UNC Basketball vs. Wisconsin: Key matchups to watch

Frontc ourt depth

North Carolina will run with two big men on the floor at almost all times. With Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot, Day’ron Sharpe, and Walker Kessler all being taller than 6-foot-1′ and playing substantial minutes, UNC has a lot of depth when it comes to Bigs.

This isn’t anything new for UNC basketball fans. The Tar Heel’s use this advantage on both offense and defense, especially on the boards. The Tar Heel’s are the best team in all of college basketball at grabbing offensive rebounds and total rebounds per game. They also lead the country in rebounding margin, out rebounding opponents by almost 11 rebounds per game.

The Badgers, on the other hand, are a below-average rebounding team, with a rebounding margin of -2.

Previously noted, the Badgers run an 8-man rotation and only two of them are over 6″10′, forwards Nate Reuvers and Micah Potter. Attacking the post early and potentially getting them in foul trouble will create mismatches and give the Heels a chance to exploit Wisconsin’s lack of depth.

This will be essential because even if Wisconsin is able to control the pace of the game and slow UNC into half-court sets, the Tar Heels will have the upper hand in both size and rebounding ability. This creates mismatches and forces double teams on UNC’s Bigs which can speed up the offense and take away the advantage of slow-paced basketball that Wisconsin has.

The depth and potent rebounding ability of Carolina’s front court will be a key to victory, and the mismatch the Tar Heel’s have over the Badgers in terms of depth gives the Tar Heel’s a huge advantage in the paint.