Together in the backcourt Sunday, however, they were in perfect harmony in Maryland’s 92-71 win over North Carolina at Comcast Center.

Thanks in large part to each other, Vasquez (26 points, 11 assists, five rebounds) and Hayes (16 points, five assists) accumulated big numbers. Their seamless connections highlighted the rout as Maryland (16-6, 6-2) moved within a half-game of first-place Duke (19-4, 7-2) in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“It was my last game at home against UNC,” Vasquez said. “It was just a good day. Nothing else mattered — the snow and everything else. We played hard and we played together.”

From the first half — when Vasquez passed up an open 3-pointer to feed Hayes for a better attempt — to the second — when Vasquez cut to the hoop and received a backdoor bounce pass from Hayes — it was clear there was little the Tar Heels could do to halt the syncopation of the Terps’ backcourt.

Coming off a snowstorm that paralyzed the Washington area, it was a performance that choked up Maryland coach Gary Williams when he was interviewed immediately following the game.

“I was really proud of all the guys,” Williams said. “We handled a difficult situation and didn’t let it distract from what we needed to do. That’s hard to do with the snow and everything.”

In the opening seven minutes, when Maryland sprinted to a 19-9 lead, Vasquez and Hayes combined to hit their first five shots from beyond the arc. Each of the baskets came on passes from each other.

It was another complete performance against North Carolina for Vasquez, who had 35 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists the last time the Tar Heels came to College Park. On Sunday, he hit six of 11 shots from beyond the arc and incited a rabid Comcast crowd with passes to junior Dino Gregory and freshman Jordan Williams for crowd-pleasing dunks in the second half.

“With a player like that, it’s easy for other players to feed off that,” Williams said. “When he’s playing like that, everybody can get it done. We got it done today as a team.”

Williams (eight points, six rebounds), senior forward Landon Milbourne (15 points, five rebounds) and sophomore guard Sean Mosley (eight points, five rebounds) also contributed to the rout, North Carolina’s worst loss of the season.

“The way we prepare, we deserve to play like that. We earned the right to play like that,” Milbourne said. “Even now, after the game, we go up there to lift weights.”

Maryland took its biggest lead of the first half at 32-16 after Vasquez led a 13-3 run with a 3-pointer and a pass to junior guard Cliff Tucker (seven points) for another 3. But led by seniors Marcus Ginyard (17 points) and Deon Thompson (16 points), North Carolina ran the floor well, beating the Terps for several fast-break baskets to stay in the game.

The Tar Heels narrowed the gap to 52-49 early in the second half, but Gregory (eight points, three rebounds) came off the bench and triggered a Maryland rally.

Maryland hit 52 percent from both the floor and 3-point range, nailing 12 of 23 from beyond the arc. Hayes did his part from long distance, making four of five. The Terps also held UNC to 38 percent from the floor.

“Our preparation level was great. Everybody was ready,” Vasquez said.

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