UNC rolls past Butler in Elite 8

When he’s feeling it North Carolina is tough to beat.

They are an 11 seed – one notch lower than Syracuse was past year when it made the Final Four – but the notion of the Musketeers as the scruffy, lovable team from nowhere is best left in the 1980s and ’90s, when they really were just that. North Carolina and Kentucky beat Butler and UCLA, and they will meet in the Elite Eight Sunday.

“We let them get into a rhythm, especially in the beginning”, Chrabascz said.

Regardless of who prevails in the rematch between No. 3 seed UCLA and No. 2 seed Kentucky, the top-seeded Tar Heels are in for an all-out war on Sunday in the Elite Eight.

The victor of this game will play either UCLA or Kentucky on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four in Phoenix. This UNC team, like the two teams before it, has relied on players that have spent years together, that in some ways have grown up together. The Tar Heels have delivered back-to-back encouraging performances in terms of interior defense.

If North Carolina is shooting well and rebounding on the same night, it’s lights out. The shooting guard with no range limit made 18 shots, including eight 3-pointers. But Luke Maye (5.1 points per game and 35 percent from the 3-point line entering Friday’s game) started the matchup 3-for-4 from beyond the arc in the first half and finished with 16 points. Justin Jackson added 24.

“Maybe if Theo was playing, Malik only has 30 points and we still win the game”, senior forward Kennedy Meeks said. Nearly half of his shots are of the three-point variety, and he has a nice passing touch with a 1.68 A/TO. Now Pinson will get his chance. He’s a solid defender and a good passer with an A/TO of 2.57.

Greg Gard is in his second year as head coach of the Badgers, and he’s made it to the Sweet 16 for the second time.

Needless to say, Maye is going to have a pretty dominate National Football League career now.

Madison Square Garden is known for postseason hoops, but not the NCAA Tournament.

Las Vegas has Carolina a 2½-point favorite. The best way to keep Monk from making shots is to keep him from taking shots.

Getting early stops will be critical for the Tar Heels. Some teams just didn’t have their best games on the day they played and they don’t get another chance. They turned the ball over 10 times in the second half and got completely out of their game offensively.

The three-time Gator All-America golfer and two-time U.S. Open victor was in the stands sitting next to Packers QB Aaron Rodgers for the UF-Wisconsin game … wearing Badgers gear. And then there is the more recent history, too. But that’s just because I watched them play basketball during the regular season. But the Tar Heels are still capable of dominating an opponent. He’s great at defense but Roy Williams is well aware that when he has Pinson in the game they are eliminating an offensive weapon. Kentucky defeated Carolina 103-100 on December 17 in Las Vegas. Maye also grabbed 12 rebounds to record a double double. “It was just up to me to step up and knock in the shots”.

Up next will be the victor of the contest between UCLA and Kentucky, two more of the college basketball blue bloods. Last season was the first time Williams has guided UNC back to the Final Four since that 2009 season. Luke Maye was the other scorer in double figures with 16 points. Adebayo led the team with 5 assists, however. “We got to support each other”.

PREGAME: No. 4 seed Butler (25-8) vs. What Coach Frank Martin has to guard against more than not measuring up athletically is whether his team feels like it has reached its goal. I think defensively, we were not that sharp from that point on.