BY DARRELL MOODY
Nevada Appeal Sports Writer
RENO " How good is North Carolina?
If you listen to ESPN analyst Steve Lavin, the sky is the limit for the Tar Heels, who pounded Nevada 84-61 Wednesday night to go 13-0 and maintain their No. 1 ranking.
"They have a good chance to go undefeated in the regular season for the first time since Tark's (Jerry Tarkanian's) UNLV team in 1991 that got beat in the semifinals by Duke.
"They have the firepower, the depth, the system and the coaching. The ACC is not as strong as it was earlier in this decade. It's still pretty tough. Wake Forest is up and coming and Duke is always competitive. The balance they have, even with (Tyler) Zeller out is good."
Lavin said that Carolina is so deep up front that it can maintain the same effectiveness if big men get in foul trouble or hurt as with the case of the 7-foot Zeller. Lavin said the one player the Tar Heels could ill afford to lose is the speedy Ty Lawson.
Six players average in double figures led by Tyler Hansbrough's 23-point average. Ed Davis is the seventh-best scorer at 7.6 ppg.
Lavin said the 6-foot-10 Davis is Carolina's best prospect.
"He's a shot blocker and great rebounder," said Lavin, who said that Davis reminded him of Sam Perkins.
LINE UP
Big games against nationally ranked teams usually brings the Nevada student body out in good numbers.
Students started lining up Tuesday night for Nevada's game against top-ranked North Carolina. All 1,250 students seats were scooped up despite the fact Nevada is on its winter break.
By 4:30 p.m., the line stretched halfway around Lawlor Events Center. Nevada coach Mark Fox went up into the student section and visited with the students and high-fived many of them while they chanted "Mark Fox."
BABBITT SHINES
Nevada freshman Luke Babbitt had one of his most effective games yet with 22 points and seven rebounds in 34 minutes.
Fox said he wasn't sure at 10 a.m. whether Babbitt would play because he sprained his knee.
"I'm proud of the courage he showed," Fox said. "He had a good ballgame."
Babbitt scored six of Nevada's first 12 points and scored a couple of times against reigning Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough.
"I think he shot the ball well tonight," Hansbrough said after the game. "I think he's a good player. He's a little hard to guard because he's a lefty. He does some things outside that are different."
North Carolina coach Roy Williams talked to Babbitt briefly as the teams exchanged congratulations.
"He just wished us good luck," Babbitt said. "They're a great team. They played well tonight."
HAASE RETURNS
The last time Jerod Haase was in Lawlor Events Center was in 1992 when South Tahoe beat Western for the NIAA state title.
Haase, the best player on the Vikings' squad that year, went on to play one year at California and then finished his college career with coach Roy Williams and the Kansas Jayhawks.
Sixteen years later, Haase returned dressed in a suit and tie instead of sneakers and a basketball uniform.
Haase is director of basketball operations for the Tar Heels and part of the five-man coaching staff that Williams directs. Haase is in his 10th year working for Williams, four at Kansas and six at North Carolina.
Does the 34-year-old Haase want to be a head coach?
"I'd love to be a head coach at some point," Haase said Tuesday afternoon at the team hotel following a practice at Bishop Manogue. "I'm in a great spot with coach Williams. I'm anxious to be a head coach. People don't understand how good I have it. Head coaching jobs are tough to come by."
- Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com or (775) 881-1281