North Carolina returns home to take on Radford

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina is about to begin a stretch of games when it might be able to settle in.

The Tar Heels start a three-game homestand with Sunday afternoon's outing against Radford.

No. 3 North Carolina has been tested in various ways during the season's opening weeks, and all except one of those games has been away from home.

"I like that part," coach Roy Williams said of the variety of venues the team has visited. "We've been tested (without our) crowd getting us going."

The Tar Heels played three true road games, though the last one resulted in the team's first loss on Wednesday night at Indiana.

So now comes the flip side when there's an array of home games for the Tar Heels (7-1), who played eight November games for the first time in the history of the program. It has been more than two weeks since North Carolina competed in its only home game so far this season.

Williams didn't enjoy his 1,000th game as a college head coach when Indiana won 76-67, but he suggested it wasn't wise to make much of a milestone game.

"Sunday's game is going to be 1,001," he said. "And I'll be happy to get to 1,001 and 1,002 and on like that."

Until the most recent game, the Tar Heels pretty much had their way with things. All seven North Carolina victories have come by 15 or more points.

But more important were the experiences gained during that stretch.

"You don't want to peak around this time because it's just the start of the season," North Carolina guard Joel Berry said.

For Radford (3-4), which has won two of its past three games, there have been some rough experiences, including an 0-3 road record.

But Radford sophomore guard Caleb Tanner is coming off a career-best 17-point outing in a 74-67 victory against Virginia Military Institute. In that game, the Highlanders had their best offensive performance against a Division I team this season, shooting 50 percent from the field and producing their biggest point total in regulation.

Without many offensive highlights this season, Radford coach Mike Jones said his team has learned the importance of doing other things to compensate for that.

"Being able to handle that the right way," Jones said. "You can't count on shooting every game."

Jones was more interested on how the Highlanders performed at the other end of the court in their most recent game.

"I thought our defensive effort over the course of the game was really good," he said.

But dealing with North Carolina's offense probably means the Highlanders will have to rise to another level. The Tar Heels have shot better than 50 percent in nine of their 16 halves this season, while to aid their cause they rank second nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, retrieving 44 percent of their misses.

The North Carolina offense is coming in various forms as four players have scored 20 or more points in a game this season, including Berry, who has done it four times.

For Radford, only freshman forward Ed Polite Jr.'s 21-point game against Stetson falls into that category.

North Carolina's only meeting with Radford came to open the 2009 NCAA Tournament, with the Tar Heels winning in a 101-58 romp in Greensboro.