Matchup:
UNC is habitually ranked in the Top 25. Long Island hasn’t even played a team in the Top 25 since 1997 – their last trip to the Big Dance. It’s Big vs. Small, here. And worse for the Blackbirds of LIU, it’s basically a home game for the Tarheels.
North Carolina
Going 14-2 in the ACC isn’t easy. But it helps when a team can lean on three big forwards to lead the charge. Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller and John Henson started 32-of-33 games and recorded – as a group – about 50 points and 22 rebounds per game. Since mid-January the only team that seems to have their number is Duke.
Long Island
LIU is no Duke. In fact, while they sport a 13-game winning streak and tallied 27 wins – they beat teams like Robert Morris, Bryant and Texas State. The team is balanced, though. The LIU point guard tandem of C.J. Garner is more of a distributor than a contributor. Forward Julian Boyd is a 13-and-nine guy. Forward Jamal Olasewere was the MVP of the NEC tournament and scored 65 points and grabbed 35 boards in the three tournament victories.
In [Five] words of less…
UNC is bigger, stronger, faster
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