University of North Carolina Athletics
Mount St. Mary's Game Guide
March 21, 2008 | Men's Basketball
March 21, 2008
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
No. 1 seed North Carolina (32-2, 14-2) will take on 16-seed Mount St. Mary's (19-14, 11-7) on Friday. Mount St. Mary's is coming off of a 69-60 win over Coppin State in the play-in game on Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio. The Mountaineers have won six straight games, including the Northeastern Conference Tournament. This is the Mountaineers' third NCAA Tournament appearance, its first two also coming as 16-seeds in 1995 and 1999. The Mountaineers are 1-11 against ranked teams, knocking off No. 21 Georgia Tech on the road in 1995.
The Tar Heels are 21-1 in NCAA Tournament games played in the state of North Carolina and 5-1 in Raleigh. The lone loss came on the infamous "Black Sunday" when Penn defeated Carolina 72-71 in the East Regional second round in 1979 and Duke lost on the same day. Carolina has previously played in Raleigh for two games in 1968, one game in 1977 and two games in 1982, al wins. Carolina went to three Final Fours (1968, 1977 and 1982) after playing NCAA Tournament games in Raleigh.
Game Time: North Carolina vs. Mount St. Mary's, 7:10 PM.
Last Time: This is the first meeting between the two teams. St. Mary's head coach Milan Brown played in the NCAA Tournament for Howard in 1992, which lost to top-seeded Kansas, then coached by Roy Williams.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 6:00 PM.
Injury Report: Ty Lawson is still recovering from a sprained ankle. Marcus Ginyard is playing through a stress reaction in his left foot. Bobby Frasor tore his left ACL and is out for the season.
Storylines
Beginning the postseason clamp-down: Carolina has taken important steps towards becoming the type of defense team it needs to be in order to win the national championship. But in order to accomplish that, this team needs to take on the mentality that the 2005 team did heading into the NCAA Tournament, which was making defense an important part of its identity. As Williams said, "that team frickin' got down and guarded somebody." This team, as it showed by holding an explosive Duke team scoreless in the last five minutes of play, showed that it has the ability to do that.
The 2005 team held its first three postseason opponents to 68 points or fewer and held all but one postseason opponent to 71 points or fewer. The lone opponent to break 80, ironically, was the normally grind-it-out Wisconsin team who decided to run with the Tar Heels. Wisconsin also had the best shooting percentage against Carolina in the Tournament at 49.2 percent from the field. However, Carolina held four of its six NCAA opponents to less than 40 percent shooting (including holding Illinois to 38.6% in the title game and Michigan State to 33.8% in the national semifinal). Carolina was an explosive, talented team in 2005, but they did it with defense. This team will need to do the same.
Last season as a No. 1 seed in Winston-Salem, Carolina let a 16-seeded Eastern Kentucky team hang around perhaps a bit too long. Carolina led 41-20 with 5:44 to go in the first half and from that point until 16:04 remained in the second half, Eastern Kentucky went on a 24-7 run to cut the lead to just four points. Carolina was able to respond with a 19-6 run to get a safe lead back but Carolina needs to maintain its defensive focus from the opening tip of its opening round game and through the NCAA Tournament. "I feel like this team right now is progressing quickly enough to get to the point where our defense will be good enough. I think that we've gotten so much better just in the last week or two. So I think that if we continue to get better and just stay strong right now, I definitely think that this team has the potential defensively to be that team," Marcus Ginyard said.
This is a Mountaineers team that could give the Tar Heels a nice test. They are shooting 48.2% from the field in the past nine games, averaging 75.2 points per game and posting a 9-1 record. The Mount made an adjustment midseason and decided to push the ball more. In the 15 games since, they have hit 46.5% of their shots, 36.6% of their three-pointers and averaged 75.7 points. They have also scored 80 or more points five times in that stretch after failing to break 80 in the first 17 games and breaking 70 just six times prior to that.
Avoiding hometown distractions: Yes, Carolina will be playing its first and potentially second-round games in the state of North Carolina. But as Roy Williams has pointed out repeatedly, this Carolina team was undefeated outside of the Smith Center this season and its only two losses came at home. So while the crowd at the RBC Center will likely be Carolina-friendly, the crowd does not win games for the Tar Heels. This team did tend to be more focused from the jump on the road, especially lately (for instance, in Carolina's last trip to the RBC Center in front of a hostile NC State crowd).
Even some games that Carolina did not lose, but did not play great - Nicholls State and Wake Forest come to mind - both were in the Smith Center. Even last weekend in front of a largely Tar Heel-friendly crowd, Carolina played one of its worst games in awhile in the semifinals against Virginia Tech. "It was great to see a lot of Carolina fans out, but also I don't think that the crowd is going to play for us. Once again, I think we lost both of our games at home. I think it's good that they'll be there for us but also I think we have to play," Tyler Hansbrough said.
Williams said that he discussed both with his staff and his players whether they should stay in Chapel Hill or in a hotel in Raleigh. Ultimately, they decided it would be better for their focus to travel to Raleigh. But there are a lot of distractions that happen naturally staying close to home - friends, family, ticket demands, and the like - that can cause the players to lose focus on the actual games. "We're going to have a lot of fans here so we'll feel very comfortable. Of course, it's still going to be that tournament atmosphere and do-or-die like you said. You have to come out and you have to give it 100% and you have to stay focused the whole game," Wayne Ellington said.
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium frequency will be on or around 90.3 FM.
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.
CBS coverage: The game will be available on CBS. Jim Nantz and Billy Packer will have the call.
Names To Know
Deon Thompson: Thompson has not played more than ten minutes of the second half of a game in the postseason so far after playing 11 minutes in the second half against Florida State and ten minutes in the second half of the Duke game. Despite shooting 2-of-6 from the field against Florida State, Thompson earned defensive player of the game honors in the ACC Tournament opening-round game. His defense in the post has quietly - and steadily - improved. But as Thompson and Stepheson struggled some in both of the next two games, Roy Williams was going smaller more and more with Danny Green at the four-spot instead of either Thompson or Stepheson. When Green fouled out against Clemson, Marcus Ginyard was in at the four-spot.
Against Duke, Thompson did not shoot well (2-of-7) and had seven points, but added nine rebounds, including five offensive boards, and added five blocks, just one foul and no turnovers in 24 minutes. In the next three games combined, he shot 3-of-15 from the floor, 2-of-4 from the foul line, scored eight points and pulled down ten rebounds (four offensive boards). He also had a combined eight fouls and three turnovers (two in the championship game against Clemson). He played just 16 minutes against Virginia Tech and 17 minutes against Clemson after playing 20 against Florida State. But against Clemson, even though Thompson still did not shoot well (1-of-4) he had as many rebounds as he had in the first two games combined (five) and three offensive rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks in 17 minutes. It was only Thompson's second game since returning from injury in which he pulled down five or more rebounds and he did it against a Clemson team that is a great rebounding team.
Thompson, who is beginning to feel better physically, tends to do well when his confidence is high. He could really use a solid performance in the opening-round game to start feeling good about his game again. "Deon is not 100 percent by any means. He and I, in fact, had a nice little chat this afternoon and he is getting better, and he realizes that he's got to play better. I said he had to play better and not just focus on what he was doing offensively - do the job rebounding-wise, do the job defensively and that gives me an opportunity to play you more. If the shots aren't going in for you and you're struggling on the other end, you don't give me anything to hang my hat on. It was partly private, but other than that it was just, `Let's get focused and put that stuff behind you.' The biggest reason is I think he's finally starting to feel better. It's been a long run for him not feeling very well since the Virginia game at Virginia," Williams said. "But on Friday, Deon's going to start the game because I'm not giving up on the kid. He's had a tough stretch here with some injuries that haven't allowed him to do some things that he needs to do, and at other points, he hasn't played as well as he's needed to play."
Ty Lawson: Against Florida State, Ty Lawson posted his best second half of the season since returning from his injury, scoring eight points on 2-of-2 shooting (4-of-6 from the foul line) and adding one assist and one turnover in 13 minutes. Then in the next three halves of basketball (two against Virginia Tech and the first half against Clemson), he shot 2-of-14 from the floor, 1-of-4 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the foul line, scoring seven points and adding six rebounds, six assists, four steals, three fouls and six turnovers in a combined 38 minutes.
He was starting to get down on himself when finally Roy Williams spoke to him. "I told him yesterday, `You're going to make your next shot. Quit worrying about it. Stop putting pressure on yourself. You're going to make your next shot.' He walked away and I said, `Hey! I've coached a few dadgum games. I know what I'm talking about. You're going to make your next shot. Just get a smile on your face, quit pressuring yourself and go out and play.' He really made me look good because he made his next shot from about six inches. He drove in there and laid it up," Williams said. "So I looked at him and said, `See? I told you so.' I think that he's getting healthier, but it's got to be a confidence level. He has got to be confident enough in what he can do. If he does that, then I think our team is going to be better. He's a wonderful kid. He's gotten some criticism about not being tough enough or not coming back, but he's a wonderful kid who just wants to feel more comfortable and wants to get that confidence back. Hopefully he'll be getting it more each and every day."
Lawson made 3-of-3 shots from the floor (all two-pointers) in the second half of the Clemson game and 4-of-6 free throws, scoring ten points and adding two rebounds, three assists, three fouls and two turnovers in 14 second-half minutes. It was his best second-half performance since making 3-of-3 shots against Florida State. But in the ACC Tournament overall, he had 12 assists (eight against Clemson) and ten turnovers. He also made 4-of-13 two-pointers in the final two ACC Tournament games (30.8%) after making 9-of-16 two-pointers in his first four games back (56.3%). That put him at 13-of-29 on two-pointers since he has been back (44.8%) compared to 82-of-133 (61.7%) pre-injury. If he can build off of his second-half performance against Clemson, Carolina can ride the speedy point guard very far into the Tournament.
"Basically I just started playing and stopped worrying so much and stop worrying about somebody going to step on it. Coach also talked to me about it, go out and play and stop being scared and stop worrying about the ankle. Once I started doing that, I didn't feel like I had pain or anything like that, just go into the basket and not being afraid to jump off, and things like that," Lawson said. "I just don't think about it while I'm on the court. I feel like I have the ability to do it, and now I just feel like I'm past the mental part of getting over the injury."
Danny Green: Coming off of perhaps one of his best games of the season against Duke, Green struggled in the first two ACC Tournament games, shooting 4-of-12 (33.3%) from the field and 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. He had added four rebounds, three assists, one steal, two blocks, six fouls and two turnovers (one in the last 51 seconds of a tight Virginia Tech game) in 45 minutes in those two games. After shooting 2-of-6 from the field and 1-of-3 from beyond the arc in the first half of the Clemson game, adding two turnovers, he scored seven points on 3-of-3 shooting (1-of-1 from beyond the arc) in only around six minutes. Green's seven points in the second half of the Clemson game were his most in a half since his 14-point explosion in the first half of the Duke game. He fouled out with more than six minutes left and was limited by foul trouble in the second half, but he still managed to earn defensive player of the game honors for his performance. It was his third in the last six games.
During film sessions, Williams pointed out two different plays in the Virginia Tech game in the ACC semifinal when Green had injected himself into the action and when he had not. The one where he did, he helped get the ball to Tyler Hansbrough who made the game-winner against Virginia Tech. "Sometimes Danny, when things are really clicking, he can do so many things. He can get his hands on a lot of balls. He blocked seven shots against Duke. He can shoot the three-point shot. He can rebound. The mistakes that he makes a lot of the time are either not thinking or over-thinking. So if he can get both of those in sync there, I think he's going to be even better," Williams said.
Jeremy Goode: The sophomore point guard for the Mount is leading the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game and in points per shot (1.5). The 5-9 Goode also leads the team in assists (5.5 per game) and steals (2.0 per game). He has 177 assists to 108 turnovers and is the only player on the team with more assists than turnovers. He also shoots 44% from the field and is fifth on the team in rebounding (3.3 per game). He has attempted 250 free throws this season which makes him the first player in school history to attempt 200 or more in a season since the Mount moved to Division I in 1988-89. Goode is a native of Charlotte, NC and is the only player on the Mount roster from the state of North Carolina.
He has not shot the ball as well from beyond the arc this season, but after making just 7-of-37 in the Mount's first 24 games (18.9%) he has made 11-of-25 from the three-point line in the last eight games (44%). In the last four games, Goode has shot 16-of-38 from the field (42.1%), 6-of-17 from beyond the arc (35.3%) and 34-of-43 from the foul line (79.1%), averaging 10.8 attempts from the line per game and 18.0 points in that span. In the win over Coppin State, Goode had 21 points to lead the team on 5-of-11 shooting and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. He also had four rebounds and five assists, which led the team.
Chris Vann: The 6-0 senior guard is a team captain and has been steady as a scorer, averaging 14.3 points (2nd on the team), 3.0 rebounds and shooting 42.4% from the field (39% from beyond the arc). He also leads the team in free-throw percentage at 83.1 percent. After starting the season shooting just 7-of-16 in the Mount's first seven games from the free-throw line, he has shot 57-of-61 (93.4%) in the last 26 games. He has scored 20 or more points eight times this season and has reached double figures in 25 of 33 games.
He rebounded well from his worst two-game skid of the season (just ten combined points in two NEC Tournament games) by scoring 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting against Coppin State. He also had two rebounds and an assist. He has been in a bit of a slump from beyond the arc in the last five games, making just 6-of-26 three-pointers (23.1 percent). But in the Mount's first 28 games, he made 41.1% of his three-pointers and averaged 2.9 made three-pointers per game.
Jean Cajou: The 6-3 freshmen guard is coming off of an MVP performance in the NEC Tournament and he appears to be getting hot at a good time for the Mount. He is second on the team in points per shot (1.46), first in three-point percentage (47.1%), second in assists (1.3 per game) and second in free-throw percentage (80.5%). He shoots 43% from the field but in the last seven games, he has shot 58.9% from the field and 60.7% from beyond the arc after shooting 34.3% from the field and 30.4% from beyond the arc in the first 26 games. He also averaged 4.5 points per game in the first 26 games and has averaged 16.3 points in the last seven games.
He has seven double-figure scoring games this season and six have come in the last seven games. He has also averaged 12.3 points in the last 12 games, making 22-of-38 three-pointers and shooting 49-of-80 from the field after shooting 24.7% from the field and 10% from beyond the arc in the first 19 games. He has 22 steals this season, including four in the last five games.
Quotables
"He can't do dishes. He never puts up dishes. I feel like I'm always putting them up." -Tyler Hansbrough, when asked if there is anything his roommate Marcus Ginyard can't do
"I actually have no argument against that. I don't do the dishes. I don't know what to tell you. Tyler loves doing them, I guess. They're always done when I get home." -Marcus Ginyard
"I heard the Princeton tennis team was on a tour of the Dean Dome and the museum. I called someone who said they were touring them around. Someone said they wanted to play me in ping pong. I was like, `Well, bring him on down.' He came down and he had me point-to-11 or 10 or something like that. I got on a roll with my serves. He couldn't handle my serves. I came back and beat him. His whole team watched it - well, not his whole team, but a lot of his teammates - and they gave him a lot of grief about it. But I knew I was going to beat him." -Tyler Hansbrough
"That's with everybody. I feel like when you get to that certain level, someone is always looking for something negative about something. I don't understand what they're saying, but I also use it as motivation. I think there are a lot people that think I'm out there and I've also been successful or I wouldn't have that status. But still at the same time, I don't think I'm going to please everybody and I'm not trying to. I'm just trying to listen to a couple of people and that's our coaching staff here." -Tyler Hansbrough
"I told him (Quentin Thomas) he'd probably made the worst foul I've ever seen (fouling Clemson's Terrence Oglesby at the end of the game). I said, `Did you foul him?' He said, `No.' I said, `Well, the referee thought so.' To foul a guy shooting a three-point shot when that's the only way - they've got to get a four-point play because it's a seven-point game, they've got to get a four-point play and a three-point play. With nine seconds, you can have two possessions. But that's the only way. So I congratulated him." -Roy Williams
"I love Westerns - John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, those kinds of guys were pretty doggone aggressive. Somebody asked me one time if you could live in another lifetime, that would have been the period I would have chosen because I would have tried to have been John Wayne's sidekick." -Roy Williams
"Let's be honest - I'm always going to have misgivings about this tournament and the top three or four teams in the ACC probably always will. You play somebody for 16 games, and then you turn around and you've got to do it again? And what does everybody talk about? You think about our (2007) team, what does everybody talk about? That we lost to Georgetown. Nobody said, `Yeah, but they won the ACC Tournament.' ... I'm about as old as anybody out here and nobody loves this (ACC) Tournament more than I do, but it's not the same thing (as when only the winner went to the NCAA's). But if you tell me to play, by golly we're going to play the best we can play. I'm not going to go out there and play the last five guys and make a ridiculous thing of it." -Roy Williams
"If he (Marcus Ginyard) would make a dadgum lay-up, his numbers would have really been impressive. I asked him this morning, I said, `Coach Holladay, don't you think a guy ought to be able to make 50 percent of his lay-ups?' Marcus said, `Yeah, you'd think so.' I said, `Well, you're way below that.' He came over to me during the game and said, `I must have the worst percentage in the world for lay-ups.' I said, `Well if you don't son, there's not a hell of a lot of people below you.'" -Roy Williams
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
