Elite 8: Roy Williams talks UNC-UK matchup in NCAA Tournament

UNC head coach Roy Williams and players discuss their upcoming Elite 8 matchup against Kentucky

The North Carolina Tar Heels are getting set to play in the biggest game of the season on Sunday in Memphis.

A trip to the Final Four is on the line for the Tar Heels but a tough Kentucky Wildcats team stands in their way.

After UNC beat Butler on Friday, the Wildcats punched their ticket to the Elite 8 by beating UCLA.

Now the teams meet for the second time this season, just months after their December thriller in Las Vegas.

You better believe head coach Roy Williams and his team are ready to for a rematch.

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“Well, it’s a good question. If somebody beats you, you want to have a chance to play them again,” Williams said on Saturday. “It doesn’t mean you’re going to beat them the next time, but you do have that. And because we’re not in the same league, we knew that if we played them again that it would have to be in the NCAA Tournament, so you would hope it is as far down the line as you possibly could.”

The two teams were offensive forces in the first meeting with UNC rallying late to grab a lead.

They couldn’t seal the deal as Kentucky freshman Malik Monk scored the game-winning three-pointer with just seconds left. Monk finished the game with 47 points, a career-high.

Williams and his team knows that the Wildcats are playing at a high-level but both of these teams are here for a reason.

“Yeah, I mean, we came to North Carolina to be in these type of games, to play against the top players in the country,” said UNC junior Justin Jackson. “You know, I don’t think it could be on any better stage. Obviously we played them already once and Malik went crazy. But it’s a different team, different time of the year. I think we’ve gotten better, they’ve gotten better, so we’ve got to pay attention to our scout and know personnel, but then we’ve just got to come out and play as hard as possible.”

Jackson scored 34, a career-high for the junior who earned ACC Player of the Year honors. But this time the Tar Heels are out for revenge.

“Yeah, I think what Justin said, that’s what we come to college basketball for, and it doesn’t get any better than this,” said Joel Berry. “We lost to them early in the season, so it was kind of another revenge game for us, and we just don’t want to give the game that Malik had.”

UNC was without guard Theo Pinson in the first meeting as he was recovering from an injured foot.

Pinson will play in this meeting and UNC fans have to wonder what would have happened if Pinson was playing in the first meeting. He likely would have been matched up with the superstar freshman.

“We talked about this a couple times,” said Kennedy Meeks. “Maybe if Theo was playing, Malik only has 30 points and we still win the game. That’s just the type of effect that he has.”

The Tar Heels will find out just how big of an impact Pinson will have on Sunday.

Next: Elite 8 Preview: UNC vs. UK

UNC and Kentucky will tipoff at 5:05 p.m. ET on CBS with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Check back with Keeping It Heel for more pregame coverage as well as postgame coverage.

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