When Mark Turgeon took the job as Terrapins men’s basketball coach in 2011, he wanted to make sure he could still talk regularly with North Carolina coach Roy Williams, his good friend and new conference foe.

But this season, as the Terps got off to their worst 20-game start in more than 20 years, and the Tar Heels dropped their first three ACC contests, the two coaches — who bonded while on the Kansas staff in the late 1980s and early ’90s  — haven’t had much time to chat.

“We haven’t talked as much this year,” Turgeon said. “But neither one of us has had the kind of season we were anticipating.”

Despite their poor starts to the season, the Terps (13-9, 5-4 ACC) and Tar Heels (14-7, 4-4) both seem to be hitting their stride entering tonight’s matchup that will pit the two coaches against each other in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Turgeon has his team on a two-game winning streak and North Carolina has won three consecutive games by more than 10 points. So in the Terps’ final regular-season ACC game against the Tar Heels, Turgeon and Williams will each be searching for a much-needed win to continue repairing their teams’ sketchy postseason resumes.

“I know [Turgeon] wants to win, but we all want to win this game to help us in the ACC race,” forward Charles Mitchell said. “We want to take advantage of every opportunity we have.”

Mitchell and his teammates have gained confidence over the past week as the Terps finally strung together a pair of ACC wins behind a significantly improved offense. They shot better than 51 percent in wins over Miami and Virginia Tech last week, and guard Dez Wells scored 40 points in those two games on just 16 shots from the field.

That production is a far cry from the Terps’ offensive struggles when they lost four of five games in mid-January. The difference, guard Seth Allen said, is that the team has become committed to sharing the ball and working the shot clock when necessary.

“We are definitely changing sides with the ball more,” Allen said. “We’re making the defense break down and then that’s when we try to get our best shot.”

Still, the Terps face a new challenge against the Tar Heels tonight in an attempt to win back-to-back conference road games for the first time in Turgeon’s tenure.

The third-year coach has lost to Williams all six times the two friends have met over the past two seasons, and North Carolina is 10-3 at the Dean E. Smith Center this season. The Tar Heels also have made major improvements in recent weeks to resurrect their season and, as always, their up-tempo offense is tough to slow down.

Turgeon worked as an assistant on Williams’ staff at Kansas from 1988 to 1992, so he knows just how efficient Williams’ teams can be in transition.

“They run their secondary break, they play fast, they play man-to-man, they play by the same principles,” Turgeon said. “It comes down to running back on defense. Their break is so special.”

As is typical of Williams’ teams, the Tar Heels have a potent point guard directing their offense. Marcus Paige, a 2012 McDonald’s High School All-American, averages 16.7 points and 4.4 assists per game, and his offensive versatility helps North Carolina thrive on the fast break.

The Terps spent much of their past two practices preparing to defend Paige and the rest of the Tar Heels.

“It’s hard to simulate what they do,” Allen said. “We’re just going to try to take away their transition offense and just try to do the best we can defensively in the half court.”

The consensus among the Terps is if they make North Carolina run half-court offense rather than score in transition, they’ll have an opportunity to deliver Turgeon his first victory against his close friend.

But ask Turgeon or his players and they’ll say tonight’s game isn’t about the relationship between the two men who will be roaming the Smith Center sidelines in suits and ties. It’s not about the end of a long-standing rivalry either, though the Terps and Tar Heels will compete in separate conferences next year after 61 years together in the ACC.

Rather, tonight’s game is significant because both teams are hoping to make a late postseason push. And as much as Turgeon likes to talk with Williams, he knows his Terps can’t afford to lose to another team vying for a spot in the NCAA tournament.

“Both teams are playing better now,” Turgeon said. “But we just hate we have to play each other.”