Harrison Barnes Struggles, but Heels Don't as They Paste 'Canes, 73-56

Harrison Barnes was coming off one of his better games this season, but he struggled miserably against the Miami Hurricanes in his team's 73-56 victory.

Barnes was ice-cold, shooting 2-of-12, but it is not as if this All-American is dead to the team. He is still, arguably, the best small forward in the nation and among the top five in the nation (shooting 50 percent).

He relied a bit too much on the three-ball (0-for-5) and the struggles had to be expected a tad since he just played against Boston College on Saturday.

The Tar Heels feature arguably the best frontcourt in America and the dynamic duo of John Henson and Tyler Zeller did not disappoint us. Not only were they harassing the 'Canes on the defensive end of the court, but the two seven-footers combined for 27 points and 24 rebounds.

Miami went 3-for-16 from downtown and the Heels matched them with coldness as they went 2-for-16. No need to panic in Chapel Hill as star point guard Kendall Marshall put up a season-high 12 points which went along with his eight assists.

The three-man posse off the bench combined for only 10 points, but Reggie Bullock, P.J. Hairston and James-Michael McAdoo did not need to do much in a game that was nearly decided by halftime. 

Dexter Strickland quietly put together arguably his best game of the season connecting on 7-of-9 shots to go along with 14 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

North Carolina is 15-2 (2-0 in ACC) on the season and will now gear up for what should be a challenging two-game road trip to Tallahassee and Blacksburg. 

Certainly the Heels will be favored in arguably every single regular season game remaining, but Roy Williams seems to have a knack of putting together his best squads towards the end of February going into March.

Also, there is no need to blow a gasket over the two non-conference losses because out of Roy Williams' two national championship seasons with the Heels, both of them were four-loss seasons.

Lastly, this team may not have all the explosive offensive scorers, but they have proven they can defend and clean the glass with the best of them around the rim (out-rebounded 'Canes, 44-27).