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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The frustration continues for Roy Williams and his North Carolina players.

"It's a frustrating time for us, the most frustrating time I've ever had in coaching, there's no question about that," Williams said after the Tar Heels dropped another game, to Boston College on Saturday, falling deeper into the ACC abyss. "Some way, somehow we got to keep trying to do the best we can do."

Williams hoped with the return of sophomore center Tyler Zeller, the defending national champion would get a closing kick together and reach the NCAA tournament.

Then came the 71-67 loss. Time for a new plan.

"My own opinion, I thought we were going to win today and get on a great run and we (would) be in the NCAA tournament," Williams said. "Now I got to readjust and see if we can get it done by starting on Wednesday night (against Florida State).

"(But) in my own solid opinion &ellipses; alright, we're 3-8, let's win five in a row, 8-8 will get us in, but we didn't get that first step done."

They didn't get it done in a game, another game that easily could have gone their way, thus falling to 14-13 on the year, 3-9 in the conference (1-6 on the road in the ACC, including five straight losses).

The Heels have lost two straight, six of their last seven, nine of their last 11.

Even though Williams didn't think his team "played with a sense of urgency in the first half," UNC scrapped enough to be down one at the half. The Tar Heels then opened the second half with an 8-0 run to go up by seven. But Boston College, also struggling to stay afloat, ran off 10 straight and never trailed again.

"Boston College was ready to give up and we just didn't take advantage of it," said freshman center John Henson. "The second half they got back into it."

Henson had something to do with that. He finished with 11 points and seven rebounds but made several mistakes, including four turnovers and missing several shots inside.

"I gotta hit my free throws," Henson said, who was 1-for-4 from the free-throw line. "I missed the opportunity for four points."

The Tar Heels were miserable from outside, shooting 1-for-8 from 3-point range. Williams later admitted he was surprised to see how many points in the paint the Tar Heels had.

"I'm looking down and see we had 24 second-chance points and they had 18, and I'm just dumbfounded by that because I thought they had 880," Williams said.

See. Frustration.

"In the second half we got off to a good start, things were easy and when they got difficult we didn't play as well as we needed to play," Willaims added. "So, it's frustrating, that's about the best way I can put it."

Reggie Jackson, who seriously hurt Carolina in last season's Boston College win in Chapel Hill, was dynamic in the second half,

Said Henson: "(Jackson) killed us all day."

Jackson had 13 of his 17 points in the second half, while Corey Raji added 16 points and Rakim Sanders 14.

Deon Thompson led North Carolina with 17, but he was 6-for-16 from the field.

Zeller, who missed 10 games with a stress fracture, played 16 minutes (he said he "felt fine") and had nine points and seven rebounds.

Zeller probably played more than Williams wanted him to because of the Tar Heels' continually growing injury list — David Wear suffered a hip injury Friday in practice and only played eight minutes.

NORTH CAROLINA (14-13) — Graves 2-6 0-0 5, Thompson 6-16 5-7 17, Henson 5-10 1-4 11, Ginyard 4-8 2-2 10, Drew II 3-7 1-1 7, Strickland 2-3 2-2 6, McDonald 0-1 0-0 0, D.Wear 1-4 0-0 2, Zeller 2-9 5-8 9. Totals 25-64 16-24 67.

BOSTON COLLEGE (13-13) — Raji 7-17 2-2 16, Trapani 3-11 1-2 8, Southern 0-2 0-0 0, Jackson 5-12 6-7 17, Sanders 5-11 2-2 14, Paris 1-1 0-0 3, Roche 2-5 0-0 5, Ravenel 4-7 0-0 8, Elmore 0-1 0-0 0, Dunn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-67 11-13 71.

North Carolina 36 31 — 67
Boston College 37 34 — 71

Percentages—North Carolina (FG .391, FT .667), Boston College (FG .403, FT .846).
3-point goals—North Carolina 1-8 (Graves 1-5, Drew II 0-1, Ginyard 0-2), Boston College 6-17 (Sanders 2-4, Paris 1-1, Jackson 1-3, Roche 1-3, Trapani 1-6).
Fouled out—None.
Rebounds—North Carolina 39 (Thompson 9), Boston College 43 (Trapani 9).
Assists—North Carolina 7 (Graves 3), Boston College 17 (Jackson 7).
Blocked shots—North Carolina 5 (Thompson 2, Zeller 2), Boston College 3 (Ravenel 2).
Turnovers—North Carolina 11 (Henson 4), Boston College 7 (Trapani 2).
Steals—North Carolina 2 (Henson, Ginyard), Boston College 4 (Trapani 2).
Total fouls—North Carolina 14, Boston College 19.
Technical fouls—Southern.
A—8,128.
Officials—Jamie Luckie, Sean Hull, Pat Driscoll.