North Carolina Tar Heels vs North Carolina Central Preview

The floors of the Dean E Smith Center welcome the footfalls of a defending conference champion, and that champion would be the North Carolina Central Eagles. The North Carolina Tar Heels are playing the defending MEAC champs in their opening game of the season. The Tar Heels will be bringing a roster full of replaceable parts (except Marcus Paige) while the Eagles will be trying to replace must of the roster that took them to the NCAA Tournament last year.

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Date: November 14
Time: 8:00 PM
TV: ESPNU
Venue: Dean E. Smith Center

Tar Heel Stuff:

Mar 23, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Kennedy Meeks (3) shoots against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the second half of a men

THE FIVE:

G Marcus Paige, JR
G JP Tokoto, JR
F Justin Jackson, FR
F Brice Johnson, JR
C Kennedy Meeks, SO

Marcus Paige remains the lynchpin of the Tar Heels team, and he will move around from point guard to shooting guard over the course of a game in order to bring Joel Berry and Nate Britt into the action.

Jackson is one of two freshman wings from whom much is expected. The other is Theo Pinson. Behind the starting front court is Joel James, Isaiah Hicks, and defensive plug Desmond Hubert. Hubert is the lone senior on the roster.

There will be many lineups out there tonight as Coach Roy Williams tinkers to see what works and what doesn’t.

Mar 21, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; North Carolina Central Eagles head coach LeVelle Moton signals in the first half of a men

Opponent: North Carolina Central Eagles (0-0)

THE FIVE (Projected):

G Nimrod Hilliard, SR
G Jamal Ferguson, SO
F Jordan Parks, SR
F Karamo Jawara, SR
F Jay Copeland, SR

Mar 21, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; North Carolina Central Eagles guard Jordan Parks (2) leaves the court after losing to the Iowa State Cyclones in a men

One the one hand, the Eagles are replacing a fair amount of last year’s starters. On the other hand, the still have a lineup that starts four seniors and a sophomore. This would be the reason that the MEAC conference picked the Eagles to repeat as champs this year. Transfers are largely responsible for the continuance of experienced hands on the court. The Eagles are missing their star Jeremy Ingram, who graduated.

They key matchup should be the amount of damage the Carolina frontcourt can do to the Central big men.