2011 NCAA Tournament Third Round – East Region
#2 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. #7 Washington Huskies, Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC
Sunday, March 20, 2011, 12:15 pm Eastern, TV: CBS
Opening Line: North Carolina -3
Current Line: North Carolina -4
Opening Total: 155.5
Current Total: 158
Money Line: North Carolina -170 / Washington +150
The second-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels and the seventh-seeded Washington Huskies (24-10) find themselves in this third-round matchup of the East Region in the NCAA tournament despite covering the spread only once each in their last six games. The Tar Heels (-4) have gone 0-3-1 against the spread in their past four games overall following a 102-87 win over #15 Long Island on Friday and will need to play better defensively on Sunday if they are going to move on to the Sweet 16 after facing the Huskies at Charlotte’s Time Warner Cable Arena.
North Carolina has surrendered an average of 83 points in the last three games, returning to the same type of high-scoring play that head coach Roy Williams has been criticized for at times despite winning two national championships at the school. Defense was a much bigger part of the team’s strategy down the stretch of the regular season, as the Tar Heels held opponents to 70 points or less six times during a seven-game winning streak.
That changed against Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals, when North Carolina was forced to rally back from a 38-28 halftime deficit. The Tar Heels outscored the Tigers 45-35 in the second half and ended up winning 92-87 in overtime. The UNDER has still cashed eight times in their last 12 games after going OVER in five straight.
Tyler Zeller and John Henson combined for 60 points and 20 rebounds against the Blackbirds in their second-round win, scoring 22 of them at the free-throw line. Freshman Harrison Barnes also added 24 points and 11 rebounds, and he has averaged nearly 27 points in the last three games.
Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar used his ninth different starting lineup against Georgia in a 68-65 victory in the second round, hoping to give his team more size against the Bulldogs. Romar inserted 6-foot-8 forward Darnell Gant into the lineup, and he spent most of the first half on the bench after picking up two early fouls. The Huskies will need Gant and sophomore Aziz N’Diaye to stay out of foul trouble and help contain Zeller and Barnes in the paint.
Isaiah Thomas came through offensively for Washington against Georgia, scoring a team-high 19 points and dishing out seven assists. Thomas has scored in double figures in 12 of the last 13 games and will challenge North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall defensively.
The Huskies have covered just one of their last seven games with the UNDER cashing six times. However, they have also struggled defensively at times lately, giving up an average of more than 73 points in their last 16 games overall.
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