Coach: Roy Williams, five years at North Carolina, five years in NCAA Tournament.
How they got here: Automatic bid (ACC tournament champion); East first round: pounded No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary's 113-74;
East second round: routed
No. 9 seed Arkansas 108-77; East semifinals: crushed No. 4 seed
Washington State 68-47; East semifinals: battled past No. 3 seed
Louisville 83-73.
They'll keep winning if: The Jayhawks have several similarities to this edition of the Tar Heels. With energy
inside and polished perimeter players, neither club carries a decided advantage on paper. Tyler Hansbrough is having an
MVP-worthy tournament, averaging 21 points and 9.5 rebounds to carry North Carolina to double-digit wins in all four "tune-ups"
entering the Final Four. Give a major assist to point guard Ty Lawson. He's back at full strength and has 20 assists and just six
turnovers in the NCAA Tournament, showing no ill effects from the ankle injury that dogged him during ACC play. The 1-2 punch is the
Tar Heels' ticket to Monday's title game. Hansbrough will have his hands full against Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun
and KU brings an assortment of talented guards to challenge Lawson and Wayne Ellington. Both teams had moments of vulnerability
in the regional finals. Carolina couldn't put away a Louisville team that forced the Tar Heels to shift to a half-court pace consistently.
Kansas had problems with No. 10 seed Davidson and didn't get a big night from its offensive catalysts, including Brandon Rush. Still,
the Heels and 'Hawks survived. Kansas is unlikely to slow the pace and has the personnel to run with North Carolina, but guard
penetration has bothered the Jayhawks at times this season, and containing Lawson might include shading a help defender to his
area. North Carolina's Danny Green is one of the premier sixth men in the country and has back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts
entering Saturday's national semifinal.
Memorable moment: The Tar Heels trailed by three points at halftime at Clemson in their conference opener
and were down by seven with just 2:41 left in the second half. But the Heels outscored the Tigers 9-2 in the remaining time to send
the game to overtime. In the extra period, Clemson took an 88-87 lead when Demontez Stitt hit two free throws with 13.9 seconds left,
but Wayne Ellington answered with a 3-pointer with less than a second left to give the Heels a 90-88 victory. It was the first of two
overtime wins for Carolina over Clemson, the second coming in Chapel Hill 103-93 in a game that went two extra periods.
Tyler Hansbrough |
Go-to guys: Tyler Hansbrough is a national Player of the Year candidate and averages a double-double -- 23
points, 10.5 rebounds in
the regular season -- in leading the Tar Heels in scoring and rebounding for a third consecutive season. Ty Lawson, either off the
bench or in a starting
role, is a rocket at point guard with his speed and quickness. Wayne Ellington hit a bit of a slump in early February but provides the
Heels with an
outside shooting threat. Marcus Ginyard is a shut-down defender, and Danny Green is a solid contributor off the bench.
Strengths: North Carolina isn't quite as deep as it was a year ago because of the departure of Brandan Wright
and Reyshawn
Terry and the loss of Bobby Frasor to a season-ending knee injury. But depth still is a major asset, especially since Quentin Thomas
has had exposure
at point guard when Lawson was hobbled. Hansbrough stepped up his game even more when Lawson was hurt, and few teams
have the strength to
slow him down inside. Opponents can't foul him and send him to the free-throw line or he'll kill them there -- 81.3 percent in the
regular season. The
Heels also are the best rebounding team in the ACC, owning the boards by about 11 rebounds a game over conference foes.
Weaknesses: The Tar Heels really don't have any particular weakness an opponent can exploit. They beat
themselves with poor
shooting in the home loss to Maryland and were without Lawson in the loss to Duke. Turnovers can be a problem and nearly cost
them in both of their
overtime wins over Clemson and in a one-point win at Virginia. A team that can control the tempo could have some success against
the Heels, but the
only team that kept the Heels under 70 points in a game this season (Ohio State) still lost by 11 on its own court. Look for opponents
to gang up on
Hansbrough inside and hope for the best on the perimeter.
Coach: Rick Pitino, seven years at school, five years in NCAA Tournament.
How they got here: At-large berth; East first round: def. No. 14 seed Boise State 79-61; East
second round: crushed No. 6 seed Oklahoma
78-48; East semifinals: stomped No. 2 seed
Tennessee 79-60.
They'll keep winning if: Louisville gets its points by forcing turnovers and there's no brand of pressure
Rick Pitino won't utilize, including a sprawling zone with on-ball pressure. Defense has been the best offense for Louisville.
The tournament breakout star for the Cardinals, Earl Clark, isn't a pure scorer but he brings a unique skill set to play most any
role Pitino asks. In the past, Pitino has been successful assigning big guards to cover -- with regular help -- opposing point
guards. Senior David Padgett has the size to handle Tyler Hansbrough and challenge him on the other end with a
perimeter-oriented game and good all-around skills. Juan Palacios, Derrick Caracter and Clark also are capable of impacting
the North Carolina offense. Ideally, Louisville wants UNC to hoist long-range shots to create long rebounds and fastbreak
chances for the Cardinals. Opponents are shooting just 38 percent from the field against Louisville this season, and 30.5
percent from 3-point distance. The Cardinals play almost everybody in a uniform and never shy away from taking chances on
defense.
Memorable moment: Louisville struggled early in the season, losing to BYU, Dayton, Purdue and
Cincinnati by the
first week in January. But beating Kentucky seemed to revitalize the team, and then after a Jan. 28 loss to Connecticut it
embarked on a nine-game winning streak that didn't end until a loss to Georgetown in the regular-season finale.
David Padgett |
Go-to guys: Louisville has a balanced attack in which the team averages 72 points per game despite having
only four players averaging double figures. David Padgett leads the team at 11.7 points per game, and the team tends to
struggle when he's off his game inside. Terrence Williams can score both inside and out.
Strengths: Louisville is hard to stop offensively because the Cardinals run so many players at a defense
that somebody is bound to get hot. Four players made more than 40 3-pointers this season, and Louisville has a strong
inside
game to boot. It comes at opponents with intense defense and will make any opposing guard having an off night pay.
Weaknesses: The big Achilles' heel for the Cardinals lately has been free-throw shooting. Louisville
shot
65.6% from the line on the season, 13th in the Big East and last among the 12 teams that qualified for the conference
tournament. At times, it gets careless with the basketball, and there are a lot of players nursing minor injuries.
