New York ? Teacher Roy Williams didn’t rap pupil Matt Doherty on the knuckles with a ruler on Wednesday night.

In fact, it was the student who administered some discipline to his mentor.

Doherty’s unranked North Carolina Tar Heels clubbed No. 2-ranked Kansas University, 67-56, on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

“That was the most embarrassed I’ve ever been as a coach,” 15th-year KU coach Williams said after the Jayhawks were blown out in the Preseason NIT semifinal.

Doherty, the third-year Carolina coach, tutored under Williams seven years in Lawrence.

“Their coach was by far the best coach on the floor. Their kids played better than our kids. It was a sorry job on my part,” Williams said.

Indeed, his Jayhawks suffered 21 turnovers with the Tar Heels plucking 14 steals, including five steals the first half by UNC reserve guard Melvin Scott.

Driving by the Jayhawks seemingly at will, Rashad McCants exploded for 13 points and Jawad Williams 12 the first half as UNC led, 38-29, at the break. The dandy duo finished with 25 points and 15, respectively.

Kansas' Kirk Hinrich (10) tries to get off a pass around North Carolina's Sean May. KU had 21 turnovers in a 67-56 loss to the Tar Heels on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The Tar Heels definitely had the Jayhawks on their heels.

“Somebody said it meant more to them,” Williams said. “That’s just an excuse. It’s my job to make sure my team is more focused. There are not many things we did well. There’s not one thing we did well.”

Carolina spread the Jayhawks and had a ton of backdoor passes, slicing through KU’s players for thunderous dunks.

“They shoved it up our (bleep) the whole game,” sophomore Keith Langford said, using a colorful word for posterior.

It didn’t help that Kirk Hinrich hurt his back after driving the lane and landing hard on his feet the first half and couldn’t get his back loosened. He hit just five of 11 shots.

And it didn’t help that Wayne Simien twisted his already-tender right ankle twice en route to 11 points off 5-of-14 shooting.

“But those are excuses,” Williams said. “Every way you want to describe their team, they were better than we were. We try to say we make a living on our pressure defense, and we didn’t pressure the ball, we didn’t deny the passes and we didn’t stop the drive, either.”

About all the Jayhawks (2-1) did was show up, and that seemed to be a chore. Hinrich said some players he declined to name had arrived late for team meetings this trip to the Big Apple.

“We were not ready to play, that was obvious,” Hinrich said. “We’ve not had a good road trip. Guys have been showing up late. We need to get focused. This was just embarrassing.”

The Jayhawks started on a positive note, Hinrich burying a three to open the scoring. Little did anybody know the Jayhawks would can just one more three in the entire game, when Nick Collison buried a deep shot in the final minutes.

¢6Sports video: Tarheels explode past Jayhawks¢Box Score: get the stats¢Hear Roy:UNC post-game¢Photos:UNCG game pix¢Scoreboard:Around the Big 12 | Around the NCAA¢ Will KU respond to setback?¢ 6Sports video: Tarheels explode past Jayhawks¢ Doherty ‘uncomfortable’ at end¢ Hinrich bothered by bad back

As badly as KU played the first half, the Jayhawks struggled even more early in the second. McCants burned by Langford for a slam, Sean May burned Simien for a bucket, Raymond Felton slammed and May hit two more inside shots during a 12-4 run that opened a 50-33 lead at 17:09.

Carolina led by a game-high 21 points — 62-41 — with 8:28 left, Williams giving plenty of playing time down the stretch to guys like Jeff Graves, Michael Lee and Moulaye Niang.

KU would get no closer than 11.

As penalty for the loss, KU plays the consolation game against Florida at 5:30 p.m. CST Friday.

What’s more, in a rarity, the game will not be on TV. That’s right: KU fans will not see the Jayhawks play Florida.

“I congratulate Matt because his players were outstanding and they deserved to win the game,” Williams said. “I love Matt Doherty, and (Doherty’s parents) Walter and Mary may love him more, but that may be the only people.

“At the same time, I’m concerned how our team is playing. I’ve said many times I love Matt do death, but I’m the coach at Kansas and love my players more. It’s my job to get them to be a better team.”

To add a final indignity to the night, a cameraman stumbled into Williams just as KU’s coach tried to shake Doherty’s hand after the contest.

“Nothing went right for us tonight,” noted Langford. “We were awful, but it will change.”