Tar Heels Face Wisconsin

  The Carolina Tar Heels rolled into the SWEET SIXTEEN by knocking off Arkansas, 87-78. The game was close in the first half, but then UNC star guard Marcus Paige scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half to pull the Heels ahead and allow them to break away in the closing minutes.

  Now UNC advances to the round of 16 for a record 26th time, but faces the #1 seed Wisconsin.  Even if Carolina upsets Wisconsin to play in the West Regional final, it will most likely face another behemoth in #2 seed Arizona.  Both the Badgers and the Wildcats sport identical 31-3 records, two of the best season records in the tournament.  

DAVID & GOLIATH

  The UNC-Wisconsin game measures up as a David vs. Goliath matchup, not only because of the Badgers' impressive record, but because of the stars of the respective teams.  While 6'1"guard Marcus Paige leads the Tar Heels, 7'0" giant Frank Kaminsky is the leader of the Wisconsin squad.  They also are their team's scoring leaders at 18.4 (Kaminsky) and 14.1 (Paige).  The underdog role is heightened by the fact that UNC big man Kennedy Meeks went down in the Arkansas game with a left knee sprain, and is considered unlikely to play on Thursday night against Wisconsin.

   It is my opinion that UNC will pound the ball inside, hoping to get Kaminsky in foul trouble;  while Wisconsin is loaded with big, tall players, none of them is as potent inside as is Frank Kaminsky.  So getting him into foul trouble early would greatly help the Tar Heels' chances.

   The Tar Heels will have to shoot well, and handle the ball better than they did against either Harvard or Arkansas, to be able to win against Wisconsin.

   While Carolina's record of 26-11 isn't as impressive as either Wisconsin's or Arizona's, they have come on strong lately, especially in the postseason, beating Virginia in the ACC semifinals and two hard-fought wins in the first two rounds of the NCAA's.   They are a definite underdog to Wisconsin, but not a huge underdog.  The Badgers are favored by a mere five points.

   If UNC gets out of the West region, I really like their chances in the Final Four.  Some of this feeling stems from my thoughts that more high seeded teams are likely to get knocked off before it comes down to Indianapolis.   In particular, I'm looking for Kentucky and Duke to fall, but that is not a certainty.  Either way, if the Heels get to that point, they will be playing good enough basketball to win it all.

   But that doesn't really help them this weekend.  More updates after the Wisconsin game.   Here's hoping for a victory on Thursday night, and advancing to the Regional Final.

  GO  TAR  HEELS!