Legendary programs are always bound to clash during March Madness. With the first round coming to a close and the bracket officially locked in, fans have their marquee games penciled in. One of these battles will be between North Carolina and Michigan State. The Tar Heels have had an insane year in the ACC and hope to replicate the same success in the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, Tom Izzo's Spartans struggled for a bit in the Big Ten but still made it to the dance. Despite this, Coach Hubert Davis will still take them seriously.
The spirit of March Madness is that anything can happen. Avid spectators just saw Kentucky get mopped by a guy who only exclusively shoots from three-point range. With this North Carolina hopes to treat every one of their opponents with respect and take it one game at a time. They have just come off their first win over Wagner which means that Michigan State is up next. Coach Hubert Davis unveiled what he thought of Tom Izzo's team before they face off, via Zack Pearson of USA Today.
“The year 2017 we won the championship, it was us against Arkansas, two heavyweights. When it gets down to the round of 32, there are only 32 teams left. So that round is normally going to be two extremely good programs. We’re excited about the challenge of playing against a great Michigan State team,” Hubert Davis said.
Michigan State just beat up Mississippi State with a 52 to 69 scoreline. That first-round March Madness game saw everyone in the Spartans system contribute. Tyson Walker got most of the buckets as he knocked down seven out of his 12 shots for 19 points. AJ Hoggard may have had trouble with the passing lanes but he still delivered eight dimes and eight points. With the likes of Mady Cissoko and Malik Hall guarding the paint, North Carolina will surely have a hard time.
North Carolina has something up their sleeve
The North Carolina head honcho does have a plan to get them into the Sweet Sixteen.
“We’ve just got to be better defensively. We talk about finishing each possession defensively. One, without fouling, and two, getting the rebound. Just got to do a better job at that. It hasn’t been any secret. We’ve identified what allows us to have success, and that’s getting after it defensively, rebound, and take care of the basketball,” the Tar Heels coach declared.
The duo of Armando Bacot and RJ Davis may have combined 42 points with the big man notching 15 rebounds but their defense was what stood out. They limited Wagner to a horrid 39.7% field goal percentage. Their rebounds? It was well taken care of. While Wagner grabbed 24 of them, North Carolina dominated the boards with 43 rebounds. Ball movement was also huge for the Tar Heels as they managed to get 14 total assists.
Coach Davis noted that there are a bunch of errors in terms of fouls, ball-handling, and rebounding that they need to fix before facing Tom Izzo's Michigan State.
“I felt like in the first half we had moments where we weren’t checking any of those boxes, and that’s something, as you continue to move forward and specifically against Michigan State, you just can’t do that. You’ve got to be sound in all three of those areas,” he declared.
Who do you have winning this cross-conference clash between the Big Ten and ACC?
Follow Us
Subscribe