NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Getting out on the break and scoring has never been the issue for North Carolina.
The question mark always has been the Tar Heels’ defense.
If they could shut down opponents, Roy Williams’ kids from Chapel Hill could make people forget the disappointment of missing the NCAA tournament in 2010 in a heartbeat.
Well Tar Heels fans, it’s time to forget.
North Carolina shut down Marquette with one of its top defensive efforts in NCAA tournament play Friday night, dismantling the Golden Eagles 81-63 in an East Regional semifinal that was over before the half.
The second-seeded Tar Heels (29-7) will face fourth-seeded Kentucky (28-8) on Sunday for a spot in Houston. The Wildcats knocked off top-seeded Ohio State 62-60 in the second game.
North Carolina beat Kentucky 75-73 in North Carolina on Dec. 4.
“It should be real fun,” Kentucky forward Terrence Jones said. “We know they’re a great team. They’ve gotten a lot better and we’ve gotten a lot better too so it should be a great game.”
To be blunt, the North Carolina-Marquette game wasn’t a great game.
North Carolina got off to its customary slow start, then seized control to move within a game of reaching the Final Four for the third time in four years.
“I looked up at the clock and it was 10-8 their favor, and the next time I looked at the clock is when I went off at halftime and it was 40-15,” Williams said. “I knew we were doing very well to say the least.”
Those 15 first-half points were the second-fewest allowed by North Carolina in a half in 144 NCAA tournament games, and the Marquette’s 20 percent shooting from the field came on 6-of-30 shooting that was the second lowest by an opponent in an NCAA tournament game.
John Henson, the ACC defensive player of the year, set the tone for North Carolina, blocking Jimmy Butler’s first shot of the game at the Prudential Center.
“It was one of our best defensive performances all year,” freshman forward Harrison Barnes, who had 20 points and six rebounds. “We really keyed in on a lot of their sets, a lot of their personnel. We just worked hard.”
Tyler Zeller led North Carolina with 27 points and 15 rebounds, while John Henson added 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Tar Heels looked scary against Marquette (22-15).
Everyone knew they could run up and down the court with the best in college basketball. Friday’s dominating defensive performance was an eye-opener.
“I still think we can play better,’ Carolina guard Dexter Strickland said. “We haven’t played to our potential.”
Marquette’s miserable game meant the Big East’s contingent of 11 teams has dipped to one – Connecticut.
“We just couldn’t do anything right in the first half, and that’s just not the way we play,” said Davante Gardner, who led the Golden Eagles with 16 points and six rebounds. “It was uncharacteristic of us, and actually, it was pretty embarrassing.”
Marquette had only two bad games down the stretch, and both came in this building. Three weeks ago, they were blown out by a sub .500 Seton Hall team in a game that seemingly put the Golden Eagles out of the NCAA tournament.
Marquette, however, played well enough in the Big East tournament to make the show, then knocked off Xavier and fourth-seeded Syracuse.
Going against North Carolina was a mismatch.
“We had zero assists at halftime, and we never do that,” said Butler, who had 14 points in his final game. “I had no idea what was going on.”
The Tar Heels played a physical game against their tough-minded opponent for the opening eight minutes and then took control with a 19-0 run, forcing Marquette to miss 14 straight shots. The game was just about over at that point.
Kendall Marshall started the North Carolina run with a shot in the lane, and Zeller gave the Tar Heels the lead for good, grabbing two offensive rebounds on the same possession and putting the second one in.
Marshall, who had seven assists, hit another jumper in the lane and then made a crosscourt pass to Henson for an alley-oop dunk that had the powder blue-clad North Carolina fans jumping out of their seats.
When Dexter Strickland hit a jumper on a fast break, Marquette coach Buzz Williams called a time out with his team down 18-10. He would call three in the run, sensing his team was losing their way. It didn’t work.
Henson hit two lay-ups, Barnes hit a 3-pointer and Leslie McDonald scored on a rebound follow to push the lead to 27-10 with 4:41 to go in the half.
Marquette’s futility ended when Butler hit a jumper with 3:54 to go, ending a nearly 9-minute scoring drought for the Golden Eagles, who scored five points in the final 12:42 of the half to fall behind 40-15.
North Carolina added to Marquette’s misery in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring the first six points to open a 46-15 lead.
After the second basket, Williams called another timeout. Strickland then stole the inbound pass and scored on a fast break to further embarrass the Golden Eagles.
“I thought in the first half we were pitiful,” Buzz Williams said.
Maybe, North Carolina was that good.
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