UNC Basketball vs. Wisconsin: Key matchups to watch
By Milan Patel
Three-point shooting
Carolina is not a team that lives and dies by 3-ball. But Wisconsin is, when shooting over 38% from behind-the-arc they have won all but one game, and that came at the hands of 2-seeded Iowa.
Every single player in the Badgers rotation can shoot from three. Even the big men. This will create some uncomfortable perimeter defense from UNC’s Bigs, but it’s not anything they are unfamiliar with.
Wisconsin as a team shoots 36% from three compared to UNC who only shoots 31%. The Badgers also have 5 players in the rotation shooting over 35% from behind-the-arc, an obvious advantage as Carolina has Kerwin Walton as a reliable three-point threat.
This has been a sore spot of Carolina’s defense and offense. They ranked almost dead last in three-point defense amongst other tournament teams, allowing opponents to knock down almost 8 threes per game.
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Among the Badgers, sharpshooters are guards D’Mitrik Trice and Brad Davison, both of them are excellent 3-point shooters. With Leaky Black being Carolina’s only real perimeter defender, the job of disrupting the other Wisconsin shooters will fall to R.J. Davis or Caleb Love.
The Tar Heel’s will need to pull the backcourt together and focus on limiting the explosiveness of the Wisconsin guards. Kerwin Walton and Caleb Love should draw the matchup assignment to Trice and Davison. Disrupting the rhythm of the offense and having active hands-on defense has proven effective for both of them as they currently lead UNC basketball in steals.