(Sports Network) - The sixth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels return to the friendly confines of the Smith Center this evening, as they welcome the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs to Chapel Hill.

The defending national champions opened the 2009-10 season with four consecutive victories, but enter this game off their first loss of the season, a humbling 87-71 setback to Syracuse as part of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer in New York City last Friday.

The Runnin' Bulldogs have yet to taste defeat on the young campaign, enjoying the comforts of home to get things started, with three straight wins in their own building. Gardner-Webb capped off a successful homestand with Saturday's 83-58 pasting of Methodist.

This is just the third time that these two teams have met on the hardwood. North Carolina captured both prior meetings, including a 103-50 rout in 2006.

The Runnin' Bulldogs have made light work of the competition thus far thanks to stellar play at both ends of the floor. The team is shooting a scorching .520 from the field, en route to a gaudy 87.0 ppg. Defensively, Gardner-Webb has dominated as well, limiting the opposition to a mere 56.0 ppg, on .359 shooting, while owning a +12.3 rebounding margin and forcing over 24 turnovers per contest. Center Auryn MacMillan has been the leader down low, averaging a near double-double with team-highs of 12.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. C.J. Hailey and Jonathan Moore add 11.0 and 10.7 ppg respectively, and both are shooting 60 percent or better from the floor. In the lopsided win over Methodist, it was Josh Henley that led the offensive charge, hitting 9-of-10 shots for 18 points. MacMillan finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots, while Hailey and Brian McNair chimed in with 11 points apiece.

A 22-1 Syracuse run to start the second half was more than enough to negate a two-point halftime lead for North Carolina and give the Orange a comfortable win over the Tar Heels. Ed Davis led the team with a double-double consisting of 16 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 5-of-6 shots from the floor. Marcus Ginyard also had a strong performance, with 15 points, eight boards and five assists, but was responsible for five of the team's 19 turnovers in the game. Deon Thompson added 11 points in the loss, as a .381 shooting performance after the break did the team in. Turnovers have been a key weakness of the Tar Heels early on, averaging an unforgiving 21.4 miscues per game. The team has been able to overcome that though for the most part with solid scoring depth, averaging 82.6 ppg. Scoring depth consists of four players averaging double figures, led by Thompson's 15.8 ppg. Ginyard is next at 12.4 ppg, followed by Davis (11.6 ppg) and Tyler Zeller (10.2 ppg).





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