The NCAA Tournament has only once sent all four No. 1 seeds to the Final Four, in 2008 when Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, UCLA advanced and the Jayhawks topped the Tigers for the national championship. But as the Tar Heels prepare for the Fighting Irish, they are still having some fun in the process. The Notre Dame team that headed to D.C. for the ACC tournament had lost three of its last five in the regular season, unable to close out against Georgia Tech, run over by Florida State, and toppled by Miami.
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“The 3s hurt us, no question about that”, IN head coach Tom Crean said, “but the post-ups, they destroyed us”. “They were more aggressive, (had) greater intensity, greater effort (and) more concentration”. “First half, we really didn’t get the ball inside”.
“The top part of this league, I should say top half have of the league was just off the charts this year”, UNC coach Roy Williams said. “If you want to go to the prom, somebody else has got to want to go with you. We’re locked in and hopefully we keep it going”.
But that aggression driven by vengeance won’t matter, and neither will the familiarity between ACC teams – it cancels itself out.
“I did everything I could do in practices, but the trainers, the coaches, the doctors – they weren’t comfortable with the situation I was in”.
“But, yeah, I guess if I was them, I would try to use that ACC game – like if it was us that got blown out, we would be talking about that nonstop up until the game, trying to get ourselves fired up for revenge”.
Half of the Final Four is now booked and the final two participants will be decided after a pair of intriguing matchups on Sunday.
The 4 best teams in the East regional come to the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia on Friday night for the Sweet 16 to see Notre Dame, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Indiana to see who will represent the east in the final four next week in Houston. This season both he and Notre Dame coach Mike Brey have lineups where talent and experience coexist.
The Sooners’ core four of Hield, Ryan Spangler, Jordan Woodard and Isaiah Cousins will start its 104th consecutive game together, along with 36 straight starts by Khadeem Lattin.
UNC hasn’t been quiet about disliking what the late start time does to game day – Williams elaborated before the Providence 9:40 p.m. tip time.
FOURTH TIME: This will be the fourth NCAA Tournament meeting between the schools and North Carolina has yet to lose. It’s merely a minor detail, if you will, but yes it’s still annoying. “I said, ‘Shut up”.
Paige has always been an excellent player for North Carolina, but as his college career nears its end, all phases of game are clicking. “We’re just excited for the opportunity and we’re just going to focus on what we do”.
Notre Dame, which faces North Carolina on Sunday is 50-to-1 to win it all.
UNC knows ND’s roster, its strengths and weaknesses and its stars.
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“I think it really just gave a lot of people confidence”, Pinson said of Paige’s early success. The Hoosiers can erase big leads (because they also play fast and shoot so well), but not against Carolina which thrives at that tempo. “But honestly, none of that stuff is the motivating factor”. Another big night from him would allow the Fighting Irish to further stretch North Carolina’s defense. OU is after its first Final Four trip since 2002. “We’re not done. We’ve got to go out there and play”. “But I knew that we could get a heck of a lot better”. We’ll find out Sunday here in Philly as the Irish and Tar Heels battle for the highest of stakes-a spot in the Final Four is on the line. I don’t care what happened in the past and I’m sure they don’t either.
