UNC's Reggie Bullock ready to start

Inked on the inside of Reggie Bullock’s right bicep is the number 252 — the area code of his hometown Kinston.

For the sophomore guard, the tattoo serves as a constant reminder of where he came from and how he got to where he is today.

Bullock, who missed the final month of his freshman season while recovering from a knee injury, stands on the cusp of making his first career start when N.C. State takes on No. 7 North Carolina at the Smith Center tonight.

“It means a lot,” Bullock said about his new spot in the starting lineup. “There’s a lot of State fans in Kinston, everybody is a State fan in Kinston … Just playing against this State team and it also being a rivalry means I’ll enjoy playing and starting.”

With the exception of last season’s senior day, the North Carolina men’s basketball team has started the same five players in every game since after the Georgia Tech loss last January: Kendall Marshall and Dexter Strickland in the backcourt, Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller up front.

But in last weekend’s 82-68 win at Virginia Tech, Strickland tore the ACL in his right knee on his way to the bucket in transition, opening a hole in the starting lineup for the first time in more than a year.

While Bullock is the obvious choice to fill the need at the two-guard spot, Strickland’s role as the backup to Marshall will be delegated to several different Tar Heels.

Head coach Roy Williams said freshman Stilman White will get some minutes around timeouts in order to maximize break time for Marshall.

In Wednesday’s practice, Henson, Barnes and Justin Watts ran plays from the point, and the Tar Heels also ran sets without a true point guard to prepare for life without Strickland.

“We understand that we’ve lost Dexter and he’s not coming back,” Williams said. “Everybody’s got to raise their level of play, and everybody’s got to raise their level of consistency of play and be able to make some changes to make up for some of the things we lose from Dexter.”

Strickland, though often praised for his defensive efforts, had also been the Tar Heels’ most dependable shooter on the season, shooting a team-high 57 percent. Though he only averaged 7.5 points per game, he was second on the team in assists with 39.

Offensively, Bullock has flashed streaks of proficiency from long-range, including his 15-point performance against Long Beach State when he drained three second-half 3-pointers.

He has also shown a much-improved defensive effort this season and has 13 steals to show for it — but that’s just a little more than half of the steals Strickland had pulled in so far this season.

To Williams, though, Bullock is not a replacement for Strickland and will not be expected to fill the statistical gaps he leaves. Aside from some possible added ball-handling responsibility, Bullock’s role is largely unchanged.

Marshall is more excited about how the height difference between 6-foot-3 Strickland and 6-foot-7 Bullock will open up the floor offensively.

“When we look at our starting lineup now … That’s a lot of length, a lot of size that we have,” Marshall said. “Coming off the break, I think Reggie’s going to be able to stretch the floor and give John and Z a lot more room to work inside.”

Despite the pressure of his first career start compounded by the fact that Thursday’s game is a rivalry matchup, each time Bullock rises to fire and flashes the area code on his shooting arm, he’ll do so with complete assurance.

“I just got to shoot with confidence,” Bullock said. “Every shot that I take, I’ve got to believe that it’s going in.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.