Let the upsets that have led to the most-ever double-digit seeds (10) remaining after the first round of the NCAA Tournament be a lesson for Carolina before its late-night game against Providence. The Tar Heels should sleep all day in order to be ready to explode from the opening tip sometime after 9:40 p.m.
“It’s a game of explosion,” Roy Williams said Thursday night after the win over Florida Gulf Coast, trying to explain why 6-10, 260-pound Kennedy Meeks sometimes doesn’t jump. “I have no earthly idea,” was his final answer.
Whether or not Meeks gets off the ground this evening, his team has to open fast to dissuade the Friars they have a chance to win. That UNC is the biggest favorite among all teams playing Saturday (+10) is proof that whoever makes those odds hasn’t watched the Tar Heels all season, or Thursday night for that matter.
Should Carolina give Providence an injection of first-half confidence as it did the Eagles, it will be a lot harder to take control of the game against the Friars no matter how big of a hissy fit Williams throws in the locker room. The Big East semi-power has bigger and better players than FGCU, at least two of whom will be on NBA rosters some day.
Behind 6-8 forward Ben Bentil and 6-4 guard Kris Dunn (Big East Player of the Year), the Friars were 18-4 after upsetting fourth-ranked Villanova on January 24. They slumped in February (just like the Tar Heels) and wound 22-10 heading into the NCAA Tournament. Suffice to say that Carolina would have had a much easier time with Southern Cal, which gave away the game to Providence Thursday night.
Either blowing up at the team, like ol’ Roy, or giving it the silent treatment like angry assistant coach Hubert Davis, the Tar Heels won’t be able to come back from a similar slow start if they allow the Friars to believe they can win the game. Big East teams are generally tougher than ACC teams, and Carolina must be just as physical if a Sweet Sixteen game against Kentucky (or Indiana) lies ahead.
The Heels came out of the halftime locker room Thursday night like a bunch of crazies, and after Marcus Paige hit a three-pointer in the first few seconds the bench was bonkers for the 10 minutes it took to regain control of the game. All four coaches were leaping in the air and pumping their firsts with every made basket because they knew their team’s poor defensive play had more to do with the slim 41-40 lead than the opponent, which shot 60 percent and outrebound them in the first 20 minutes.
Taking back the night against Providence won’t be anywhere as easy, so the key is not losing control early. That means the kind of defensive intensity on Bentil and Dunn, similar to the Virginia game in the ACC Tournament, will be required to move on. The Big East cannot be taken lightly, or Carolina will miss the regional round for the third time in four years and face open (off) season on Williams, who somehow has lost his popularity with much of the fan base.
The potential problem against Providence is in the paint, where Bentil and 6-8 Rodney Bullock (who had the last second layup to beat USC) average just shy of 15 rebounds between them. That’s more than Brice Johnson (10.5) and either below-the-rim Meeks or foul-prone Isaiah Hicks. As a team, Carolina has a better rebounding average and margin, and that’s what it will take – a team effort with Justin Jackson and the guards hitting the boards as well.
Only three Friars were on the roster for their near miss in a first-round game two years ago, but the rest of them have undoubtedly heard how they blew it to UNC in the final minutes. Carolina is a better team now, but so is Providence. The Tar Heels need to strap on their jocks real tight, because if they are going on to Philadelphia they will have to earn it over 40 minutes.
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