures his team can win a boring ol' halfcourt game, too.

"I like to win in the 80s and 90s, but to ... reach the dreams that we have and be the team we want to be, you've got to be able to win at somebody else's different tempo," Williams said Wednesday. "It can't be your own comfort zone all the time, and for the most part I've had teams in the past that could win in the 50s and 60s. I just enjoy it more if it's 80s and 90s."

The Tar Heels (34-2) rank second nationally in scoring (89.9 points) while reaching the century mark eight times this year. That includes last weekend's routs in Raleigh -- located about a half-hour drive from the Chapel Hill campus -- where they beat 16th-seeded Mount St. Mary's 113-74, then No. 9 seed Arkansas 108-77. It marked the first time a team had scored 100 points in each of its first two NCAA games since Loyola Marymount did it against New Mexico State and Michigan in 1990.

This time, the Tar Heels are about two hours from home and figure to have another home-state crowd behind them. They're also 6-0 in Charlotte Bobcats Arena -- including a season-opening win against Davidson and a three-game run through the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament two weeks ago -- and are 23-1 in NCAA games played in their home state.

"It's just a huge mental thing to have played so well in this arena and had so much success here," junior Marcus Ginyard said. "This just feels like a second home for us. To have that confidence and that edge mentally is huge for this team."

Still, the Tar Heels know their latest trip here likely will be just as tough as earlier visits. They edged Stephen Curry and Davidson 72-68 in November, then fought their way through the ACC tournament, which included a 68-66 win over Virginia Tech on Tyler Hansbrough's last-second jumper in the semifinals.