Originally published Wednesday, November 22, 2006 at 12:00 AM

Roy Williams, Mark Few face off

Roy Williams has lots of respect for the coaching job Mark Few has done at Gonzaga. The North Carolina coach has another opinion of his...

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Roy Williams has lots of respect for the coaching job Mark Few has done at Gonzaga. The North Carolina coach has another opinion of his good friend's abilities on the golf course.

"I think his wife's a better golfer than he is," Williams said Tuesday, drawing laughs as an embarrassed Few covered his face with his hands and shook his head.

"Other than that, we believe in a lot of the same things," Williams added.

The two longtime buddies are in New York with their teams as they prepare for the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden starting tonight. North Carolina (3-0) will play Gonzaga (4-0) for the first time, following the early game between Butler (4-0) and Tennessee (4-0).

Although the Bulldogs are without former stars Adam Morrison and J.P. Batista, Williams knows the Tar Heels are in for a challenge.

"I said this all this week, and it's not just because we're playing them, but no one can consider Gonzaga a mid-major anymore," Williams said. "Mark has turned their program into what can be considered one of the elite programs in all of college basketball."

With a 192-41 record in his eighth season, Few has the best winning percentage (.824) of active Division I coaches. Right behind him is, you guessed it, Williams at .800.

NIT Season Tip-Off, semifinals

Gonzaga vs. North Carolina,

6 tonight, ESPN2

Butler vs. Tennessee,

4 p.m., ESPN2

"A lot of things we emulate at Gonzaga is what Roy Williams did at Kansas and is doing at Carolina," Few said. "He's the best — he's a great recruiter, he's a great game coach and he does a great job because he does it ethically. He does it the right way."

He sure does. Two seasons after winning the national championship, Williams has assembled a squad that has people in Chapel Hill thinking about another title.

Gonzaga is 7-1 all-time against Atlantic Coast Conference teams and is averaging 87 points through its first four games. Without Morrison and sharp-shooting Batista, sophomore forward Josh Heytvelt (17.5 points per game) and senior guard Derek Raivio (16.5) have taken over the offense.

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