The North Carolina Tar Heels are playing some of the best basketball in the country heading into the school’s 10th national championship game.
UNC has won every NCAA Tournament game so far by double digits and was the only No. 1 seed to make it to the Final Four in Houston.
As great as the Tar Heels have been playing, they will be going up a team with possibly even more momentum.
Villanova is coming off of record 44-point victory over Oklahoma in the national semifinal where the Wildcats shot 71 percent from the field.
Those numbers jumped off the page to UNC sophomore forward Justin Jackson.
“That’s hard to do whenever you’re shooting by yourself,” Jackson said. “That’s eye-opening, both [the margin and percentage]. So we’ve got to be ready to play against a really good team.”
UNC sophomore guard Joel Berry said that the margin of victory shows that Villanova is not only a team that can shoot very well but also plays good defense.
“They shot 71 percent, but the defensive end they were able to stop [Oklahoma] and especially one of the best players in the country,” Berry said. “They take pride in that.”
UNC head coach Roy Williams says that he believes his team is ready for the title matchup and that they have enjoyed the ride so far in the tournament.
“I think my guys up here are really focused,” Williams said. “They enjoy having a lot of fun. They’re a bunch of wackos, so I’m following their lead as we get to this stage.”
Williams said that this team is very different than the 2009 North Carolina team that won the national championship the year after losing in the Final Four.
“2009 we walked in the locker room and Bobby Frasor says, ‘I don’t want anybody messing around, you know what this felt like last year,’” Williams recalled. “And it was business. There wasn’t any dancing around in the locker room. There wasn’t any of that silly stuff we’re doing now. But this is a completely different team.”
Williams said there’s only so much he can do relying on previous experience because it is the first time the players are in this situation.
“We’re playing a very good Villanova team for a coach who’s been in the Final Four before,” Williams said. “I think that I’ve know a little bit more about what’s going on, but I don’t know that I can transfer that to the court.
“And they’re the guys that make the difference.”
If the Tar Heels come out on top, it will be the third national championship for Williams, a feat only accomplished by John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Adolph Rupp, Jim Calhoun and Bob Knight.
“That’s company that is off the charts,” Williams said. “But what I’d really really love is for these guys up here sitting on this dais with me to get their first one. That would mean a heck of a lot more to me than any of that other stuff.”
The third national title for Williams would also move him ahead of Tar Heel legend Dean Smith’s two national titles.
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