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UNC Basketball: Start time for Tar Heels’ game against No. 9 Wisconsin

By Blake Cockrum

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 10: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels speaks with his team under a timeout during the second half of their second round game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 10, 2021 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 10: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels speaks with his team under a timeout during the second half of their second round game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 10, 2021 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /
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The UNC basketball program will face off with ninth-seeded Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64.

On Sunday evening, the NCAA Selection Committee announced the 68 teams that will be participating in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels are among this year’s 37 at large teams, being named a No. 8 seed in the South Region.

The South Region features the tournament’s second overall seed Baylor as the No. 1, Ohio State as the 2-seed, Arkansas the 3-seed, and Purdue the No. 4. There’s a potential rematch of the 2016 NCAA Championship Game in the Sweet 16, if both North Carolina and Villanova (5) were to advance that far. There’s also a potential ACC matchup between the Tar Heels and Virginia Tech Hokies, but that wouldn’t be until the Elite 8.

https://twitter.com/marchmadness/status/1371231303249625098

First thing’s first, though. The Tar Heels have a difficult matchup with the ninth-seeded Wisconsin Badgers in their opening round game on Friday at 7:10 p.m. EST on CBS. The Badgers went 17-12 this season, and 10-10 in conference play. They had just four wins against NCAA Tournament teams, and a pretty weak resume other than that.

They do take care of the basketball (8.9 turnovers per game), and shoot it well from the three-point line (35.9 percent) and the free throw line (76.7 percent). Those just happen to be a few things that the Tar Heels struggle with, having turned over the ball nearly 15 times per game to this point, while shooting just 31.7 percent from long-range, and 66.8 percent at the foul line.

On the other hand, the Badgers have just two players in their regular rotation over 6-feet-9-inches tall. That’s 6-foot-10-inch Micah Potter (12.8 points, 5.9 rebounds), and 6-foot-11-inch Nate Reuvers (8.2 points, 3.2 rebounds). The Tar Heels have four such players in Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot, Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler, so the size advantage is decidedly in North Carolina’s favor.

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Check back with Keeping It Heel throughout the week for more on the 2021 NCAA Tournament, and everything UNC basketball.

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