For the second straight season, North Carolina is playing in a title game. Though probably not the one it wanted to be in when the title defense began.
NIT Championship: Carolina, Defending National Champion, Takes On Dayton
Last year, UNC won the national championship; this year, they didn’t even qualify for the NCAA Tournament. But hey, at least they made it to the championship game of the NIT! The No. 4 seed Heels will square off against No. 3 Dayton Thursday night at the Madison Square Garden. The winner gets crowned NIT champion, and, um, 66th best team in the country?
Here’s how our Tar Heels blog, Carolina March, sees the Flyers.
Unlike a lot of defenses UNC has struggled against season though, they aren't generating an awful lot of turnovers. They mostly rely on very good shot defense coupled with a monster presence on the defensive boards. And they do so without a lot of height, as their best rebounders are 6'5" Chris Johnson, 6'8" Chris Wright, and 6'0" London Warren. They'll be tough to put a body on, although UNC should be used to it having faced Marcus Ginyard in practice.
On offense, it's a better story. Dayton has a turnover rate more horrific than UNC's, and free throw shooting almost as bad. They're prone to shooting threes, but nothing like the other teams Carolina has seen in the NIT. Most of the shooting comes from Chris Wright, who shoots the ball more than twice as often as almost anyone else on the team, especially from inside. They move the ball well through point guard Rob Lowery, and have a pretty senior-laden team. And like the Heels, they're using the NIT as redemption for a disappointing season. It's going to be a tough game, and require a level of consistency and shot-making UNC has had trouble achieving.
And from the Sports Network game preview:
Dayton has a storied NIT history, as it has made 21 previous appearances and owns a stellar 39-20 record in the tournament. The Flyers have won this event twice and have five second-place finishes to their credit, but all of that success occurred over four decades ago. Dayton was the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic 10 Conference this year, but the team failed to live up to the billing and was shunned as an at-large hopeful by the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Still, the squad has improved its overall record to 24-12 and is coming off a 68-63 decision over Ole Miss in the NIT semifinals on Tuesday night.
The Flyers and Tar Heels have split their only two previous meetings, and UNC won the most recent matchup by 30 points back in 2006.
North Carolina was fortunate to knock off Rhode Island on Tuesday, especially when you consider that the Tar Heels connected on only 34.9 percent of their field goal attempts. They shot 2-of-17 from three-point range and turned the ball over 17 times. UNC was also outscored 12-8 from the foul line, but the club did earn a 60-45 rebounding advantage and limited the Rams to 36.8 percent shooting. Deon Thompson scored 16 points and ripped down 13 rebounds for the Heels, who got 14 points from Will Graves. Tyler Zeller added 12 points off the bench for North Carolina, which is scoring 74.7 ppg while allowing 71.7 ppg to opponents this season. Thompson is netting 13.7 ppg as the only active double-digit scorer for the Tar Heels, who are outrebounding foes by 5.7 rpg.
As poorly as North Carolina shot the ball on Tuesday, Dayton was even more inefficient. The Flyers connected on a mere 33.3 percent of their field goal attempts, but they managed to hold Ole Miss to 34.4 percent shooting while outscoring the Rebels 24-15 from the foul line. Chris Johnson netted 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with four steals, and Marcus Johnson added 12 points before fouling out. Chris Wright showed his all-around ability by posting nine points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and a pair of steals. Wright is averaging 13.7 ppg through 36 outings, and he is pulling down 7.2 rpg as well. Chris Johnson checks in with 11.8 ppg and 6.9 rpg for the Flyers, who are generating 70.0 ppg while yielding 62.1 ppg.
Expect Dayton to get the job done tonight, spoiling what has been a confidence-building run by North Carolina. Wright and the two Johnsons will make the necessary plays to give the Flyers the NIT title. [...]
Dayton 69, North Carolina 65
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