Marvin Williams starts in victory

After Marvin Williams' tentative debut a week before, North Carolina upperclassmen Jawad Williams and Sean May tried to loosen up the preseason ACC Rookie of the Year before Friday's game against Mount Olive.

As UNC was doing its pre-game stretch, the two big men surrounded the freshman and playfully pushed him around the Smith Center court.

But as it turned out, it would be Marvin Williams who gave UNC the spark it needed to defeat the Trojans 100-69 in its final exhibition game.

"We were just clowning around, just trying to take the edge off a little bit, calm him down a little bit because he was nervous," May said. "We know you're going to have those jitters, but I think whenever you can help a guy get rid of some of that stuff, help him stop thinking about it, it's going to help his game tremendously."

But it was the Tar Heels who came out off-kilter with Rashad McCants on the bench in street clothes because of an injured left shoulder. Heading into the first official timeout, UNC was plagued by turnovers, botched alley-oops, zero field goals and a pair of fouls by May as it trailed 9-4.

"I think the first part of the game, we were sort of tiptoeing through the tulips instead of hitting them hard and forcing the issue," said UNC coach Roy Williams.

Roy Williams sent out a revamped lineup after the timeout and it made an immediate impact.

David Noel found Marvin Williams cutting through the lane, and he threw down a ferocious tomahawk dunk that enlivened the crowd and jump-started a 33-6 run.

The freshman continued to carry the Tar Heels, leading them with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

And he reached those numbers in impressive fashion. There was the one-handed slam after freezing his defender with a crossover.

There were the two 3-point plays off offensive rebounds and the baseline jumper he swished from just inside the 3-point arc.

And that was all in the first half.

"His face-up game might be better than his back-to-the-basket game, and his back-to-the-basket game is unbelievable," May said. "The kid's athletic and he's tenacious - he goes after it. I think people are going to be surprised at how quick the kid flourishes."

The Tar Heels will need him to continue that play because they will be without point guard Raymond Felton against Santa Clara. He was suspended for one game by the NCAA for participating in a noncertified summer league game.

Felton didn't play in the second half as Quentin Thomas, Wes Miller and Melvin Scott auditioned for the starting spot.

But without Felton and McCants, UNC outscored the Trojans by just four points in the second half.

"All in all, it was a glorified practice, but all that's over with now," Roy Williams said. "Seven days from now, we'll have to do something, so we better have improved."

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.