Brice Johnson Ready To Prove How Far He’s Come

Brice Johnson has been hearing about his defense for years.

From high school when he was coached by his father and now at Carolina with Roy Williams, Johnson has always heard about his defense, or lack thereof.

“I saw him play in high school,” Williams said. “His dad stayed on his case too. I mean he didn’t walk over there and hug his dad in timeouts, I guaran-daggum-tee you that. His dad got after his rear end too.”

And sometimes he hears it from both sides at once.

“I’ll yet out something to Brice and there’s been two or three times in 30 seconds when his dad will yell out the same daggum thing,” Williams said. “It’s funny because I can hear his voice. You know if Beyonce came behind me I wouldn’t know who the crap she was.”

But after two strong defensive performances in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, including the game against Florida Gulf Coast when he had eight blocks, there’s no question Johnson has come a long way defensively.

While Williams still wants more out of his star forward, it’s hard to deny his play so far.

“There is something to be said for blocking shots,” he said. “And there is something to be said for defensive rebounds that are more important than getting down in a pretty stance and denying.”

The Tar Heels will get to see just how far Johnson has come defensively when they face an Indiana team that averages more points per game than anyone they’ve seen so far this season.

The Hoosiers are led by senior point guard Yogi Farrell, who was named to both the All-Big Ten first team and defensive team.

Johnson will likely match up with freshman center Thomas Bryant, who averages 12 points per game and has the third highest field goal percentage in the country.

Although he doesn’t do it much, just fourteen attempts this season, Bryant can even step out to the three point line, shooting 35 percent beyond the arc.

But for anyone who thinks Johnson isn’t up for the challenge, he has one thing to say.

“We’ve got a lot of people who say we’re underdogs in a lot of games,” Johnson said. “We proved them wrong so keep calling us underdogs and we’ll just keep proving you wrong.”