RALEIGH
First, Brice Johnson swatted a blocked shot into orbit, the basketball nearly achieving escape velocity before plummeting back to earth somewhere behind the media tribune. Then the North Carolina forward dunked, shot and screamed the Tar Heels past Providence and on to Philadelphia.
If the Tar Heels’ biggest strength is the diversity of their weaponry, Johnson is – and should be – option No. 1. They couldn’t find him during that baffling home collapse against Duke, but they fed the big man on Saturday, and did he ever eat in an 85-66 North Carolina win.