University of North Carolina Athletics
Know Your Opponent: Fairfield
November 14, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Fairfield (FairfieldStags.com)
Location: Bridgeport, Conn.
2015-16 Rankings: No. 215 KenPom, NR AP
2015-16 Record: 0-1
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): Carolina leads 1-0 (Carolina 82, Fairfield 74), March 13, 1997, Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum)
Year five of the Sydney Johnson era at Fairfield began much in the same way that year four ended. After the second of two straight 7-win campaigns last season, the Stags were soundly beaten by Yale Friday night to kick off 2015-16.
Forward Marcus Gilbert anchors a veteran front court, as the 6-6 senior is back after a third-team All-MAAC junior season that saw him average 16.4 points per game and make 55.4 percent of his 2s. Gilbert was joined in the starting lineup Friday by 6-10 Scott King Jr., who spent the previous three seasons coming off the bench at Stony Brook.
Jerome Segura takes over as the primary point guard with the summer departure of K.J. Rose, and the 5-11 sophomore dished out six assists in just 19 minutes in the opener. Sophomore Tyler Nelson and freshman Curtis Cobb round out the Fairfield starting five.
That's only part of the story, however, as 11 Stags saw action against Yale partly due to widespread foul trouble, with eight playing at least 14 minutes. Senior Coleman Johnson (six points, five rebounds in 19 minutes) and Serbian freshman Matija Milin (eight points in 14 minutes) were the most effective reserves.
Fairfield has played at a deliberate pace under Johnson, with two of his last three teams ranking outside the top 300 nationally in adjusted tempo. On Friday, Yale dominated both ends of the glass, limiting the Stags to just four offensive rebounds and grabbing almost 50 percent of its own missed shots. Against the size and depth of the Carolina front line, Sunday figures to be another tough day for Fairfield.
