UNC Basketball: Tar Heels face familiar opponent in round of 32
North Carolina prepares for familiar opponent in NCAA Tournament’s round of 32
Nearly two years to the day that they last played, North Carolina and Arkansas prepare for another round of 32 matchup that will determine which team moves on to the Sweet 16 and which team’s season ends prematurely.
On the most recent occasion in 2015, it was North Carolina that advanced, sending Arkansas home on the tournament’s first weekend.
It’s that fate that the Razorbacks hope to avoid this season.
Fortunately for the Razorbacks, they won’t have to deal with Marcus Paige, who dropped 20 second half points on them in that game.
Paige nearly single-handedly kept the Tar Heels in that contest, scoring 13 of the team’s 17 points during a five-minute stretch in the second half that pushed the Tar Heels’ lead to double-digits.
On the other hand, they’ll have to deal with a UNC squad that is deeper and more experienced at every position.
Yes, Paige and running mate Brice Johnson are gone. But Nate Britt, Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks are all seniors this go-round. And Joel Berry II, Justin Jackson and Theo Pinson are all two years older and playing better than ever before.
Arkansas will be without its biggest contributors in the previous matchup as well, having said goodbye to Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls, who scored 45 of the Razorbacks 78 points in the previous contest.
And as different as the teams may appear on Sunday evening, the coaches and schemes remain the same.
UNC head coach Roy Williams and Arkansas front man Mike Anderson will both try to play at a frenetic, break-neck pace, hoping to rattle their opponent and take advantage of mistakes.
The Razorbacks are 35th in the nation in scoring at 80.1 points per game. The Tar Heels are ninth in scoring at 85.4 points per game.
That, however, is where the similarities end.
The Tar Heels are ranked first in the nation in rebounds per game and second in the nation in assists. The Razorbacks are ranked 133rd and 123rd, respectively.
And although the Tar Heels give up their fair share of points, thanks to their fast style of play and elevated number of possessions, they still rank 127th in the nation in points surrendered per game at 70.4. The Razorbacks are 219th in the country, giving up nearly 74 points per game.
Do these numbers render any insight into today’s second round matchup? In a tournament that often sees the higher-seeded and favored team go down in surprising fashion, probably not.
Throw out the numbers. Toss the metrics. The team that gets on the offensive boards and grabs more 50-50 balls in this one will come out on top.
Both teams will be properly motivated; the Tar Heels on their quest to take care of unfinished business and the Razorbacks trying to get to where they haven’t been since 1996.
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