A Wide Gulf Fixed

    Our Carolina Tar Heels take their #1 NCAA seed and travel 25 miles down the road to play their first game in the East Region on Thursday night against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles.   UNC is fresh out of the ACC Tournament, where they arguably played three of their best games of the season, blowing past Pittsburgh and Notre Dame, and then holding on to beat a tough Virginia team to win their first ACC Tournament title in eight years.   

   FGCU has a new coach, but a recent history of causing trouble in the NCAA Tournament, going to the Sweet Sixteen just three years ago.  There has NEVER been a #16 seed to beat a #1 seed in the history of the tournament.  There have been some close calls, but so far, this kind of a major upset has yet to happen.  And it won't this year--- at least not for the Tar Heels.   

   Gulf Coast is a run--and--gun type of a team, and this will suit the Tar Heels' style just fine.   Their major player is Marc Eddy Norelia, a 6'8" swingman who can shoot and drive with the best, but I don't believe they pose a major threat as a team to North Carolina.   The Tar Heels will no doubt try to shut Norelia down, or else shut the rest of the team down, while letting Norelia have his points.   One way or the other, the Tar Heels just have too much, both quality and quantity, for the Eagles, and will put them away if they play the same intense game that they displayed in their conference tournament.

    UNC defeated Virginia by four points in the ACC Final, and the last couple of minutes was hectic for the Heels, but it really wasn't that close down the stretch.   Carolina had stretched it out to a seven--point lead with under five minutes to play, and only a missed one--and--one foul shot by Marcus Paige and a subsequent three--pointer brought the lead down to only two with less than a second to play.   UNC dominated most of the second half.  The closing of the margin in the last 10--15 seconds of the game just goes to show that almost anything can happen in a college basketball game.   All of a sudden, the Cavs got hot from outside, but the Tar Heels hung on to win.

    Lately, Carolina has had a different hero in each game.  This is actually a good thing for the Tar Heels.  Saturday night, Joel Berry II  stepped up to lead scoring with 19 points and won the Everett Case MVP award for the ACC Tournament.   Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson followed with 13 and 12 points for the Heels.  Paige scored 9 of the Tar Heels' 10 points during one stretch in the second half. 

    This team has several players that can lead the team in scoring.  Just look back over the past three years.   Paige has had many 25--point games.   This year, Johnson has been hot in many games, and has led the ACC in double--doubles (points and rebounds).   Yes--- this team can score points on the offensive end --- but their main focus in the NCAA Tournament must be to maintain the level of defense that they have been playing during the last week.   The Tar Heels held Notre Dame scoreless for almost ten minutes in the semifinal game, and then held Virginia without a field goal for over seven minutes.   

    Carolina is joined in the East Regional by such talented teams as West Virginia, Xavier, Kentucky, and Indiana, as well as Wisconsin, the team that knocked them out of the tournament last year.    Some pundits say that the NCAA Committee did the Tar Heels no favors, giving them what many call the toughest regional draw in the tournament.

   Basketball analyst and former Tar Heel star Kenny "the Jet" Smith surprised no one by picking his alma mater to win the East Regional and go all the way to the Final Four.   Actually, he is not alone.  There are many pundits and analysts favoring the Tar Heels to win it all.  They were the preseason #1 in the AP Basketball Poll.   But teams like Kansas and Michigan State might also be there to greet them in Houston at the NCAA Championship.

   Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves.  First things first. 

UNC vs Florida Gulf Coast

THURS MARCH 17 @ 7:20 pm