Tomorrow evening the two winningest programs in college basketball history will do battle in Newark New Jersey Sunday evening for a shot at going to the Final Four. This is a rivalry that started with a Kentucky loss in 1924, in the then Southern Conference tournament. From 1924 to 2011 Kentucky and North Carolina have played a total of 33 times with North Carolina claiming 22 victories during that time, the last coming in December of 2010 by the score of 75-73 in Chapel Hill, N.C. These two proud programs have met in NCAA tournament action just twice in their proud history, with North Carolina winning both match ups, once in 1977 in the East Regional Finals, and once in the 1995 Southeast Regional Finals. Here we are again, a trip to the Final Four on the line.
North Carolina presents a couple matchup problems for the Cats, and both of them are in the post. First there is Tyler Zeller, he is an excellent player that has unbelievable low post skills. He can run the floor very well for a big man, he can score(15.6 ppg), block shots(1.1bpg not to mention 5 in his last game), and he can rebound(7.2rpg). Zeller played and excellent game against Marquette scoring 27 points on 9-19 shooting from the floor, 9-10 on free throws, not to mention 12 rebounds( 7 offensive) to go along with 4 assists and three steals. He will be a tough matchup for the Cats, and they will need another excellent performance from Jorts to have a shot in this one.
The other matchup problem is John Henson. This guy may not look very imposing coming in at 6'10 and looking like he ways about 115 pounds wet. But man can this kid play ball. He averages a double double with 11.9ppg and 10.1rpg. But what makes this guy really dangerous is his shot blocking ability. He averages 3.3 blocks per contest and recorded 5 blocks in last nights game against Marquette, to go along with 14 points and 2 rebounds. The most impressive part of his game last night was the fact that he blocked 5 shots while committing only 1 foul. This will be a tough matchup no matter who draws the assignment on this guy.
Everyone knows what Harrison Barnes is capable of doing so there is no since in me going into detail, I'll just say guard him well and try not to foul. Then there is Kendall Marshall
the freshman point guard, who in my opinion doesn't get enough credit for what he does for his team. He isn't a prolific scorer averaging just a little over 6 points per contest. But what he is excellent at is running the offense, he can find an open man like none other averaging 6.2 assists per game and he has had 6 games this season of double digit assists game with his career high being 16 assists coming against Florida State last month. So Kentucky has got to try and limit his touches, and limit his passing lanes. Should be an intriguing matchup with him and Knight going at it.
North Carolina basically plays 7 players just like Kentucky so depth is something that neither of these teams have the luxury of. Foul trouble early would spell disaster for the Cats, especially in the post. Kentucky needs to have a nearly perfect game tomorrow, and needs to have everyone show up ready to play on both ends of the floor. This time tomorrow we will either be celebrating a Final Four birth, or looking back on an AWESOME season. Either way, it has been one hell of an AWESOME ride this season that I am proud to have been a witness to!
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