The Tar Heels must juggle practice with exams and then travel to Texas to play the second-ranked Longhorns at the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium. From a student-athlete's perspective, it's difficult to figure which of those will be hardest to handle.

"Exams started on Friday," North Carolina coach Roy Williams noted after UNC defeated Presbyterian 103-64 on Saturday. "(Tyler Zeller) had one exam Friday and two (Saturday). We had five or six guys who were late to shootaround today because they had an exam.

"We tried to give the kids some time off and have shorter practices. Tuesday was a great practice, but the rest of the week was not very good."

Getting in practice sessions this week will be tougher because of UNC being in the middle of exams. The team didn't practice Monday to rest and allow time for more study, then had a full practice scheduled for Tuesday.

"We have seven guys with an exam on Wednesday," Williams said. "And we have seven guys with an exam on Friday afternoon.

"It's a tough week. It really is."

The week will be even tougher come Saturday night, because Texas could be the best team yet the Tar Heels have faced in what already has been one of the toughest schedules for UNC since Williams returned to Carolina from Kansas.

"That is going to be a great for us," said freshman John Henson, who used to live in Texas. "I feel like Texas is probably better than any of the teams we have played before. I feel like we will be readier than we have before.

"When I lived down there, I was there a lot. I know probably five or six players. They have experience and depth."

Texas, of course, is coached by Rick Barnes, Carolina's old adversary from Clemson. When Barnes first arrived at Clemson, he used Carolina as a lever to rev up interest in Tiger basketball by picking a feud with the Tar Heels and former UNC coach Dean Smith.

Barnes did not earn many victories against the Tar Heels that way, but he accomplished his real goal of getting the football-oriented fans of Clemson interested in the basketball team.

Life has been far different for Barnes at Texas.

He is at "the" state school in one of the major states in the union, and Barnes has done a great job of converting what had been a mediocre program into a consistent power in Austin.

Texas has an athletic team with experience.

"That is going to be another big-time game," senior Deon Thompson said. "That is why we come to North Carolina: to play games like that. It's going to be an exciting game out there.

"The guys are going to play hard, and it's going to be a good opportunity for a young team to go and get a big-time win."

Carolina will be challenged to learn from its recent loss at Kentucky, where the Tar Heels came from 19 points down only to lose 68-66.

"We have to be a complete team," Thompson said. "We can't have letdowns. In the Kentucky game, you saw two different Carolina teams. In the first half you saw one, and in the second half you saw another. We have to play a complete game for a full 40 minutes."

Unfortunately for Carolina, the Tar Heels also need to get healthy. After two injury-plagued seasons in a row, similar problems have returned.

Fifth-year senior Marcus Ginyard sat out Saturday's game against Presbyterian with pain in one of his feet. He missed last season after undergoing foot surgery that did not heal until well after the season. The year before, he struggled at times with pain in both feet.

He first felt this new pain after practice on Dec. 7.

"There are a lot of people worried about the fact that I did not play today, but we're just trying to rest it," Ginyard said. "We wanted to make sure it's ready to go for Saturday.

"After practice it was hurting, so I got it checked. It's uncomfortable to walk around. It (feels) about the same (on Saturday), maybe a little better."

Freshman guard Dexter Strickland also missed Saturday's game with a strained hamstring.

Sophomore big man Ed Davis led the Tar Heels against Presbyterian with 20 points and 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes of play. UNC will need another big game from Davis if the Tar Heels hope to beat second-ranked Texas.

"It's once again going to be a big test for us," Davis said. "It's going to be on a big stage, two great teams going at it. We're looking forward to it."