RALEIGH, N. C. — During a break in the action Sunday, long after North Carolina had erased any doubt it would win its 34 th game of the year, Arkansas’ John Pelphrey gave the Tar Heels one of the highest compliments an opposing coach could possibly give.

“ They don’t need any help, ” Pelphrey screamed at an official shortly after Tyler Hansbrough had been fouled.

North Carolina didn’t, and it proved as much during a clinical demolition of the Razorbacks in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the RBC Center. The Tar Heels, the top seed in East Region, made mince meat of Arkansas during their 108-77 victory.

It was Arkansas’ second most lopsided loss in the Big Dance and a bitter ending to the careers of six seniors who helped resurrect the Razorbacks’ program but weren’t able to lift it to the plateau achieved in the 1990 s when the Hogs were a major player on the national scene.

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“ I think we made some progress, and if we didn’t, we wouldn’t be here at this point in time and be one of the last 32 teams standing, ” Pelphrey said. “ We won more games in the regular season than a year ago.... Does it need to get bigger and better ? No question. ”

Never was that more apparent than on Sunday, when the Razorbacks (23-12 ) drowned in a sea of Carolina Blue and looked like one of the many teams they used to destroy during their own championship era.

“ If they play like this, the next weekend, I don’t think anybody can beat them, ” said Sonny Weems, senior small for ward, of North Carolina.

Arkansas certainly didn’t stand in their way Sunday.

The Tar Heels scored and scored and scored. Starters Ty Lawson, Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington, and Deon Thompson all produced more than 15 points. The Tar Heels made 68 percent of their 65 field goal attempts. And at times it appeared there was nothing the Razorbacks could do to stop them. Each basket seemed to tear off a piece of Pelphrey’s flesh. He screamed and hollered. He winced. He stomped his feet. But most of the seniors looked on stoically.

“ It seemed like they didn’t miss out there, ” said Steven Hill, Arkansas’ senior center.

Like he has been throughout his career as a Razorback, Hill was unemotional. But he has been through a lot in his four seasons at Arkansas. When he arrived with Charles Thomas and Darian Townes, the Razorbacks were coming off a 12-16 season and their coach was Stan Heath. Since then, Arkansas has made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and experienced incremental improvement, advancing to the SEC tournament championship game twice. Yet Heath is now gone after being fired last season – and Pelphrey has replaced him.

“ Going through the coaching change was pretty tough, ” Townes said. “ I love John Pelphrey. He helped me and showed me a lot of what’s going to happen in the real world is about to get ready to happen for me and Sonny and the rest of the seniors. ”

North Carolina showed them what it could be like, too. It can be unforgiving like the Tar Heels’ 40-minute onslaught that started with a 9-0 run and ended when walk-on Marc Campbell buried a three-pointer. In their final game, seniors Vincent Hunter, Gary Ervin, Weems, Charles Thomas, Townes and Hill saw an opponent score more than 100 points against Arkansas for the first time in six seasons. They had saved per haps their worst for last.

“ We made the most of the hand we were dealt, ” Hill insisted. “ I am still proud of what we did. ”