(AP) -- NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - North Carolina is back and put the whole package - offense, defense and toughness - on display while dismantling Marquette.
Just a year after missing the NCAA party, the kids from Chapel Hill stole the show at their East Regional semifinal.
Tyler Zeller had 27 points and 15 rebounds, and North Carolina took control early for a change, rolling to an 81-63 victory on Friday night at the Prudential Center.
John Henson added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Harrison Barnes added 20 points and six rebounds as the second-seeded Tar Heels (29-7) moved to within a game of reaching the Final Four for the third time in four years.
North Carolina will face Kentucky or top-seed Ohio State on Sunday for a spot in Houston.
Wow might have been the best word to describe the effort by a team that doesn't start or really play a senior.
The Tar Heels limited No. 11 seed Marquette (22-15) to 15 first-half points while opening a 25-point lead. Those 15 first-half points were the second-fewest allowed by North Carolina in a half in 144 NCAA tournament games, and the Golden Eagles' 20 percent shooting from the field came on 6-of-30 shooting was the lowest allowed in a half by North Carolina in an NCAA tournament game.
Davante Gardner led the Golden Eagles with 16 points and six rebounds. Jimmy Butler added 14 in his final game for a team that three weeks ago looked like it wouldn't make the tournament after getting blown out by sub .500 Seton Hall in this same building.
Marquette, however, played well enough in the Big East Conference tournament to make it in, then knocked off Xavier and fourth-seeded Syracuse to reach the round of 16.
Going against North Carolina was a mismatch, at least on Friday.
Unlike the ACC tournament when they had to rally from double-digit deficits, the Tar Heels played a physical game against their tough-minded Big East Conference opponent for the opening eight minutes and then took control.
Trailing 10-8 with 12:43 to go, North Carolina went on a 19-0 run, forcing Marquette to miss 14 straight shots. The game was just about over at that point.
Kendall Marshall started the North Carolina run with a shot in the lane, and Zeller gave the Tar Heels the lead for good, grabbing two offensive rebounds on the same possession and putting the second one in.
Marshall, who had seven assists, hit another jumper in the lane and then made a crosscourt pass to Henson for an alley-oop dunk that had the powder blue-clad North Carolina fans jumping out of their seats.
When Dexter Strickland hit a jumper on a fastbreak, Marquette coach Buzz Williams called a time out with his team down 18-10. He would call three in the run, sensing his team was losing contact. It just didn't work.
Henson hit two layups, Barnes hit a 3-pointer and Leslie McDonald scored on a rebound follow to push the lead to 27-10 with 4:41 to go in the half.
Marquette's futility finally ended when Butler hit a jumper with 3:54 to go, ending a nearly nine-minute scoring drought for the Golden Eagles, who scored five points in the final 12:42 of the half to fall behind 40-15.
There was a derisive cheer from the crowd when the ball went in.
North Carolina added to Marquette's misery in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring the first six points to open a 46-15 lead.
After the second basket, Williams called another time-out. Strickland then stole the inbound pass and scored on a fastbreak to further embarrass the Golden Eagles.
(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
