With the title to be decided on Monday night, we are taking a look at the North Carolina NCAA Championship run and asking how the Tar Heels got here, in hopes that it might shed a bit more light on what might be in store for them in the title game.
Record: 33-6
Winning Streak: 10 games
Margin of Victory in NCAAs: +16.2 points
Key Statistics: 14.2 offensive rebounds per game, 31.9-percent from three-point line
Analysis: We’ve said it for most of the year, the Tar Heels just haven’t given us consistent evidence to base it upon: North Carolina’s best is better than anyone else in the country. While it wasn’t the kind of domination that Villanova put on Oklahoma, UNC’s win over Syracuse was plenty comfortable. Why were they able to keep the Orange at an arm’s length for much of the game?
First and foremost, it’s their ability to rebound the basketball offensively. Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson combined for nine of the Tar Heels’ 16 offensive rebounds against Syracuse’s zone. The extra possessions they gain from this advantage can’t be understated, as both big men are plenty capable of finishing off the possession themselves. When they don’t they find shooters on the perimeter, allowing UNC’s guards to finally get the open looks from deep that they so often can’t find themselves–as evidenced by their poor shooting numbers.
Roy Williams has found a way to get this team to buy-in to an inside-out philosophy offensively, but the question about whether this group can lock in defensively for a full game still remains to be answered.
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