CHAPEL HILL – To anyone who thought North Carolina’s game last Wednesday versus Northeastern was a ho-hum deal, think again.

The Tar Heels likely would have beaten Louisville on Saturday evening at the Smith Center had they not faced the Huskies earlier in the week, but it’s highly improbable they would have dismantled one of the ACC’s best teams to the tune of a 99-54, either.

The Cardinals were coming off a pause and hadn’t played since Feb. 1, and only held seven team practices since. So, this was an uphill climb for Chris Mack’s team, but UNC had its own stuff to deal with, too.

Carolina had been inconsistent in recent weeks, and with a few games postponed, Roy Williams’ mission, in addition to his team simply improving each day, was to find some teams to play to get into a needed rhythm.

Playing and beating a decent Northeastern team Wednesday rolled over into Saturday’s performance, which was easily the Tar Heels’ most complete of the season.

“I think they do get a benefit from playing…,” Williams said, following the win over Louisville. “And so, I think it's good for kids to play. Day’Ron (Sharpe) just walked in, I guarantee he enjoys the games a lot more than he does my practices.”

Carolina shot 60.9 percent from the floor, assisted on 29 of 42 field goals, closed the first half on a 31-12 run and used a 41-9 run in the second half to finish off the Cards. In addition, UNC’s freshmen combined for 71 points, the most ever in the fabled program’s history.

And, as March nears, it is important for teams to connect positive performances to generate some steam heading toward the most important month of the season. For UNC, it needed games so it can get more wins. Standing at 14-7 overall and 8-5 in the ACC, having that victory from earlier in the week spreads the positives into multiple areas.

Wednesday will help with UNC’s push toward making the NCAA Tournament, but more important at this moment is the Heels generated some rhythm and got better. The result was clear in destroying the Cardinals and the Heels notching their best win of the season, as Louisville came in with an NET ranking of No. 33.

“It’s very important for us, just because it helps us get better, it helps us learn more about ourselves and things we've got to work on,” freshman Kerwin Walton said. “And I think we all can agree, every player in the nation could agree, that playing is way better than practicing.

“And I think getting more and more wins is going to help us, especially for the tournament down the road. And it’s going to help us improve our defense and offense and that's just one of the main focuses.”

Walton, who scored 19 points Saturday, is right.

Carolina played well versus Northeastern though it shot just 42.7 percent from the floor because the Heels were only 14-for-30 on layups and even missed one of their attempted dunks. Versus Louisville, however, a sharper UNC club was 16-for-25 on layups and 6-for-6 on dunks, and the Cardinals have a better, more fortified front line than Northeastern.

In one respect, it could just be a team being more efficient in one game versus another, but the Heels see it otherwise.

“I do think kids like to play and it gives you a little bit more of a rhythm,” Williams said. “You have two or three practices and then you play a game, two or three practices and you play a game, two or three practices and you play a game. And we're still hoping we get 27.

“We don't know if it's going to happen or not, but we're still hoping that we do. But, yeah, I think it was a benefit and of course I feel that way because it was my idea.”

UNC can play 27 games before the ACC Tournament, but with just four more scheduled, it has two open slots remaining to get filled over the next two weeks.

The school announced Saturday afternoon it will host Marquette from the Big East Conference on Wednesday night in a game that replaces the cancelled contest at Boston College. The Northeastern game replaced the Miami game that was not played the week before.

Williams said Saturday he still hopes to play the other two ACC games that were postponed, home dates versus Clemson and Virginia Tech, but the prospects of both happening are slim.

The outside world may have shrugged its shoulders at Carolina facing Northeastern earlier in the week, but nobody inside the program did, and there’s a strong sense that game helped fuel Saturday’s blistering performance.