Keeping It Heel
Fansided

UNC Basketball: Tar Heels will face Texas Longhorns in Las Vegas

By Blake Cockrum

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 19: New York-New York Hotel & Casino's half-size replica of Lady Liberty wears a Las Vegas Aces jersey to celebrate the WNBA team's inaugural season on June 19, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 400-pound, 75-foot-tall jersey took about 250 hours to construct. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for MGM Resorts International)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 19: New York-New York Hotel & Casino's half-size replica of Lady Liberty wears a Las Vegas Aces jersey to celebrate the WNBA team's inaugural season on June 19, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 400-pound, 75-foot-tall jersey took about 250 hours to construct. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for MGM Resorts International) /
facebooktwitterreddit

North Carolina set to face Texas in Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational

In one of the more highly anticipated early season tournaments of the upcoming college basketball season, the North Carolina Tar Heels will face off with the Texas Longhorns.

The third round of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational will feature matchups between North Carolina and Texas as well as Michigan State and UCLA on Thursday, November 22nd. The winners of each game will advance to the title game the following night, while the losing teams will play in a consolation game for third and fourth-place.

For North Carolina and Texas, the game marks the first time the two programs have met since 2015, a game that the Longhorns won by a score of 84-82. The Tar Heels’ only returning players from that squad are Luke Maye and Kenny Williams. Maye played just three minutes in that game, and Williams never got on to the court in a contest the featured heavy doses of Marcus Paige, Brice Johnson and Justin Jackson.

It’s safe to assume that the Tar Heels will be leaning on Maye and Williams more heavily this season, and a zero-point effort from them on this occasion would almost definitely spell defeat for North Carolina. They’ll also rely heavily on fellow senior Cameron Johnson, who looks to be one of the best scorers and jump shooters on the team this season.

North Carolina hasn’t had a lot of success against Texas in its history, losing seven of 10 matchups between the two programs. They hope to change that trend this season, against a Longhorns squad that said goodbye to dynamic freshman big man Mohamed Bamba after just one season. The sensational seven-foot center averaged 12.9 points and 10.5 rebounds last season for Shaka Smart’s Longhorns that lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Nevada.

Next: Tar Heels showing interest in new 2020 prospect

The Tar Heels are set to take on the Longhorns at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, November 22nd at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. That game will be followed by Michigan State and UCLA. The tournament’s championship game will take place at 6:30 p.m. ET the following night.

Home/UNC Basketball