Then North Carolina began resembling the team that hoisted an NCAA National Championship trophy eight months ago.

An 18-to-0 Tar Heel run sank the men of Marshall basketball, as they come up short, 98-61 in Chapel Hill.

Ed Davis led the way for the defending champs with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

As for the Herd, Shaquille Johnson led the way with 16 points and Tyler Wilkerson added 12 points.

But on the whole, poor shooting and out-rebounding were the Herd's achilles heel against the Heels.

Marshall shot only 35.7% from the floor and pulled down 20 fewer boards than UNC.

A crowd of nearly 19,000 came out to the "Dean Dome," easily the largest audience the Herd's performed in front of this season.

After a quick Christmas break, Marshall hits the road once again, travelling to Troy on Dec. 28.

The Herd rocked the Trojans, 99-70, just 10 days ago at the Cam Henderson Center in their first meeting of the year.

Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. in Alabama.