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Friars Draw North Carolina

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The newly crowned Big East Champion Providence Friars earned an 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will take on 6th seeded North Carolina on Friday in San Antonio.

Few second round games will feature a better matchup than Bryce Cotton versus Tarheel point guard Marcus Paige. Cotton was an absolute terror in the Big East Tournament championship against Creighton and was named 1st Team All Big East for the second season in a row, while the sophomore Paige is a 1st Team All ACC performer and made The Sporting News’ 2nd Team All America. Paige and injured Friar Kris Dunn were both in the debate for the top point guard in the class of 2012 — and both were named to the McDonald’s All American team that year.

Here is a quick rundown of Carolina:

1. They go as Paige and James Michael McAdoo take them. Both will play in the NBA at some point, but McAdoo has not become the star that many expected him to coming out of high school. Now a junior, McAdoo is a 14 point, 6 rebound power forward and the team’s second leading scorer behind Paige (17.3/4.3/3.3). Their supporting cast consists mainly of an inconsistent, talented bunch of underclassmen.

According to The Charlotte Observer Paige is shooting 38% in UNC’s losses and nearly 47% in their wins. He makes 44% from 3 in those wins, while shooting just 28% from deep in their losses.

2. Consistently inconsistent. What the Friars see on Friday is anyone’s guess. Carolina defeated Michigan State when they were ranked #1, Louisville when they were #3 and Kentucky when they were #11 before starting 1-4 in ACC play. With losses to UAB, Texas and Belmont leading into the four early conference losses this was a season teetering on being a lost one before they got hot.

3. Season saving streak. The Heels caught fire in late-January, winning 12 straight games prior to a loss in their regular season finale last Saturday against Duke. That loss was followed up by an 80-75 defeat in their opening conference tournament game against Pittsburgh. They trailed by 20 points late in that one before Paige got hot from deep and made it a game again.

4. Winning the battle of the boards. Pittsburgh big man Talib Zanna dominated Carolina on the offensive glass in that 80-75 loss. The one-time PC recruit grabbed a whopping 10 offensive rebounds. Zanna, a fifth year senior, was recruited the same year as Kadeem Batts, and if the Friars are to win this one they’ll have to hope that Batts and LaDontae Henton can dirty it up on the offensive glass.

The Tarheels have been a good rebounding team this season, but were they exposed by Zanna?

Batts was the Big East’s top offensive rebounder (3.2 per game), while Henton finished fourth (2.4). The Friars defeated Creighton by bullying them at times and they’ll have to bring an element of that with them to San Antonio if they are to pull off the upset.

5. Common opponents. Carolina defeated Kentucky, Maryland and Boston College this season, going 3-0 against teams PC finished 1-2 against.

Email Kevin at kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

Twitter: Kevin_Farrahar

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