NCAA Tournament: Roy Williams, UNC discuss Texas Southern
By Zack Pearson
The North Carolina Tar Heels return to the court on Friday as Roy Williams and Joel Berry meet the media
It’s been 11 months since the North Carolina Tar Heels hearts were broken at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas when Kris Jenkins hit a buzzer-beater to help Villanova beat UNC.
But now the Tar Heels are back in the tournament and have earned another No. 1 seed.
UNC will open their 2017 tournament run with a first round matchup against No. 16 seed Texas Southern on Friday.
It’s safe to say the Tar Heels have waited for this moment for a long time.
“We wanted to get back to the NCAA Tournament as soon as we walked off the court last year,” said guard Joel Berry via Inside Carolina. “Now that it’s here, I think everyone is excited. We know what it takes to be able to get to that point. This time we are not going to let it get taken from us. But right now we just have to take every game one-by-one.”
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That moment is almost here for the Tar Heels who tip off at 4 p.m. ET on Friday. The team is in a loaded South Region that also features Kentucky, UCLA and Butler as the other top three seeds.
For the Tar Heels, getting back to that national championship game has been something on their minds for a long time.
Head coach Roy Williams told the media that the team has a group chat for organization and it’s titled “redemption.”
Williams also spoke to the media on Thursday before the Tar Heels took the court in Greenville, South Carolina for practice.
The head coach praised UNC’s opponent, Texas Souther saying it won’t be any pushover game.
“You look at them and they have four starters averaging in double figures,” Williams said. “So they are a balanced team. It’s the kind o team I don’t like to play because everyone scores, not just one guy.”
The Tar Heels offense operates at a fast pace which is one of the strengths of their game and we’ve seen it work against teams countless times this year.
But that might not bother the Tigers.
“They don’t mind a fast pace,” Williams said. “So I know our pace is not going to bother them. They play man-to-man, they know who they are, they know their strengths, they know their weaknesses. There’s a reason they are here.”
To view Roy’s entire presser, click play on the video below:
UNC and Texas Southern tip off at 4 p.m. ET in Greenville with the winner earning a spot in the round of 32 on Sunday.
It will be the first time UNC will be on the court in seven days since their loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinal.
The other game taking place in Greenville in the South Region is between No. 8 Arkansas and No. 9 Seton Hall.
Next: 10 best individual UNC moments in NCAA Tournament history
The two winners of the sessions will meet on Sunday for a trip to the Sweet 16.
Keeping It Heel will have live in-game coverage on Twitter and complete postgame coverage on our website. Make sure to check back on what we hope is a Tar Heels win.