Harrison Barnes Leads North Carolina Past Wisconsin 60-57

Harrison Barnes came out of the tunnel after halftime of North Carolina's game against Wisconsin in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge with a resolute look in his eye.

Using his now-familiar one-dribble pull-up, he poured in 14 points in the second half to finish with 20 to lead all scorers.

John Henson contributed 17 rebounds and five blocks to help UNC rebound from its first loss of the season against UNLV four days ago.

The matchup of point guards, Kendall Marshall and Jordan Taylor, dubbed the "Challenge within the Challenge" by Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan, didn't disappoint.

Marshall posted seven assists and played inspired defense to help the Tar Heels topple the seventh-ranked Badgers. He and teammate Dexter Strickland hassled Jordan into a subpar shooting night, holding him to only 30 percent shooting on a game-high 20 attempts.

The Badgers, entering the game as the second-best three-point shooting team in the country (47 percent), struggled to find their range, finishing 8-28 from downtown for a pedestrian 29 percent shooting.

In the first half, the Badgers, led by Jared Berggren's three steals and Ryan Evans' four rebounds, limited the Tar Heel's possessions and milked the clock. They trailed by one at the half, 24-25.

The second period saw the Heels take the court with renewed intensity. Henson and Tyler Zeller dominated the boards and bench players James Michael McAdoo and Reggie Bullock brought a much-needed spark to the Carolina attack.

The Heels stretched the lead to 10, then shrugged off their recent free-throw shooting woes to ice the game by making eight of 10 down the stretch.

Roy Williams now has two days to prepare his fifth-ranked Tar Heels for a trip to Lexington to face No. 1 Kentucky on Saturday.