JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Crazy as it may sound, Arkansas hopes to force North Carolina to turn over the ball the way Harvard did.
Forty minutes of Harvard? Really?
Yes.
North Carolina had to score the game's final four points to beat Harvard 67-65 on Thursday night in the NCAA West Region, and the main reason the Crimson pushed the Tar Heels to their limit was because Harvard finished with a 29-6 edge in points off turnovers.
The Tar Heels suffered 17 turnovers, but North Carolina junior forward J.P. Tokoto didn't sound overly concerned about suffering a similar fate against Arkansas in tonight's game at Veterans Memorial Arena.
"We know what we did wrong," Tokoto said. "We had some turnovers that were unforced and we're not worried about making this next game."
Tokoto said the turnovers are "easily fixed errors" the Tar Heels worked on during Friday's practice.
"We're going to be prepared for what they throw at us," Tokoto said of the Razorbacks.
North Carolina Coach Roy Williams said the Tar Heels can't have a repeat of their ball-handling problems when they play the Razorbacks.
"We've got to stay away from the silly turnovers," Williams said. "We've got to make sure if they're pressing that we attack, because if they're going to get a turnover, we've got to get layups at the other end."
Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said the Razorbacks can't beat North Carolina if the game becomes a half-court slugfest.
"We've got to hopefully cause some chaos with our defense," Anderson said.
Harvard isn't the only team to turn over North Carolina at a high rate this season. The Tar Heels had 20 turnovers against Syracuse, 19 against Butler, Florida and Louisville and 18 against Virginia and Alabama-Birmingham.
Qualls smiled when asked about trying to duplicate what Harvard did to North Carolina.
"We're not Harvard," Qualls said. "They probably just had a hell of a game, but it is our strong point to try to make you turn the ball over."
Junior guard Marcus Paige is the Tar Heels' primary ball-handler. He leads the team with 167 assists compared to 69 turnovers.
Paige had 12 points, 6 assists and 1 turnover in 39 minutes against Harvard. He's also North Carolina's leading scorer at 13.9 points per game.
"We've got to try to get the ball out of Marcus Paige's hands because he can do some real damage," Qualls said.
Williams said the Tar Heels have to play tough with the ball against Arkansas' traps.
"You're going to get double-teamed and you're going to get triple-teamed," he said. "You can't start crying for mama to come help you.
"You've got to be ready to play."
Sports on 03/21/2015