vs
UNC-Greensboro Spartans (4-6, 1-0 Southern)
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 16, 2014 @ 7:00pm EST
Location: Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC
TV/Radio: ESPN2 or ESPN3 / Tar Heel Sports Network
It will be Students vs. Teacher tonight in the Greensboro Coliseum as Roy Williams brings his North Carolina Tar Heels into town to face-off with the UNC-Greensboro Spartans. Two of Williams' former players, UNC-G Head Coach Wes Miller and Assistant Coach Jackie Manuel, were part of Carolina's 2005 National Championship team. For the second straight year, Carolina will matchup with the Spartans and this time around UNC-G hosts the Heels. Carolina (6-3, 0-0 ACC) will be suiting up for its second of three straight road games as UNC hopes to rebound from a loss to top-ranked Kentucky on Saturday afternoon in Rupp Arena. The Spartans (4-6, 1-0 Southern) had an extremely rough start to the 2014-2015 season dropping six straight contests at one point (including defeats at the hands of UNC-Wilmington, Longwood, and Indiana to name a few). However, UNC-G has bounced back and is on a three-game winning streak after toppling conference-rival East Tennessee State on Saturday 80-79. Tonight, UNC-G begins a stretch of four straight non-conference games before jumping back into the Southern Conference schedule. Carolina is looking to begin a winning streak of its own and it all starts tonight in the familiar confines of the Greensboro Coliseum.
The beginning of that streak will have to come at the expense of two former Tar Heels. Wes Miller is in his third year as Head Coach of the Spartans and many Carolina Faithful remember his days on campus. Miller redshirted during Roy Williams first year with Carolina (2003-2004) after transferring over from James Madison. Wes would play three seasons with Carolina, winning a National Championship in 2005 with Raymond Felton and Sean May and served as team captain in the 2006-2007 UNC season. UNC-G Assistant Coach Jackie Manuel also had a hand in the 2005 Championship team. As a junior and senior, Manuel earned All-ACC Defensive Team honors and was consistently praised by Coach Williams for his extra effort and skill on the defensive end. Now, can Miller and Manual translate the success with the Heels to success against the Heels? It will take a monumental defensive effort from the Spartans to slow down Carolina.
With final exams in the rear-view mirror and coming off a hard defeat to Kentucky, UNC players are looking to take out some major aggression on the Spartans. And, there are quite a few aspects of this game that seem to lie in the Tar Heels' favor. First being the seemingly glowing rebounding advantage Carolina holds over the Spartans. The Tar Heels come into tonight's contest averaging 43.6 rebounds/game while the Spartans are only pulling down 32.5 boards/game. UNC-G has been outrebounded by their opponents this season, only mustering 325 rebounds to it opponents' total of 343. Expect UNC post players to be more physical and focus on boxing out the Spartans. UNC sophomore Kennedy Meeks has excelled this season with his post play averaging close to a double-double for the year. Meeks' 9.4 rebs/gm lead the Heels and his ability to dominate the paint tonight could go a long way in commanding Carolina to victory. Brice Johnson has to be thrown into the mix when talking about post player domination. Johnson had a stellar first half versus Kentucky and has played very well the last two games. Look for Johnson to continue pushing himself to be much tougher and aggressive than many give him credit for. Meeks and Johnson are both averaging double figure scoring marks at 13.3 and 11.7, respectively. Carolina's leading scorer, Marcus Paige, may have an edge in this one as well.
UNC-G allows its opponents to make 40.3% of its three-point field goals and tonight could be as good a night as any for Paige to continue shooting the rock like he did in the second half versus Kentucky. Paige has, at times, looked uncomfortable with his shot and somewhat timid offensively this season. But, when he drilled home four 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes versus the Wildcats, you got the feeling that Paige's confidence received an adrenaline shot. The Heels would love to have Paige keep the confidence flowing as it nears another huge matchup this weekend in Chicago versus Ohio State. If Paige can deliver a high-scoring game against UNC-G, his confidence may be soaring through the roof come Saturday afternoon.
With that said, another Tar Heel that could use some confidence-building is freshman Justin Jackson. Besides Paige, Jackson is the only other Carolina player that has started all nine games for the Heels. Jackson has shown glimpses of his true talent, especially early when he scored 18 points on the road against Davidson and 13 points for games in the Bahamas versus UCLA and Florida. However, since that time, Jackson has significantly struggled shooting just 15 of his last 44 from the field and averaging just 3 rebounds/game. Jackson has noticeably rushed his shot and, lately due to his low shooting percentage, he has faded throughout the game (he spent most of the second half versus Kentucky on the bench). Coach Williams believes it's only a matter of time before Jackson breaks out with a big game.
"He needs to be more positive with what he does," Williams said on his radio show Monday night. "It's like John Wooden used to say, 'Be quick but don't hurry."
Williams has always stated that Jackson seems the most likely to emerge beside Paige as a tremendous perimeter threat; we're just waiting for that moment. Jackson does have a good stroke (he is shooting 78.9% from the free throw line), it just means harnessing the freshman jitters and that will come with more games played. Let's hope his breakout moment comes sooner, rather than later. Either way, Jackson is definitely a key player to watch as the season moves forward and he grows into his role on the team.
UNC-G has been playing with an injury-plagued lineup which has crippled Coach Miller's team depth. The Spartans lean heavily on the starting five as all of those players are averaging almost triple the playing time as any other players off the bench. Last season's Southern Conference (SoCon) Player of the Year Tevon Saddler is having another excellent start. Saddler leads the Spartans in scoring with 16.4 points/game includiing back-to-back 24 point efforts against Greensboro College and East Tennessee State. With all that scoring comes an Achilles' Heel for Saddler...he turns the ball over at an unbelievably high rate. He has 45 turnovers already this season (4.5 per game) and it is not a new trend. He has been turning the ball over consistently throughout his first two seasons as a Spartan. Look for Carolina to force Saddler into bad decisions which could lead Carolina into fast-break transition opportunities to speed up the game in UNC's favor.
The Spartans have a few perimeter shooters on its team and, with Carolina's size advantage downlow, perimeter shots may come at a premium for UNC-G. Sharpshooters Nicholas Paulos and Clay Byrd are the most effective from three-point land. Paulos has splashed 33 of 70 3's this year (47.1%) and Byrd is not too shabby himself, nailing 25 of 76 3's (32.9%). So, the Spartans have proven they can make the outside shot and Carolina's perimeter defense must be on its toes and aggressive with hands in the face of each shot. This is one aspect of the game that the Spartans have an advantage in on paper. A true test to whether the Spartans can keep it close will be its ability to connect from long-range.
This will be only the second meeting in history between North Carolina and its in-state counterpart UNC-Greensboro. As mentioned earlier, Carolina won the only other meeting, last year, 81-50 in the Dean Dome. Coach Williams has a 2-0 record over UNC-G, as his other victory came with the 2002 Kansas team who defeated the Spartans by a wide margin of 105-66.
"He needs to be more positive with what he does," Williams said on his radio show Monday night. "It's like John Wooden used to say, 'Be quick but don't hurry."
Williams has always stated that Jackson seems the most likely to emerge beside Paige as a tremendous perimeter threat; we're just waiting for that moment. Jackson does have a good stroke (he is shooting 78.9% from the free throw line), it just means harnessing the freshman jitters and that will come with more games played. Let's hope his breakout moment comes sooner, rather than later. Either way, Jackson is definitely a key player to watch as the season moves forward and he grows into his role on the team.
UNC-G has been playing with an injury-plagued lineup which has crippled Coach Miller's team depth. The Spartans lean heavily on the starting five as all of those players are averaging almost triple the playing time as any other players off the bench. Last season's Southern Conference (SoCon) Player of the Year Tevon Saddler is having another excellent start. Saddler leads the Spartans in scoring with 16.4 points/game includiing back-to-back 24 point efforts against Greensboro College and East Tennessee State. With all that scoring comes an Achilles' Heel for Saddler...he turns the ball over at an unbelievably high rate. He has 45 turnovers already this season (4.5 per game) and it is not a new trend. He has been turning the ball over consistently throughout his first two seasons as a Spartan. Look for Carolina to force Saddler into bad decisions which could lead Carolina into fast-break transition opportunities to speed up the game in UNC's favor.
The Spartans have a few perimeter shooters on its team and, with Carolina's size advantage downlow, perimeter shots may come at a premium for UNC-G. Sharpshooters Nicholas Paulos and Clay Byrd are the most effective from three-point land. Paulos has splashed 33 of 70 3's this year (47.1%) and Byrd is not too shabby himself, nailing 25 of 76 3's (32.9%). So, the Spartans have proven they can make the outside shot and Carolina's perimeter defense must be on its toes and aggressive with hands in the face of each shot. This is one aspect of the game that the Spartans have an advantage in on paper. A true test to whether the Spartans can keep it close will be its ability to connect from long-range.
This will be only the second meeting in history between North Carolina and its in-state counterpart UNC-Greensboro. As mentioned earlier, Carolina won the only other meeting, last year, 81-50 in the Dean Dome. Coach Williams has a 2-0 record over UNC-G, as his other victory came with the 2002 Kansas team who defeated the Spartans by a wide margin of 105-66.
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