March 23, 2008

By Lauren Brownlow

The Basics

Carolina (33-2) beat Mount St. Mary's 113-74 Friday night, scoring the most points in an NCAA Tournament game by a Carolina team since 1993 (112 against Rhode Island). It tied the second-most points in an NCAA Tournament game by a Carolina time ever (113 against Penn in 1987; the most was 123 against Loyola Marymount in 1988). Carolina is now 22-1 in NCAA Tournament games played in North Carolina and 6-1 in Raleigh.

Carolina is now on a 12-game winning streak and has a seven-game winning streak in the month of March. The 2008 team joins the 1957, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1998 and 2007 squads as teams that each won seven straight in March. The 1957 team won nine in a row in March to win the national championship; the 1982 and 1987 teams won eight straight. With last night's victory, Roy Williams now has at least one win in the NCAA Tournament for 19 consecutive years, an NCAA record.

Carolina will face No. 9 seed Arkansas, who beat eighth-seeded Indiana 86-72 on Friday night. The Tar Heels are 3-3 against Arkansas. The first three meetings came in the regular season and Carolina won the first two (in 1979 and 1980) and then took one of its only three losses in the 1984 season. That loss ended a 21-game winning streak and an 11-game road winning streak. The last three meetings between the two teams have come in the NCAA Tournament; Carolina holds a 1-2 record. Carolina's Cinderella run in 1990 was ended by Arkansas in the Sweet 16 in 1990; Carolina defeated Arkansas in 1993 in the Sweet 16; Carolina lost to Arkansas in the Final Four in 1995.

Game Time: North Carolina vs. Arkansas, 5:10 PM (approximately).

Last Time: On April 1, 1995, Carolina lost to Arkansas in the first game of the Final Four 68-75. Carolina was the No. 4 team in the country (the No. 2 seed in the Southeast Regional) while Arkansas was the No. 6 team in the country. Carolina managed to out-rebound Arkansas 43-42 and turned it over just 15 times against the vaunted "40 minutes of hell" pressure defense, but the Tar Heels shot just 25% in the second half and 37.5% for the game. After making 6-of-12 three's in the first half and 15-of-32 shots (46.2%) to lead 38-34, Carolina shot 6-of-24 (25%) from the field and 4-of-16 (25%) from beyond the arc. Arkansas shot 37.8% for the game but shot 47.1% in the second half. Carolina's 28 three-point attempts were tied for its most ever in an NCAA Tournament game.

Donald Williams led Carolina with 19 points but he shot just 7-of-19 from the field (5-of-12 from beyond the arc). His 12 three-point attempts were tied for the most ever by a Tar Heel in an NCAA Tournament game. Jerry Stackhouse added 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting (3-of-3 from beyond the arc). Jeff McInnis had 13 points but shot just 3-of-9 from the field. Rasheed Wallace was the other Tar Heel in double figures with ten points and a team-high ten rebounds. Dante Calabria had just two points on 1-of-10 shooting (0-of-7 from behind the arc). Corliss Williamson led Arkansas with 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting and added a team-high ten rebounds. Dwight Stewart came off the bench to add 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including a half-court three-point heave that gave the Hogs some momentum going into halftime. Clint McDaniel added 13 points.

Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 4:00 PM.

Injury Report: Ty Lawson is still recovering from a sprained ankle. Marcus Ginyard is playing through a stress reaction in his left foot. Bobby Frasor tore his left ACL and is out for the season. Arkansas guard Stefan Welsh suffered a practice injury and is questionable.

Storylines

Rebounding: This Carolina team has gone 30 games without being out-rebounded, although Florida State did manage to pull down the same number of rebounds as Carolina (30) in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal game. Since then, Carolina has out-rebounded its last three opponents by an average of +17.0. Carolina out-rebounded Mount St. Mary's 48-22, the largest rebounding margin in an NCAA Tournament game by Carolina (previous high was +20 in 2000 against Missouri). This also marks the 29th time in the last 30 games that Carolina has out-rebounded its opponent. "We did a good job on the backboards tonight. Alex (Stepheson) and Deon (Thompson) stepped up big for us. We got a lot of offensive rebounds. Tyler (Hansbrough) does what he does every game. We expect that out of him. But we got a big plus out of those two guys, Alex and Deon," Danny Green said.

After Carolina got 26 second-chance points in its double-overtime win over Clemson at home, the Tar Heels went six straight games without reaching 20 second-chance points. That streak was snapped in the regular-season finale against Duke, when Carolina had 23 second-chance points. After getting just 28 combined in its first two ACC Tournament games, Carolina had 20 second-chance points against Clemson in the title game and 26 against Mount St. Mary's.

Carolina's biggest differential between rebounds and second chance points was in the first Duke game when it pulled down 20 offensive rebounds and scored just 11 second-chance points. Since that game, Carolina has averaged 14.4 offensive rebounds and 18.0 second-chance points, or +3.6. After allowing Clemson to score 16 second-chance points in the ACC title game, the most since allowing Georgia Tech to score 22 on January 16th, Carolina held Mount St. Mary's to just eight second-chance points on nine offensive rebounds. No Carolina opponent in the last eight games has scored more than two more second-chance points than offensive rebounds.

Arkansas has averaged a -2.3 rebounding deficit in its 11 losses and a +5.5 rebounding edge in its 23 wins. In its last four wins, Arkansas has out-rebounded its opponents by an average of +12.5 per game. In its only loss in the last five games, Arkansas was out-rebounded by nine. After holding Auburn to just four offensive rebounds in its regular-season finale and then holding its first two SEC Tournament opponents to six offensive rebounds apiece, Arkansas has allowed its last two opponents to pull down a combined 27 offensive rebounds. Indiana's 14 offensive rebounds were the most against Arkansas since Mississippi State pulled down 16 in a win over Arkansas ten games ago.

Offensive patience: Carolina may not always be able to push tempo against Arkansas. In fact, the Hogs may be content to sit back in a zone, as is a popular strategy against Carolina. The Tar Heels have come a long way this season in the progression of their halfcourt offense, and they may face another stiff test tomorrow. The Tar Heels started ACC play shooting better than 50% from two-point range against just two ACC opponent in the first six games, including just 41.1% in a loss to Maryland. After Ty Lawson went out, Carolina went three straight league games without shooting 50% from two-point range, including the loss to Duke when it shot 48.1 percent and a double-overtime when over Clemson when it shot 43.6 percent. Since then, Carolina has shot 50% or better from two-point range in nine of its last 11 games

But Carolina has shown a commitment to attacking the basket, especially in recent games. At Duke, Carolina did not get to the free-throw line as it wanted to but still attempted just 11 three-pointers (and made five). The Tar Heels' 65 two-point attempts were three away from a season high. Carolina continued to attack the basket and managed to score 30 of its 76 points in the paint, 15 off of three-pointers and nine from the foul line. Since then, Carolina had not taken more than 15 three-pointers in a game until the Mount St. Mary's contest (and the reserves took three). When the shots weren't falling against Virginia Tech (40 percent was Carolina's worst shooting percentage since the Maryland loss), Carolina still took just 14 three-pointers compared to 23 two-pointers against Maryland.

Against Mount St. Mary's, Carolina also tied a season high with 60 points in the paint. But Mount St. Mary's did not have a player on its roster taller than 6-7. Arkansas has four such players, including the 7-0 Steven Hill (who has 74 blocks this season), the 6-10 Michael Washington, the 6-10 Darian Townes and the 6-8 Charles Thomas.

Out of 34 games this season, Arkansas has held opponents to below 50% shooting from two-point range in 20 games. In the 14 games in which the Hogs allowed 50% or better shooting from two-point range, they lost six of them. Of those, only one opponent attempted more than 20 three-pointers (Oklahoma, which also attempted 31 two-pointers). In their eight wins when opponents shot better than 50 percent from two-point range, those opponents shot 20 or more three-pointers in all of them, averaging 7.3 made three's on 23.4 attempts and 18.6 made two-pointers on 33.0 attempts. In the last 11 games, Arkansas has blocked seven or more shots three times and lost all three games, including most recently blocking seven shots in the SEC Championship game against Georgia in a loss.

"Obviously, those big guys are going to be a presence inside defensively, looking at Steven Hill being a great shot-blocker, having 71 blocks on the year. Darian Townes, I think he could cause some problems for us defensively, him getting to the offensive boards and just being so strong inside," Marcus Ginyard said. "So we're obviously facing some challenges inside, but I don't think it's any different than any other game that we've played all season. We're always facing some sort of challenge. But it just comes down to this team working together to get through those things."

Defense: Carolina's 60 points in the first half against Mount St. Mary's tied a season high for points in a half. But the team was concerned after the Mount shot 48.6% in the first half, the highest percentage Carolina has allowed in a half since Florida State shot 55.2% in the second half of Carolina's quarterfinal victory in the ACC Tournament. In fact, in the last 13 halves of basketball, Carolina had held opponents to under 45.7 percent shooting in all but two. (The first half against Boston College, Carolina allowed 60.7 percent shooting.) The Mount also scored 41 points, just one less point than Carolina allowed in the second half of its title game victory over Clemson in the second half.

"They were one shot away from shooting 50 percent in the first half and that's something that's definitely not acceptable by this team's standards. So the second half, we really had to buckle down defensively. We had to get good stops, limit them to one bad shot, one contested shot. I think we did a great job in the second half of taking on that challenge," Ginyard said.

At The Game

Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium frequency will be on or around 90.3 FM.

Watching At Home

Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.

A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.

CBS coverage: The game will be available on CBS.

Names To Know

Tyler Hansbrough: Since shooting 8-of-21 against Duke and not attempting a free throw, Tyler Hansbrough has shot 32-of-58 from the field (55.2%) and 23-of-28 (82.1%) from the foul line in Carolina's last four games, all postseason. He has averaged 21.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.5 turnovers in that span. In the last two games, Hansbrough has shot 16-of-25 from the field and 7-of-10 from the line. It is Hansbrough's fewest made free throws in back-to-back games this season and ties his fewest free throws attempted in a two-game stretch (he attempted none at Duke and ten against Florida State). But in that span, he has also averaged 1.0 assists, 2.0 steals and one block in 30.0 minutes.

He will face an Arkansas front line on Sunday that rotates four fairly athletic, tall players that range in height from 6-8 to 7-0. "He's faced that quite a bit, but there are four or five big-time size and big-time athletes there. I don't know that he's been guarded by that number of guys that have that kind of athleticism. It is going to be a challenge," Williams said. "We've got to get him the ball and he's to make some quicker decisions probably - shoot the ball quickly, throw it back out, re-post, we'll throw it back to him again. So his decision-making is going to be something that is going to have to be a little quicker than in the past. And when he throws it back out, those guys have to make good decisions whether to shoot the ball and hope it goes in or throw it back to him."

Arkansas has lost just three games this year (out of 11) in which the Razorbacks have committed fewer than 20 fouls. Of Arkansas' big - and potent - front line, only Charles Thomas has fouled out more than once. Steven Hill, Darian Townes and Michael Washington have fouled out just one time apiece. Hansbrough attempted just five free throws against Mount St. Mary's, though he played just 26 minutes, his fewest since the Nevada game on December 27th. The next free throw he makes will set an ACC record for most free throws made, passing Christian Laettner. Still, it is a somewhat alarming trend that he has had trouble getting to the line. He ended his freshman season the same way he ended the Duke game - with no free-throw attempts.

Wayne Ellington: The improvement of Ellington's game this season from one of a jump-shooter into one of a complete player has been well-documented. However, when thinking about the time Carolina spent without Ty Lawson, the names that come up most frequently in terms of stepping up their play are Tyler Hansbrough and Quentin Thomas. Ellington has also stepped up his play and it has continued in the last 14 games. He has gone from shooting 47.1% from the field and 39.8% from beyond the arc in the first 21 games this season to shooting 48.3% from the field and 45.1% from beyond the arc in the last 14 games. He has also increased his assists from 3.8 per game to 5.1 per game. He struggled with turnovers with Lawson first went out, dishing out 36 assists to 20 turnovers in the seven games without him, including 17 assists to 14 turnovers in the first four games. But in the last seven games with Lawson back, his assist-turnover ratio has gone back down to 36 assists to ten turnovers.

"When Tywon went down, a lot of things changed for this team. A lot of people had to step their game up and start to contribute a little bit more. From what everybody has seen, it's obvious that Wayne has done a tremendous job of accepting that challenge. In all aspects of his game (he's) just doing a little bit better - getting to the basket, getting fouled, he has so much more confidence in his shots," Ginyard said. "The biggest thing is just making the big shots. He's always been the guy that wanted to take those big shots. I feel like he's always made them consistently. But even now, you just feel like he's making them more and more. He's doing everything. ... I think that his defense gets overlooked way too much. I feel like Wayne is a very, very solid defensive player."

Carolina will need Ellington on both ends against Arkansas, but particularly on offense. His inability to hit the last shot against Georgetown has been extensively publicized, perhaps too much so, since the end of last season. But Ellington began the postseason last year shooting 8-of-17 from beyond the arc in the first four games (including the ACC Tournament) and finished shooting just 2-of-11 in Carolina's final three postseason games, including a 1-of-6 performance against Georgetown. If Arkansas throws a zone at Carolina, Ellington will be the Tar Heels' designated "zone-buster" with his ability to knock down three-pointers. He has made 12-of-23 in Carolina's last five games and 10-of-20 in the postseason.

Marcus Ginyard: Ginyard's missed dunk against Mount St. Mary's has become comic fodder for the Tar Heels, particularly because he landed squarely on his backside. However, as Danny Green pointed out, it wouldn't have been so funny in a close game. I guess my knees just tightened up on me and I didn't quite get up as high as I needed to and just didn't come down right," Ginyard said. "I'm hoping to get it back and I plan to, so just be on the lookout for that."

In Carolina's two losses this season, Ginyard has shot just 1-of-12 (8.3%) from two-point range. He shot 0-of-6 against Maryland and 1-of-6 against Duke. After the Duke loss, Ginyard went on a ten-game stretch culminating in the ACC Tournament semifinals in which he shot 25-of-41 (61%) from two-point range. He had shot 56-of-142 (39.4%) from two-point range in Carolina's first 23 games. In the ACC Tournament, Ginyard had 30 points (10.0 per game) on 13-of-24 shooting (2-of-3 from beyond the arc), adding 20 rebounds (6.7 per game) and nine offensive rebounds (3.0 per game), dishing out nine assists (3.0 per game) and adding four steals and just three fouls in the three games. Against Clemson in the finals, he shot 4-of-11 from two-point range and made just 1-of-5 against Mount St. Mary's game. Ginyard and Williams have been expressing somewhat mock concern about his problems making lay-ups. Oddly enough, in the last two games, Ginyard has shot 5-of-15 (33.3%) from two-point range.

He played just 14 minutes against Mount St. Mary's (a season-low), partly because he picked up as many fouls in the game (three) as he had in the last three games put together. Carolina will need Ginyard's defense badly against guards like Sonny Weems and Patrick Beverley, both of whom can slash to the basket very effectively in addition to pull down rebounds.

Sonny Weems: The 6-6 senior guard/forward leads Arkansas in scoring (14.8 points per game), steals (1.3 a game), and free-throw percentage (79.7%). But he ranks in the top three in many other categories - tied for first in three-point percentage (37.9%), second in three-pointers made, tied for third in rebounding (4.6 per game), and second in assists (2.6 per game). Against Indiana on Friday, Weems had a career-high 31 points on 12-of-14 shooting (3-of-4 from beyond the arc) and added five rebounds, one assist, two steals and two turnovers in 37 minutes.

After shooting just 9-of-41 from the field in a four-game stretch that included Arkansas' last two regular-season games and first two SEC Tournament games, Weems has shot 20-of-29 from the field in the last two games (69 percent). He has also made 4-of-9 three-pointers in the last two games (44.4%) after making just 2-of-12 in the previous four games. He has also shot 16-of-20 from two-point range in the last two games.

In Arkansas' 22 wins that he has played in, Weems has shot 49.2% from the field 40.4% from beyond the arc and averaged 14.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals. In the 11 losses, he has shot 42.5% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc, averaging 14.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals.

Patrick Beverley: The 6-1 sophomore guard, despite his stature, is the leading rebounder on this Arkansas team with 6.7 per game. He is third on the team in scoring (12.0 points per game), first in three-pointers made (64-of-169), tied for first in three-point percentage (37.9%), third in assists (2.4 per game), second in steals (1.3 per game) and tied for first in made free throws (84). He shoots just 64.6% from the foul line.

Against Indiana, Beverley had 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting (2-of-4 from beyond the arc), snapping a three-game drought in which he made just 1-of-13 from the three-point line. He tends to be streaky, going through a two-game stretch in two losses against Kentucky and Alabama in which he shot 1-of-9 from beyond the arc and following that up with a three-game stretch of shooting 14-of-19. Beverley also had five rebounds, three assists, two steals and no turnovers in 38 minutes against the Hoosiers on Friday.

In Arkansas' 11 losses, Beverley has shot 29.9% from the field, 21.7% from beyond the arc and averaged 7.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 3.4 fouls. In the 23 wins, he has shot 44.9% from the field, 43.9% from beyond the arc and averaged 14.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.0 fouls.

Darian Townes: The 6-10 senior forward is first on the team in field-goal percentage (among those who have attempted at least 100 shots), shooting 60.1% from the field. He is second on the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game, second in rebounding with 5.4 a game, second in blocked shots with 1.1 per game and first in offensive rebounds (2.1 per game). He also leads the team in free throws made (84) and attempted (132). In Arkansas' 11 losses this season, Townes still shot well (58.6%) but shot just 55.3% from the foul line and averaged 11.6 points and 4.7 rebounds compared to 12.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in the 23 wins.

Townes had 17 points against Indiana on 6-of-11 shooting (5-of-6 from the free-throw line), adding 12 rebounds (four offensive), two assists, two turnovers and just one foul in 34 minutes, the most he has played this season. In Arkansas' last four games, Townes has shot 62.5% from the field and averaged 17.0 points, attempting 7.0 free throws per game and adding 7.5 rebounds (3.5 offensive), 1.3 assists, one block, 3.0 fouls and 1.3 turnovers in 27.0 minutes.

Quotables

"He'll learn from that and he'll use the backboard next time, hopefully. I mean, it's there for a reason." -Tyler Hansbrough on Marcus Ginyard's missed dunk

"When he got the steal, I stood up. I thought he was going to do something special for us. It was something special, all right." -Danny Green on Ginyard's missed dunk

"There has been so much written about where they're playing. I think what they should do is just lobby to let the NCAA Tournament determine where you're going to play and then not play the games. Just go and have a party and just move the people on who play the closest to their home site and not even play the games. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but my gosh fellas, you've still got to play the game." -Roy Williams when asked yet again about the advantage of playing in Raleigh

Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.