No. 8 UNC aims to bounce back vs. Northern Iowa (Dec 21, 2016)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina played one of the classics of the early part of the season in a showdown with Kentucky.
Now the No. 8 Tar Heels want to take that experience and turn it into victories.
The next chance for that comes Wednesday night at the Smith Center, where Northern Iowa will be the visiting team.
This will be the first game for the Tar Heels since a 103-100 loss to Kentucky on Saturday in Las Vegas.
"We were right there with one of the best teams in the country," North Carolina swingman Justin Jackson said.
North Carolina (10-2) has two games remaining before beginning Atlantic Coast Conference play, and with a full roster presumably available it could be a good opportunity to build on some of the things they picked up in the Kentucky game.
"I think that game showed us (we can be one of the best teams)," guard Joel Berry said after returning from a two-game absence because of an ankle injury.
North Carolina's offense was clicking to the tune of shooting 53 percent from the field, yet it was the only the fourth time under coach Roy Williams in 184 games of shooting 50 percent or better that the Tar Heels lost.
Still, Williams likes that pace and the scoring.
"We're going to run," Williams said. "We've got to run. We've got to get our big guys to run."
Last season, Northern Iowa won against then-No. 1 North Carolina 71-67 in the only previous meeting between the teams. That was scheduled as a homecoming game in Cedar Falls, Iowa, for then-senior guard Marcus Paige, who then missed the game with the Tar Heels because of an injury.
Northern Iowa (5-5) is coming off a 69-46 loss to Iowa on Saturday.
"There were some things we can take from that game and I think will help us against North Carolina," Panthers coach Ben Jacobson said. "North Carolina pushes the ball ... North Carolina is bigger and even a better rebounding team than Iowa is."
Jacobson said preparing the defense is of utmost importance, but that he's concerned about the team's offense.
In Northern Iowa's five losses, it shot less than 38 percent. In three of the losses, the Panthers failed to score more than 50 points.
"Now we've just got to find a little bit of rhythm to our offense," Jacobson said. "That's a group effort, honing in on a couple of things that we think will give guys direction, give them some confidence. We'll keep poking around to try to find the right stuff."
The Panthers have registered 17 victories against ranked Division I opponents and 14 of those have come since Jacobson joined the coaching staff in the 2001-02 season. Jacobson served as an assistant from 2001-06 before taking over as head coach.
Senior Jeremy Morgan, the preseason Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, leads the Panthers in scoring (17.7), rebounding (7.5), assists (3.3), blocked shots (1.6), steals (2.7), 3-pointers made (28 and free throws made (41). He needs 35 points to reach the 1,000-point mark in his career.
