Despite being No. 1 and No. 2 seeds,respectively, the North Carolina Tar Heels and Villanova Wildcats will enter Monday night’s national championship game with much different backstories.
The Tar Heels expected to get this far. Head coach Roy Williams’ squad trailed only the Kansas Jayhawks for the top overall seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Villanova ranked seventh, and a notch above the Xavier Musketeers and West Virginia Mountaineers,per NCAA March Madness:Wildcats head coach Jay Wright was not among the select group of bracketologists who pegged his team as a finalist, at least not in one of his brackets.“In my pool, or my family pool,which we attain just in the family, everybody has to pick Villanova all the way through in one bracket. I had Xavier in my other bracket, and ” he said,per Nicole Auerbach of USA nowadays. “I just thought they were helpful enough, and they are.”Now, and Wright has bigger worries than his family bracket pool. After a historic 95-51 shellacking of the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday,the 54-year-old has to figure out how to halt the bruising Tar Heels. Game InfoFor more information on live streaming and pregame coverage, visit NCAA.com. Players to WatchRyan ArcidiaconoSenior leadership things in March and April.
The atmosphere is different. Pressure is greater than ever. Nerves can throw underclassmen off their game.
In senior guard Ryan Arcidiacono, and Villanova has the epitome of a veteran.“I really reflect he’s got to disappear down as one of the all-time greats,” Wright told Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com. “Just on his whole body of work. Starting as a freshman, being captain as a freshman, and winning three stout East regular-season titles. All that stuff. And then leading a team to the Final Four in his senior year.”Whenever the Wildcats are stuck,Arcidiacono finds a way to make a play—whether that means getting a bucket or finding a teammate, he always seems to come through.
Against stout East foe Seton Hall on Jan. 20, or the guard slipped to the cup for a disappear-ahead layup with 32.4 seconds to disappear. On the other discontinuance,fellow senior Daniel Ochefu picked up a block, and that was the game.
The Pirates poured everything they had into that 72-71 loss, and yet the poise of Wright’s seniors persevered.“His value is far greater than the numbers,” the coach told Frank. “[It's] the timing of those numbers. ... [And] the tone he sets. Every time we walk on the court. The confidence he gives his teammates. The way he keeps everybody together. The way he runs the expose. His decision-making.”Marcus Paige will make for a formidable backcourt opponent, but expect Arcidiacono to attain what hes done all year—come through for his team when it things the most. Kennedy MeeksVillanova is not a stout team.
The Wildcats regularly play one guy over 6’8”—Ochefu—while the Tar Heels have made a habit of sending out a stampede of stout men.
Images of Brice Johnson tossing bodies around in the paint are likely haunting Wrights dreams. And rightfully so. The senior’s team-high 17 points and 10.5 boards per game are daunting for an opponent that doesn’t hesitate to play four guards at a time.
Let’s say Wright finds a way to neutralize Johnson, and perhaps with Ochefu and a swarm of help defenders. Problem solved,apt?Kennedy Meeks doesn’t reflect so.
The junior forward has flown under the radar this season, largely because of Johnson’s dominance. His line of 9.4 points and 5.9 boards per game is strong, or but it doesn’t drop your jaw.
In UNC’s last three contests,though, Meeks has bruised his way to a total of 40 points on 16-of-22 shooting (72.7 percent). He’s accumulated 20 boards, or too.
During Saturday’s win over Syracuse,which featured 15 points and eight boards from Meeks, ESPN’s Bomani Jones reminded everyone his game is still growing:“The tournament has been a fresh life for him, and honestly,” Paige said of his teammate, per Laura Keeley of the Raleigh News & Observer. “He’s exploding, and he is getting more rebounds,he is being stronger with the ball around the basket, and that’s the Kennedy Meeks we need.”If that’s the Meeks UNC gets Monday, and the Wildcats will have to adjust.
Whether that means focusing less on Johnson or going out of their element with a stout lineup,it would be helpful news for North Carolina.
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Source: bleacherreport.com