Something big is missing from monster matchup

Believe all the breathless hyperbole, outlandish claims and admiring superlatives showering on Ohio State and North Carolina and their freshmen classes.

Believe every bit of it.

Not too long ago, when kids acted like kids, the suggestion would have been to take all that stuff with a 10-pound bag of rock salt. But not now, not here, not after watching the the Tar Heels beat the Buckeyes 98-89 Wednesday night at the Smith Center.

This was billed as the main event of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge and that is just what it turned out to be, even with the heralded Greg Oden injured and sitting on the Buckeye bench in street clothes.

"A remarkable college basketball game," North Carolina coach Roy Williams called it, and he was right.

"As I told my guys, that was a high-level game," echoed Buckeye coach Thad Matta, and he was right as well. "You get in a game like that, guys make plays and, quite frankly, North Carolina made more plays than us. But we did a lot of good things even though this is a team we're still experimenting with."

His Buckeyes just did not do enough good things, which was the reason North Carolina escaped this one. The Tar Heels got 21 points and 14 rebounds from sophomore Tyler Hansbrough, who was 5 of 5 from the field in the second half, and big contributions from freshmen Wayne Ellington (19 points) and Ty Lawson (13) and Brandan Wright (11).

Ohio State countered with a monster night from senior Ron Lewis, who ended with 30 points, and big contributions from freshmen Daequan Dean (14 points, 9 rebounds) and Mike Conley Jr. (eight points, eight assists, just three turnovers).

This game fairly crackled, often dazzled, and offered a glimpse of greatness to come. This was the Buckeyes' first appearance of the season outside of Columbus, where they had run off six straight victories. But they treated their debut in a hostile environment as if it were their personal plaything. This was the Tar Heels first appearance since an unsatisfactory trip to New York for the NIT Season Tipoff, where Williams told his players, "Go and tell your mommy and daddy that you want brains for Christmas." Here they responded as if they had received their presents early.

This game was played at a high level and was filled with stretches of brilliance that defied even the most-fanciful imagination.

"Even as a coach, you sit over there and marvel at the level the kids are playing at offensively," Williams said, and that was especially true in the stretch that staked the Tar Heels to victory.

It began with them down five, trying to close the gap the Buckeyes had built in the first half while hitting 61.5 percent of their three-pointers. They couldn't maintain that pace, no one could, and North Carolina countered first with a strong move from Hansbrough down low. That narrowed the margin to three, the opening jab in a flurry of punches.

There was Lawson, a point guard who is quicker than a blink, driving the left baseline and kissing in a reverse layup. There was Hansbrough from down low again and then Ellison with a right baseline jumper. There was senior Reyshawn Terry with a three, Ellison with a three and Hansbrough with a drive. When this fusillade ended, the Tar Heels had hit seven straight shots and taken the 10-point lead they never would lose.

Despite the defeat, even Matta could appreciate what he had witnessed.

"I was impressed with all the players," he said. "But no question. They answered every punch we threw with a punch back at us. …

"The encouraging thing for us is that we're waiting on Greg and where they got us tonight is some areas where he's going to help us a lot. I don't ever like to lose. But the barometer here is that we can play."

For More On This Story, Click Here...