DETROIT -- North Carolina starting games strong isn't a rare thing these days.
The Tar Heels' Sweet 16 (Gonzaga) and Elite Eight (Oklahoma) wins are Exhibit A and B as proof that they often spend the opening minutes building insurmountable leads.
But given the stage of Saturday's game against Villanova and what happened in last year's Final Four in San Antonio Texas" this electric start reigns supreme over the others.
North Carolina buried the demons of its slow start against Kansas and blitzed the Wildcats for much of the first 20 minutes to rocket itself to Monday's national championship game.
""It was big" senior guard Bobby Frasor said of UNC's early burst. Coach (Roy) Williams told us not to come out soft and timid. The guys were talking to each other (before the game)" we knew we wanted to come out from the gate ready to play.""
And that's exactly what the Tar Heels did.
They made seven of their first 10 shots from the field. They played to their strengths by feeding the ball to Tyler Hansbrough in the post and swinging the ball along the perimeter to create open looks from downtown.
That formula fueled a 9-0 run that gave UNC a 19-8 advantage at the 13:30 mark of the first half -- a lead that never dipped below eight for the rest of the period.
For an outsider" UNC's early success might have been surprising" but not so for anyone close to the team.
""I think we were expecting to come out swinging and playing so strong just because of the way last year ended"" Deon Thompson said after the game.
At one point, the scoreboard read 40-23 in North Carolina's favor. It was almost a complete reversal from the moment in Alamodome when the Tar Heels trailed Kansas 40-22 with a little more than two minutes left in the opening period.
It built us a lot of confidence and helped us kind of calm down and play our game a little more" Danny Green said. I think that a weekend like this games like this this big stage" everybody's coming out a real anxious and excited and (with) a lot of adrenaline flowing. ...
""So we wanted to play or game"" calm down a little bit.""
But before the 9-0 run" and before the double-digit leads the Tar Heels looked a lot more like the team from last April than the group that dismantled Gonzaga and Oklahoma last weekend in Memphis Tenn.
Hansbrough missed two foul shots just six seconds into the game and Ty Lawson had a pass tipped and stolen -- just his third miscue of the entire tournament.
Williams reminded reporters Tuesday of how he felt his team was star-struck during early moments against the Jayhawks" and the Tar Heels were falling into the same trap just 50 seconds into their game against Villanova.
""Those were just the jitters" Frasor said. We weren't playing a team like Kansas where they came out and gave it too us. Villanova is very good" but at the same time they didn't have the same fire power that Kansas did.""
Indeed.
The Wildcats went 3-of-11 from the field as the two teams felt each other out"" failing to muster enough offense to put pressure on UNC.
""They didn't shoot the ball as well as we expected them to" Green said. That probably could be due to the atmosphere" and them being nervous a little bit.""
After the Wildcats failed to pounce" Wayne Ellington knocked down a baseline jumper and Lawson hit the first of the 11 3-pointers UNC made against Villanova.
And just like that North Carolina exploded for the hot start that gave them just enough of a cushion to keep the tough-as-nails Wildcats at bay.
This time around" the Tar Heels were the beneficiaries of a big early lead.
""Oh man"" Thompson said in the post-game locker room. It was like a relief to see guys get out there just shooting the ball so well and get off to a great start.""
