Intensity is what makes Roy Williams’ teams go.
When the North Carolina men's basketball team is forcing turnovers left and right and diving on the floor for loose balls, it empowers and unleashes a potent fast break. Other teams just can't keep up, and eventually they break down under a bevy of UNC layups and silly turnovers.
All the great Williams' teams had the ability to turn up the intensity dial, to break opposing teams. And early on in the season, it looked like this Tar Heel team could be that good.
No. 14 North Carolina (14-3, 2-1 ACC) — which beat N.C. State (12-4, 1-2 ACC) by 51 points on Sunday — blitzed the field in the Maui Invitational, culminating in a 15-point win over Wisconsin on Nov. 23. The spark the team showed in that tournament, especially on defense, was the same spark in last year’s Final Four team and the national championship-winning teams before them.
The Tar Heels had that extra ingredient, that spark, at the beginning of its 2016-17 campaign. But it went dark for a long stretch this season, culminating in a road loss to Georgia Tech on Jan. 1.
On Sunday, that intensity was back. N.C. State was not ready for UNC’s mix of speed and aggression, losing 107-56.
“When we bring the energy, and bring the passion, it’s hard to stop us,” junior guard Joel Berry said.
The North Carolina offense fed off the defense's energy. The Wolfpack turned the ball over 26 times, and the Tar Heels scored 41 points off those turnovers. All the while, the lead just kept getting bigger.
“Honestly, I didn’t even pay attention to it until I looked up there and we were up 33 at halftime,” said junior wing Justin Jackson. “And that just shows the type of intensity that we had. And it just kept on growing, kept on growing.”
