University of North Carolina Athletics
Boston College Game Guide
March 10, 2007 | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2007
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
No. 1-seed Carolina (26-6, 11-5, 1-0) will face No. 4-seed Boston College (20-10, 10-6, 1-0) in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament on Saturday. The Tar Heels are coming off a 73-58 win against No. 9-seed Florida State in the quarterfinals, while the Eagles beat 12th-seeded Miami in overtime, 74-71.
Carolina is 0-1 against Boston College in the ACC Tournament so far, losing to the Eagles in the semifinals of last year's Tournament. Carolina's win over Boston College earlier this season snapped a 3-game Boston College win streak in the series, evening it up at 3-3. Carolina has not won in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament since 2001 and is 1-3 in this decade in the semifinals.
Game Time: North Carolina vs. Boston College, 1:30 p.m.
Last Time: Carolina beat Boston College in Chestnut Hill 77-72 on February 17. All five starters scored in double figures, and Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 17 points and 7 rebounds, while Ty Lawson and Brandan Wright added 13 each, Wayne Ellington had 12 and Reyshawn Terry had 10 points. Carolina shot 53.1% in the first half and Boston College shot 59.1%, but the Tar Heels shot 50% in the second half while holding the Eagles to 46.9%. The Tar Heels did not trail in the second half. Jared Dudley led the Eagles with 22 points, while Tyrese Rice added 20 and Sean Marshall added 14. Dudley had a chance to tie the game with 1:27 to play after being fouled on a three-point attempt by Reyshawn Terry, but he missed all three shots.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 12:30 p.m.
Injury Report: Tyler Hansbrough suffered a non-displaced nasal fracture in the incident at the end of the Duke game on Sunday. Earlier in the game, he suffered an injury to his mouth that will likely result in dental work at the end of the season. He will play in Saturday's game and may or may not be wearing a protective mask. "One time, I looked over at one of our assistant coaches and I said, `Man, I can't wear this thing.' He said, `Just make it through the first half.' I came into the locker room, gathered myself and put it back on. It was difficult. It's uncomfortable. I don't like it. It affects my vision, but I just have to get through that," Hansbrough said.
Storylines
Free-throw shooting: Carolina made just 13-of-25 free-throw attempts against Florida State for 52%. It was Carolina's lowest free-throw percentage in a league win this season, and the Tar Heels have shot under 70% from the free-throw line just twice in league wins so far this season. Carolina has shot 60% are lower from the free-throw line just five times this season, and twice in its last five games. Carolina is 2-3 in such games, the other win coming against Winthrop. Carolina shot 60% in the loss to Gonzaga, 55.2% in the first loss to Virginia Tech and a season-low 47.1% in the Maryland loss. Carolina's 52% against Florida State is actually somewhat misleading, since Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson combined to shoot 10-of-10 from the line and the rest of team shot just 3-of-15 (20%).
In Carolina ACC wins, its opponents are averaging just 16.7 free-throw attempts per game and are shooting 62.5% from the line. In Carolina's ACC losses, its opponents are averaging 28.2 free-throw attempts per game and are shooting 72.3% from the line. Carolina is attempting 24.6 free throws a game in league wins and actually attempt 28.2 a game in its league losses, but is shooting 73.2% from the free-throw line in ACC wins and 63.8% in losses.
All five Boston College starters shoot 70% or better from the line. Jared Dudley averages 6.7 attempts a game and Tyrese Rice averages 5.9. In conference play, Dudley is attempting 7.1 free throws a game and Rice is attempting 6.4. Sean Marshall is averaging 4.1 attempts a game. The team is averaging 25 attempts and 18.3 made free throws and making 73% in ACC play. The Eagles have made 292 free throws in league play, 70 more than their opponents have attempted (222, or 13.9 a game).
Boston College ranks third in the league in free-throw percentage on the season with 72.4% and third in free-throws attempted per game (24.8) behind Wake Forest (26.5) and Carolina (25.3). Carolina ranks sixth in free-throw percentage at 69.9%. Tyler Hansbrough attempted his fewest number of free throws (two) on the season and making his fewest (zero) against Florida State. The only two times in his career that he failed to record a free-throw attempt both occurred last season: in the quarterfinal win over Virginia in the ACC Tournament last year and in the NCAA Tournament second-round loss to George Mason.
Boston College shot 17-of-24 (70.8%) including 13-of-18 in the second half and 3-of-3 in the overtime in its victory against Miami yesterday. The last meeting between Carolina and Boston College came down to Carolina shooting 16-of-20 from the free-throw line and Boston College shooting 11-of-21. The Tar Heels will need to both get to the line and made their free throws against the Eagles. With Hansbrough somewhat out of sorts with his injury, it will remain to be seen if the Tar Heels will be able to get to the line enough as a team since Hansbrough has attempted 32.2% of Carolina's free throws this season.
Staying focused: The Tar Heels seemed to be having fun playing against Florida State in the opening round of the Tournament. Carolina was up just 31-26 with 42 seconds left in the first half and finished out the half with a quick five-point flurry to go in leading 36-26. "Most of the year, we've been messing up in the last couple of seconds like they would come down and they would score and the locker room would be down and we'd be mad," Lawson said. "Everybody in the locker room was jumping around and having fun. That probably helped us in the second half, too."
But the Tar Heels need to maintain a balance between having fun and staying focused. The "highlight reel" play of the game arguably occurred when Brandan Wright corralled a seemingly-errant Quentin Thomas alley-oop, gently dropping it into the basket on a 4-on-2 fastbreak. Sure, the Carolina faithful in the crowd loved it - but Roy Williams was noticeably upset.
"It was stupid. If Brandan didn't jump as high and have those long arms, he would have turned it over on a four-on-two, but Q chose that Brandan could get up there to get it, and I told him Brandan saved his life."
Coach Williams decided to use the play as a teaching moment to demonstrate to his young team that even though the play worked and it looked pretty, it wasn't necessarily the best idea. But Thomas wasn't the only Tar Heel to arouse the ire of Coach Williams, who said his team made quite a few dumb plays throughout the game. Rather than pat his team on the back for a 73-58 win, then the most convincing win of the ACC Tournament, he instead let them know that their play was not acceptable.
"It's important, and I try to do it all the time. I don't know if it's any good, but I keep coaching or teaching. When you have a 4-on-2, make the easiest play you can make, don't make the most difficult. I didn't think it was a very good play," Coach Williams said. "We had done some silly things. When you go back and look at it - we foul a guy shooting a three-point shot, we drop the ball inside, we give up the dead lay-up and we miss a dunk. During that time period it was a little frustrating to be a coach. We missed both shots of a two-shot foul about 37 times during the game."
Carolina's depth has been an asset all season long, but Coach Williams cannot afford to go 10-12 deep in the postseason if Carolina's bench cannot contribute. In this game, the Tar Heel bench (seven players) came in and pulled down 13 rebounds out of Carolina's 37 total, and shot 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from the three-point line for 13 of Carolina's 78 points. However, they had just three total assists and nine of Carolina's 19 turnovers. They also committed 10 of Carolina's 19 fouls.
"I did tell them when I started the game, I wanted to play a lot people but you have to play well when you get in there. At halftime, I chewed on a couple of them because I didn't think they took the opportunity that they were given. In the second half, I think we did a better job of that. For us, we want to play a lot of people anyway," Coach Williams said. "At the eight-minute timeout, I said, `We've played 12 people already. We didn't have to play yesterday. We should have more energy. We should be able to get the rebounds where they don't get second shots. I do believe in the second half, we did a much better job of keeping them off the boards except for two little flurries where they had 3-4 shots at one time."
Boston College shot 51.9% from the field against the Tar Heels in their last meeting, which was the only time in ACC play the Tar Heels allowed an opponent to shoot 50% or higher from the field in a win. Both teams made 28 field goals and five three-pointers each; Carolina got the win because it maintained its focus down the stretch. Reyshawn Terry overcame a late mistake (fouling Jared Dudley on a three-point attempt) by sinking key three-pointers and playing solid defense on Dudley on the game's last possession. If Carolina can keep its focus throughout the game, it should come out with the win. But this is a hungry Boston College team with a few seniors who are still sore from losing to Duke in the ACC Championship game last season and would like to get back there this year.
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium frequency in the St. Pete Times Forum will be FM 92.9.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
Raycom/LF coverage: The game will be available on Raycom/LF locally and ESPN (and ESPNHD) nationally.
Names To Know
Brandan Wright: In the win over Florida State, Wright had 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting and added two rebounds, one assist, three turnovers and three blocks in 28 minutes. What was most impressive about Wright's performance was not seen in the statistics - well, at least, not his own. He spent quite a bit of the game guarding Florida State's Al Thornton, whom he helped hold to 12 points on just 4-of-13 shooting (1-of-3 from the three-point line). His defense has improved tremendously in Carolina's last few games. The win against Florida State ended an eight-game streak of at least one steal, but Wright is still on a streak of at least one block in the last eight games. Wright had just five steals in his first six conference games (0.8 a game) and is averaging 1.4 a game in his last 11 games.
"Brandan has really good feet, tremendously long arms. He's got good instincts. We gave him a little more help today - when Al (Thornton) gets on the left side and drives that baseline, we crossed the lane with some more people so we did give him some help. I think that Brandan, before his career is over with, could be one of those guys who could guard a 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 because he does have that good of feet and then the long reach, so I think he can give the little guy space and he can bother people outside. He also will get bigger and stronger and be able to guard the guy inside," Coach Williams said.
The ACC Freshman of the Year is 14th in the league in both scoring and rebounding with 14.8 points a game and 6.2 rebounds. He still leads the league in field-goal percentage, shooting 65.6% and is sixth in blocked shots per game with 1.74.
Last time against Boston College, Wright had 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 1-of-1 from the free-throw line, adding three rebounds, a steal and three blocks in 30 minutes. Boston College does not have anyone that matches up well with Wright's quickness and length in the post, and since Hansbrough is still adjusting to the mask, Wright will need to do his best to compensate both in terms of points and on the backboards.
Ty Lawson: In the win over Florida State, Lawson had 14 points (his most since the February 7th game at Duke) on 4-of-8 shooting from the field. Lawson and Ellington were the only two Tar Heels who did not miss a free throw, as Lawson shot 6-of-6. That performance brought his free-throw percentage in league games from 66.7% to 70.8%. He also had eight assists and two turnovers. His three steals were his most since he had four against Arizona in late January and the most in conference play since the win at Wake Forest, when he also had three. He had just one foul, his fewest since the February 10th win against Wake Forest in the Smith Center.
Lawson ranks fourth in the league in assists with 5.5 a game, ninth in steals with 1.56 a game, and second in assist-turnover ratio with 176 assists to 72 turnovers (2.44). In the last four games, Lawson has shot 12-of-13 (92.3%) from the free-throw line and had shot 22-of-35 (62.9%) in the previous 13. In Carolina's last 10 league games, Lawson has 64 assists to just 18 turnovers (3.6 ratio). In Carolina's first seven league games, he had just 28 assists to 26 turnovers. Lawson also has at least one rebound in Carolina's last nine games. He has at least one steal in all but four conference games played so far.
Last time against Boston College, Lawson had 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting and added seven assists, six rebounds, a steal and three turnovers in 33 minutes. Lawson pushed the ball up the court to score after a made basket twice against Boston College, and no one could stop him. He and Tyrese Rice engaged in a titillating point guard duel last time, but Lawson will need to play good defense on Rice and continue to push tempo for the Tar Heels.
Jared Dudley: Dudley struggled in the overtime win over Miami, shooting just 3-of-9 from the floor and6-of-7 from the free-throw line for 12 points. The ACC Player of the Year ranks second in the league in scoring with 19.0 points a game, first in rebounding with 8.4 a game, fourth in field-goal percentage at 57.2%, tenth in free-throw percentage at 75.0%, fourth in offensive rebounds with 3.1 a game, and first in minutes played with 38.56 a game.
Dudley shot 12-of-29 (41.4%) out of conference from the three-point line and has shot 24-of-50 (48.0%) from beyond the arc since conference play began. Dudley also leads his team in steals in league play with 21 (1.3 a game).
Dudley has had ten 20-point scoring efforts in league play, but has had just one in his last four games. Since the last match-up with Carolina on February 17, Dudley is averaging 15.0 points a game and shooting 44.4% from the field and 30.8% from the three-point line. He has failed to make at least one three-pointer in ACC play in just six contests, and two of those games have come in Boston College's last six. He has not made a three-pointer since February 24th in a win against Clemson in Chestnut Hills.
"I think the new thing that people are starting to do is to put their power forward on me, putting someone bigger and physical. They're just trying to bang, just trying to wear me down. Obviously I play a lot of minutes, I just missed a lot of shots especially early in the game," Dudley said. "I'm pushing a lot of guys off with momentum if I hit a couple of shots, then I can get it going. I'm a guy that likes to force a lot of shots, sometimes they double sometimes they don't."
Last time against Carolina, Dudley had 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting (7-of-13 from the free-throw line) and added three rebounds (two offensive), three assists and two steals in just 33 minutes. He missed three important free throws at the end of the game that would have tied it, and being the competitor that he is he likely has not forgotten that. Reyshawn Terry and the Tar Heels will have yet another tough defensive match-up on their hands.
Tyrese Rice: Rice overcame Dudley's struggles with a career-high 32 points on 9-of-14 shooting (6-of-10 from the three-point line) and the sophomore also added three assists and two steals in 45 minutes of action against Miami.
The sophomore point guard is seventh in the league in scoring with 17.6 points a game, third in assists with 5.57 a game, tenth in assist-turnover ratio with 167 assists to 104 turnovers (1.61), and third in minutes played with 36.33 a game. His three-point percentage has been slightly down in conference play, as he made 29-of-82 (35.4%) three-pointers out of conference and has made just 23-of-80 (28.8%) in ACC play. In his three games previous to the Miami game, Rice had shot just 2-of-10 from behind the arc. He shot 6-of-10 against Miami.
In the last four games, he is averaging 19.8 points and shooting 53.5% from the field and 78.1% from the free-throw line, averaging 8.0 attempts per game. He also has 15 assists, 12 turnovers, three steals and 18 rebounds.
Last time against Carolina, Rice had 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field and added five assists in 40 minutes.
Quotables
"I haven't won an ACC Tournament championship since I came back. I would love to do that myself. Everybody always acts like that I pooh-pooh the ACC Tournament because there is that thought process that you play people for nine weeks, why do you have to play them all again in three days? But it's what it is, and since we're here I want to win this sucker. There's no question in my mind that I'd like to win it. I'd like the world's largest cocktail party, the Carolina Blue people to have more bragging rights than anybody else." -Roy Williams
"I've watched a lot of basketball - I've never seen them give you extra points for degree of difficulty. That's in gymnastics or diving, but it doesn't happen in basketball." -Roy Williams
"I'm just not one of those guys that likes to have things put on me." -Tyler Hansbrough on the mask
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
