As I predicted in my earlier post, the Zags stretched the lead out in the second half. Give the Heels a little credit though. They crawled back to within two with a couple of minutes left. But you can’t beat a good team without leadership. And the Heels lacked that tonight. Last year, David Noel was always there. Always there with a key put-back. Alwasy there with a key pass. Always there with a key word of encouragement. Always there. Tonight, he was not there.

The Heels looked lost all night long. They were searching, and searching and searching…but never finding. Gonzaga didn’t think they were going to win. They KNEW they were going to win. Josh Heytvelt KNEW his was better than Tyler Hansbrough (and his postgame comments revealed as much. In fact, Mark Few had to step over Heytvelt a time or two in order to temper his big guy’s cocky responses). Derek Raivio, out of control at times, KNEW he was better than UNC’s guards. And lord knows Matt Bouldin KNEW he was better than anybody Carolina put in front of him. Last year, David Noel would have figured out how to get Hansbrough the ball. Noel would have helped shut down Bouldin. And Noel would have talked to the guards about how to defend Raivio. Tonight, however, there was no stand-in for Noel.

Strategically, Mark Few’s bunch was very well prepared. They used a script that almost everyone else will follow. Pack it in and keep Tyler from catching the ball cleanly. Force one jumpshot after another. Send everyone to the defensive glass. Then, walk it up and spread the floor. After running some offense, allow your guards to take the Tar Heel guards off the dribble and right to the rim.

In general, it’s hard to believe the Heels will shoot the 3 ball any worse than they did tonight. And they aren’t likely to miss 12 free throws many more times either. UNC can hit all the 3’s and FT’s they want, but if they aren’t able to defend the perimeter any better it will be a long season. Certainly, the defense will improve. Hopefully, it will improve over the next 48 hours in time to deal with Tennessee.

The elephant in the room, however, is what to do with Reyshawn Terry. He’s giving the Tar Heels absolutely nothing right now. Given the defensive issues, Marcus Ginyard needs to be and deserves to be on the floor. The problem with benching Terry is that it might cause an irreparable crisis of confidence. Or, worse, it would cause Terry to be a malcontent. Without question, this is a real thorny issue for Roy Williams.

And if things weren’t bad enough for UNC, the ACC has taken a hit over the last day. First Duke goes down to Marquette, then Boston College loses to Providence. Next up, Carolina’s dismal effort vs. Gonzaga. The nightcap was the thrashing UCLA laid on Georgia Tech. One day, four losses. Ouch. Let’s hope life gets a little better next week when the ACC-Big Ten Challenge begins.