North Carolina Tar Heels: Facing the Friars
The North Carolina Tar Heels path to the Sweet Sixteen only gets tougher as they take on the Providence Friars tonight.
Want to see the North Carolina Tar Heels play in the third round of the NCAA Tournament? Well you are going to wait my friend since the Tar Heels have night cap game at 9:40 PM when they play the Providence Friars.
The Friars are a team driven by their point guard leader facing the Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament. Sound familiar? This also would have described the matchup between the Heels and the Friars that took place two years ago. That Friars point guard was named Bryce Cotton. This one is named Kris Dunn.
Dunn is a sixteen points and six assists kind of guy. Before the ACC Tournament he would have been well suited to be one of those guards that seemed to put a big number on the Heels. Someone like Xavier Rathan-Mayes or Zabian Dowdell maybe.
Preventing Dunn from having even a Bryce Cotton game against the Tar Heels will be Joel Berry. Berry showed the capability to ramp up his defensive play in the three games of the ACC Tournament. Forcing Dunn to give it up to teammates would help slow down Providence a good deal.
Dunn leads a Providence attack that also finds big man Ben Bentil. The 6’9” 235 lbs Bentil averaged twenty-one points and eight rebounds over the course of the season. The game against the USC Trojans was no exception, and Bentil went for nineteen points and nine rebounds. He is a high level player and represents the most important scoring threat. He will also step out for the three (32%).
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It will be interesting to see how the Tar Heels choose to match up with him. Most likely the full quartet of Carolina big men will get their shots at him. Brice Johnson is the shot blocking headliner, but Bentil might be able to bully him in ways that he could not do to someone bulkier like Kennedy Meeks or Joel James.
Forward Rodney Bullock can’t be ignored either, as he is the guy who prospers when teams adjust to Bentil. He only averages about twelve a game, but he had sixteen against the Trojans. At least the Tar Heels will be playing against a team that likes to go inside first. That is a style they should understand.
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Of course there will be questions about how the Tar Heels will start the game. One would think after Thursday night that they would fix it for the next night. Any kind of napping like Florida Gulf Coast was able to take advantage would be lethal against Bentil and Dunn.
On the other hand a scrappy Tar Heel defense could really mess Providence up and open transition opportunities. The Friars really can’t match the depth of the Tar Heels and their answer to Justin Jackson is that he does not assert himself on the game. Theo Pinson needs to find his inner Jackie Manuel and he would be fine.
Kennedy Meeks could also turn into a big problem against the Friars, but someone would have to light a fire under him.
Fouling has been a problem for the Heels, and they must limit fouls. This is particularly true of Johnson, but could have reaching effects if Berry was to suffer similar problems.
These are the things to look out for as the Tar Heels take on the Providence Friars for a shot at the Sweet Sixteen much later today.