Harrison Barnes Looks Scary in UNC Victory

Coming into Wednesday night’s contest between Texas and the hometown Tar Heels, UNC fans were anticipating a competitive contest in hopes of seeing its team climb to 11-2 on the 2011 campaign.

Instead, the fans got much more, or less, depending on the angle you take.

Roy Williams’ crew took over the game immediately with a bucket from John Henson within five seconds of tip off. From there came four more unanswered points, including a posterizing fast break dunk by Dexter Strickland.

It was a snowball effect from that point on.

The Tar Heels played their best defense of the year, forcing 13 turnovers and converting the majority of those into quick transition buckets, like they do best.

The concept most appealing and obvious during the contest was the play of preseason All-American Harrison Barnes, who chipped in 26 points and disturbed the Texas offense.

This victory was really the first gritty performance by the Tar Heels' bolstered front court of Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller.

Zeller and Henson outmatched the Texas interior defenders throughout the game.

Barnes' play began to shine in the second half. The highlight of which came with a powerful dunk on Texas forward Clint Chapman followed by a ferocious roar into the air.

He finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and two steals.

James Michael McAdoo also performed well in the paint, showing his ability to move without the ball.

If UNC clicks on all cylinders and plays this consistent all year, there is not a single team that will beat them in March.

Dominating performances like we saw tonight should warrant the Tar Heels a No. 1 seed for "The Dance."

The likely competition in the Final Four should be Kentucky, Syracuse and either Duke or Florida.

The court vision of Kendall Marshall combined with the floor-running of Tyler Zeller is as unmatched a weapon as any other in college basketball.

John Henson and Harrison Barnes are arguably the best overall players in the country and they play for the same team.

We should all get used to Carolina blue because we'll see our fair share of it in the coming months.