Ailing frosh leads Tar Heels

North Carolina freshman Marvin Williams made 3-pointers, drove to the basket and did everything in between. He punctuated his coming-out party with a spectacular dunk, where he posed in the air with his left hand behind his head.

And it all came after he spent a good portion of the day in bed recovering from the flu.

"He's a freak," teammate Rashad McCants said.

Williams had a season-high 20 points, McCants scored 18 and Sean May had another double-double, helping the second-ranked Tar Heels beat North Carolina State 95-71 on Thursday night in Chapel Hill, N.C.

With the illness circulating through the team, Williams joined coach Roy Williams in taking intravenous fluids before the game.

"He got it on Saturday night, and I didn't get it until Monday night," Roy Williams said. "Hopefully, three days from now, I'll look like Marvin."

Raymond Felton reached 1,000 career points and added 10 assists for North Carolina (18-2, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which has won 18 of its past 19 games. May finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds to make up for leading scorer Jawad Williams finishing with six points, 10 under his average.

"I'm comfortable," Marvin Williams said. "I feel like I can shoot 'em. I take them when they're open."

The Tar Heels improved to 11-0 at home with a familiar formula — jump to an early lead, then close it with a dominant run early in the second half. This time, they shot 66 percent and led 51-32 at halftime, with McCants, May and Marvin Williams already in double figures.

"Anytime you score 90 points on a team that wants to score in the 50s and 60s, you've really got the game under control," May said.

Julius Hodge had 18 points but couldn't keep the Wolfpack (13-8, 3-5) from falling to 3-7 in their past 10 games. The trouble started when point guard Tony Bethel contracted colitis after a 2-week battle with the flu, and he sat out four games.

He only returned to the lineup full-time in N.C. State's previous game against Clemson, and in this one, Bethel played 35 minutes and scored 16 points.

"The guys are battling and really have a terrific mind-set," N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said. "Our group has been through a tremendous amount. The resiliency and character has been admirable, it really has."

Even with Bethel, the Wolfpack had very few answers for the Tar Heels. Reserve David Noel finished off a steal in the first half with a reverse dunk, and Marvin Williams might have topped him with his highlight-package dunk during the big spurt in the final 20 minutes.

Later, with walk-ons and other little-used players finishing out the blowout, several teammates were mimicking Williams' move on the bench.

"He is awesome," Sendek said. "I don't think there is anything he can't do."