The No. 24 North Carolina men’s basketball team, 7-3 on the season, gets another chance to show its improvement against a top-flight opponent. This time, the Tar Heels will clash with the No. 12 Ohio State Buckeyes in the CBS Sports Classic Saturday at 1 p.m.

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UNC head coach Roy Williams has lofty praise for the Buckeyes, comparing them to some of his best all-time shooting teams.

“They really do a good job of guys shooting shots that they can make, and they have good shooters. That was like us in 2009 and 1990. Those were two best shooting clubs I’ve ever had. Everybody could shoot, and they took good shots too. They knew their limitations – it’s a little bit of both. It’s a challenge playing them because man, they shoot the ball so well and turn you over,” Coach Williams says.

Turnovers have plagued the Tar Heels all season long, setting up easy buckets for opponents. But that’s not the only thing the Carolina skipper is hoping to improve upon this weekend.

In trademark style, Coach Williams says he wants to turn the basketball game into a track meet.

“We do have a lot of things that we have to work on. We’ve got to work on rebounding the ball, playing without turning the ball over, got to work on running because we’re not running any where near where we’d like to run. We have a lot of things that we’ve got to work on,” Coach Williams says.

James tied a career-high in scoring Tuesday night (UNC Athletics)

James tied a career-high in scoring Tuesday night (UNC Athletics)

Despite UNC’s decent numbers in the rebounding department, Coach Williams says he’s not totally convinced the Tar Heels are dominating enough on the boards either.

“With some exceptions, the other teams haven’t shot a great percentage against us. We still haven’t rebounded as well. I told you guys I thought we’d be a great rebounding team. We’ve been far from it. The numbers look good, but still, I believe what I see regardless of what the numbers are,” Coach Williams says.

Ohio State head coach Thad Matta says his bunch of Buckeyes rely on tight team chemistry on and off the floor to befuddle many of their opponents.

“You always worry about the dynamics of your team – not only on the court but in the locker room and off the court. I think from day one, we’ve had a very good blend in terms of guys getting along. I do believe summer trip probably helped that. I also think when you have really good guys with good character in your program, that also helps them connect,” Coach Matta says.

Sophomore forward Kennedy Meeks has established himself as the primary scoring threat for UNC, especially in the absence of an in-form Marcus Paige, who’s still struggling to find his shot.

But Meeks says the Tar Heels keep plugging away with rugged practices in hopes the game plan will start clicking for the entire team when it counts the most.

“I think our team is looking forward to it. I think it’s a big-time challenge for us. We haven’t beaten a ranked team yet this year. It would be a big win for us,” Meeks says.

Carolina will be hoping their dominance over Ohio State continues Saturday. The Tar Heels own a commanding 10-2 edge in the all-time series, including most recently, a 77-73 win in the 2009 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.