CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- A couple of weeks ago, when asked why he was suddenly putting together so many double-figure rebounding games, North Carolina senior Tyler Zeller shrugged it off, saying those boards were coming off his own missed shots.

But after grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds against NC State on Thursday -- and making 8 of his 11 attempts for 21 points and his fourth straight double-double -- he couldn’t use that excuse.

“I guess other people are missing shots?” he said, laughing.

Actually, other people are missing shots -- hardy har har -- while the 7-footer is more aggressively battling for position, coach Roy Williams said.

“He’s going to the boards more; it’s pretty simple,’’ Williams said. “Early in the year, we’d have to yell at him to get to the boards, but I think he’s establishing a spot in there, he’s trying to get to the offensive boards. He got two offensive boards for baskets in the first half just by getting to the boards and finding an open spot. We need that.”

Indeed, Zeller has now pulled down 116 rebounds in his past 10 games, recording double-digit boards in nine of them.

In UNC’s first 10 games, he’d managed 10 or more rebounds only twice.

And entering this season, he had posted 10 or more rebounds only seven times.

His mid-season surge on the boards -- to go along with 6-11 teammate John Henson's 10.1 rebounds per game -- is a key reason why the Tar Heels entered the week leading the nation in rebounding margin (plus-11.5 per game).

“I just go out and play, play by play,’’ Zeller said. “And it helps when Stilman [White] misses one off the backboard … and gets me a rebound. But it’s something where you just have to go in, and be determined to find a way to help your team."

Follow Robbi Pickeral on Twitter at @bylinerp.