Joel to test Tar Heels' road streak

CHAPEL HILL -- With the tie-dyed crowd, pre-game motorcycle and overall boisterous atmosphere before big games at Joel Coliseum, "it's extremely difficult to have that focus that you need to play in a place like that,'' North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.

But the third-ranked Tar Heels are out to prove again today they have that concentration.

UNC will test its 15-game road winning streak — which includes an 8-0 road record against ACC foes last season — at fourth-ranked Wake Forest at 8 p.m.

The last time Carolina lost a true road game was March 1, 2007, at Georgia Tech. Seniors Tyler Hansbrough, Marcus Ginyard, Danny Green and Bobby Frasor are 29-6 on opponents home courts during their careers.

What has made the Tar Heels so good on the road in the past?

"I think they've done a great job of focusing on what was going on on the court, what was being said by our bench, figured out some way to handle all the noise and pretend it was in their favor _ some of those kinds of mind games, I guess,'' Williams said. "But I think the biggest thing is ability, and the fact that they've really focused on the task at hand and not gotten carried away at what's being yelled or not yelled."

And there will be plenty more yelling to try to tune out today.
Williams said the 2005 game at Joel, when the Demon Deacons won 95-82, "may have been as loud as I've heard in an ACC arena." And although he doesn't want a pre-game motorcycle revving in the Smith Center, "it's a crowd I want to have here."

"...The shirts, the fans, it's noisy ... I don't know if that sucker can ride that motorcycle faster than [Jeff] Teague and Tyler [Hansbrough] and Tywon [Lawson] can push the ball up the floor; I know they couldn't stop as fast as they can,'' he said. "I think it's a great atmosphere."

-- Robbi Pickeral