UK Basketball Preview – Know Your Enemy: North Carolina Tarheels
By Staff
12:30 PM – RUPP ARENA, LEXINGTON
#11 NORTH CAROLINA TARHEELS (7-1)
TV – CBS
NORTH CAROLINA LEADS SERIES 21-10
RECENT MEETINGS:
2008: UNC 77 UK 58
2007: UNC 86 UK 77
2006: UNC 75 UK 63
2005: UNC 83 UK 79
2004: UNC 91 UK 78
For his biggest game as head coach at the University of Kentucky, John Calipari needs to steal a page from Rich Brook’s playbook. Like Rich Brooks and his football Cats did at Auburn and Georgia, John Calipari needs to be a streak breaker and break this five game winning streak that North Carolina has over UK. Along the way, Calipari is expected to stem the tide and stop the hemorrhaging of a all time wins total that was considered comfortable as early as a couple of years ago.
UNC comes into this game with just one loss on the season and impressive wins over Ohio State and Michigan State. UK has been tested by “lesser teams” but has emerged unscathed and may have learned something about themselves in the process. Let’s take a look at the Tar Heels lineup.
THE STARTERS
G- MARCUS GINYARD , SR, 6’5, 200 11.1 ppg, 3.6 reb, 4.5 assists
G- LARRY DREW II , SO, 6’1, 180 9 ppg, 2.3 reb, 6.6 assists
G – WILL GRAVES – JR , 6’6, 240 7.0 ppg, 3.8 reb, 0.8 assists
F- DEON THOMPSON – SR, 6’8, 245 17.3 ppg, 8.3 reb, 1.4 assists
F- ED DAVIS, SO, 6’10, 210 13.9 ppg, 9.4 reb, 1.5 assists
This is going to be huge. The matchups between Thompson/Patterson and Davis/Cousins will be legendary and should be the key to the game. Davis had 9 points and 10 boards versus UK this season and is leading the Heels with 2.5 blocks a game. Like Patrick Patterson, he flirted with the NBA but returned. In addition, 7’0 Sophomore Tyler Zeller is averaging 9.6 points and 4.0 rebound a game in just 15 minutes a game. Simply put, DeMarcus Cousins has to stay out of foul trouble in this game. 6’10 Freshman John Henson is second on the Tar Heels in blocks with 1.3 blocks a game in just around 10.0 minutes a game. Make no mistake, this is the best group of big men that UK will face this season.
As for the guards, Drew and Ginyard make a good combination. Drew dishes out a lot of assists, but he is prone to turn the ball over a good bit as well. He has the tendency o play out of control and he will provide John Wall with his best test so far this season. Marcus Ginyard only seems like he has been at Chapel Hill for a decade, but he provides solid senior leadership and good ball handling skills. John Henson is a good ball handler for a big man, but aside from those three players, no other Tar Heel has an impressive A/T ratio.
Ginyard and Drew are the main 3-point threats for the Tar Heels with 10 and 9 treys on the year. Graves gets a few looks beyond the arc as well and is 8-27 for the year. The rest of the team is pretty pedestrian from beyond the line.
OUTLOOK
The one thing for sure about this game is that UK definitely is in better shape in the post with Patterson, Cousins, Orton, and Stephenson. This will be a major battle throughout the game and if DeMarcus Cousins can keep his cool and stay out of foul trouble, UK should be in pretty good shape. I think this game represents a major opportunity for Daniel Orton to make his mark as a Wildcat. I think that Orton is likely to see a lot of minutes backing up Patterson and Cousins and if he can through up a solid 8/8 night or better, he will have done his job and made his mark.
As good as UK’s guards are, I have to give Wall and Bledsoe the nod. True, Drew has played very well but he has not faced anyone like Wall and if Wall can play good tough defense and bottle him up, he will become frustrated which will lead to more turnovers. Wall has a bit more speed on Drew and a few inches, so the matchup is there for Wall to own. Ginyard should have a slight advantage over Bledsoe due to experience, but if Bledsoe can play in control, he can hold his own here. I think the Miller/Dodson platoon can be a good upgrade over Graves and this could be a good matchup.
Make mno mistake, the Tar Heels are a talenated team, but I think a game like this comes down to matchups and while young, UK has the opportunity to exploit those matchups. Don’t get me wrong, there is tons of talent on both sides of the ball in this game as there is expected to be TWENTY NBA SCOUTS at the game, but I think UK will break the streak and exit Rupp a 83-79 victor.
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