Well, as they say, the Tar Heels control their own destiny.

With a bad loss to a pretty good 9-10 Marquette team, Carolina is on the verge of shooting itself out of the NCAA tournament. In fact, the Heels may have to run the table against three difficult ACC opponents to avoid missing the Dance for what would be a second straight season (Remember, UNC was out of it last year before it was cancelled).

Roy Williams said “bad coaching” three times in his press conference, and after 22 games of inconsistent play he may have some people taking him seriously. He wanted to play a game this week, but he didn’t expect it to backfire in his plaid-masked face after the 45-point blowout of ill-prepared Louisville.

His latest team has been both good and bad, and its first home loss of the season was one of the worst against an opponent from the Big East coached by a former Dukie that looked better from the floor to the bench. Marquette outshot Carolina in every category, got most of the key rebounds and, on this night, had hungrier and superior players.

The Tar Heels led 2-0 after Marquette missed its first three shots but never led again. And when they trimmed a deep deficit to single digits in the second half, they couldn’t sustain the rally by getting out of their own way, finishing with 19 turnovers. Carolina had to chase the Golden Eagles all over the court, which they spread and knocked down six 3-pointers in the first half to take command of the game.

Now 14-8 after failing to post Williams’ 900th career victory, Carolina will be off the bubble and has to beat 11th-ranked Florida State, win at Syracuse and defeat surging Duke for a second time to impress a selection committee that may have already written UNC off. Bids favor teams that are improving, not laying eggs.

No more vivid was the comparison than between the two starting big men, both preseason Players of the Year in their respective leagues. Marquette freshman Dawson Garcia had 24 points, 11 rebounds and controlled his team’s 45-29 halftime lead. Senior Garrison Brooks played 30 solid minutes, but his numbers didn’t come close to Garcia’s. And his perimeter was zero help, shooting 7 for 34 and going 0-6 from outside in the first half, when the game, and perhaps the season, got away.

“If I thought we’d lose, I never would have scheduled the game,” Ol’ Roy said, his unhappiness apparent.

 

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