Media Credit: Chris Poliquin Junior guard Aron Cohen gets knocked to the floor by UNC's Alex Stepheson. Stepheson and the Tar Heels rolled after a tight start, winning by 35 points. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Ryan Townsend Senior guard Michael Kach (14) found it tough going inside against the athletic Tar Heels. He wasn't the only one who had trouble. [Click to enlarge]

North Carolina coach Roy Williams and Penn counterpart Glen Miller met at halfcourt just minutes before last night's game.

The two shared an extended handshake on the sideline, exchanged jovial words and then bolted for their respective benches.

That was as close as Penn would come to the Tar Heels all game.

Williams brought with him an efficient machine that was not fazed by a packed Palestra, and certainly not by a young Penn team.

When the final buzzer sounded, the scoreboard read 106-71 for UNC.

Carolina's total was limited only by Williams' mercy at the end of the game in bringing on the human victory cigars that played the last few minutes for the Baby Blues.

Except for that stretch, the Heels more or less scored at will. They shot 57 percent from the floor, but they did not need to. More than half of their misses became easy offensive rebounds for the likes of Tyler Hansbrough and Deon Thompson.

"We've really got to start boxing out," Quakers captain Brian Grandieri said.

Hansbrough, in particular, proved a problem for whoever was unlucky enough to draw his assignment. Brennan Votel, Andreas Schreiber and Justin Reilly could not stop him.

"I just got some good post-ups," Hansbrough said. "I put myself in the better position at times. I just feel confident when I get the ball there."

Outrebounded by more than a 2-to-1 margin, Penn was left to echo the standard cries of the defeated underdog.

"I'm sure we can find some positives," Miller said. "We can break down the tape."

"The score didn't really dictate how we played," Grandieri added.

For a 2-7 team looking for something to cling to, Grandieri's words may provide comfort. With the exception of a turnover-filled five-minute stretch at the beginning of the second half, the offense looked much crisper than in Saturday's loss at Villanova.

Freshman Tyler Bernardini provided the biggest surprise. He finished with 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting and seemed to find success from every spot on the court.

Bernardini keyed a promising start to the game - the first one all season, Grandieri claimed. The duo led the Quakers to within three points with 13 minutes gone in the first half.

But the Quakers were not stopping the Heels' offense; they were merely keeping pace. When Bernardini and Grandieri cooled off, UNC scampered away and did not look back.

Nor will Penn.

"Our ticket to the NCAA Tournament is in the Ivy League," Grandieri said. "Until that February 1 comes, or whenever that first [Ivy] game is … that's when we really gotta buckle down. All this is just good preparation."

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