Digger Predicts UNC Flop

   Digger Phelps, ESPN Sports Analyst, today announced his prediction for the upcoming UNC-Providence NCAA Tournament game.

   He says the Friars are going to bounce Carolina out of the tournament and send them packing for home.

   Phelps, in an on-air discussion of NCAA game predictions, stated his opinion that Bryce Cotton, Providence's star guard, will penetrate and out-shoot the UNC team to cause the upset in Friday night's game.   Phelps also predicted that Carolina's poor (62%) free throw shooting will cause Providence to send them to the line, if the score is close late in the game.

   It is clear that Providence is somewhat of a sleeper, having had an average 20-11 regular season, but then winning three straight in the Big East tournament, knocking off favorite Creighton in the final game.

    If Phelp's predictions come true, it will be a sad ending to an up-and-down year for the Tar Heels.  Starting out unpredictably slow, Carolina still managed to beat three Top Ten teams in Louisville, Michigan State, and Kentucky.  In early 2014, Carolina broke down, losing four out of their first five ACC contests.   Then UNC heated up in late January, going through February undefeated on a record 12-game winning streak.  Only in the last two games, in rematches with Duke and Pittsburgh, did the Tar Heels seem to revert back to early season woes.

   Another fellow ESPN analyst predicted that UNC's bigger front line of Kennedy Meeks, Brice Johnson, and James Michael McAdoo will dominate the smaller Providence team.  However, one of the surprising weaknesses lately with the Tar Heels team, along with their poor foul shooting, has been the inability to rebound.  In the Duke game, UNC managed just 20 rebounds, their lowest total of the season.   This was incredibly uncharacteristic of a normal UNC front line.

   Let's hope that the Tar Heels can "put their act together" and play up to their potential in the next four games, starting with the Providence matchup on Friday.   If so, they will prove Digger wrong, and move on to another game on Sunday, probably against Iowa State.

NEXT GAME :  FRIDAY, MARCH 21 @ 7:20 PM vs. PROVIDENCE