N. Carolina’s offense will be tested by Wazzou

Washington State’s defense is expected to be tough in tonight’s East Regional.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — In a perfect world, Roy Williams never would see his North Carolina team stop running.

The Tar Heels would sprint out in transition on every possession. They’d push the ball ahead for get-you-right-back baskets to answer scores. And, by the end, their offense would leave demoralized opponents struggling to catch their breath.

His team lived up to that standard last weekend to start the NCAA tournament. Yet Williams knows that the No. 1 overall seed can’t keep scoring at that pace, especially against a Washington State team that has been just as impressivedefensively to reach tonight’s East Regional semifinals.

Of course, Williams figures his team can win a boring ol’ halfcourt game, too.

“I like to win in the 80s and 90s, but to ... reach the dreams that we have and be the team we want to be, you’ve got to be able to win at somebody else’s different tempo,” Williams said. “It can’t be your own comfort zone all the time, and for the most part I’ve had teams in the past that could win in the 50s and 60s. I just enjoy it more if it’s 80s and 90s.”

The Tar Heels (34-2) rank second nationally in scoring (89.9 points) while reaching the century mark eight times this year. That includes last weekend’s routs in Raleigh where they beat 16th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s 113-74 then No. 9 seed Arkansas 108-77. It marked the first time a team had scored 100 points in each of its first two NCAA games since Loyola Marymount did it against New Mexico State and Michigan in 1990.

The fourth-seeded Cougars (26-8) have been almost as dominating in the NCAAs behind a focus-on-fundamentals philosophy and a defense that held Winthrop and Notre Dame to a combined 81 points.

Washington State, appearing in the round of 16 for the first time, ranks second nationally in scoring defense (56.1 points per game). Their offense averages 67 points per game in a system that coach Tony Bennett picked up from his father, Dick, the former Wisconsin coach who preceded his son in Pullman, Wash.

“There are so many different ways of playing the game and being successful,” Tony Bennett said. “For us, it’s just trying to be as solid as we can in the halfcourt defensively, be sound with the basketball and not turn it over, and get good shots.

“The system that we run, everyone has this perception — I’m used to it — that it’s boring, it’s slow, it’s not fun. I think we play good basketball.”

His players believe in the system, which helped them tie last season’s school record for wins.

“If you look at our team, you’re not going to think we’re just going to overpower people with size, athleticism or anything like that,” junior Taylor Rochestie said. “But to come together as a unit and get stops, we take a lot of pride in that and it gives us the ability to win at the highest stage.”