University of North Carolina Athletics
Know Your Opponents: Final Four
April 1, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Oregon
Location: Eugene, Ore.
Rankings: No. 10 KenPom, No. 9 AP
Record: 33-5, 16-2 Pac 12
Bid: At-large (Lost to Arizona 83-80 in Pac 12 final)
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 4-0 (UNC 98, Oregon 69, Nov. 25, 2008, Lahaina Civic Center)
Oregon's hopes for another deep NCAA tournament run got a big boost when Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey opted to return to campus instead of bolting for the NBA last May. That meant the heart of the 2016 Elite Eight squad would be back for coach Dana Altman as the Ducks eyed their first Final Four since 1939. Even with Brooks missing the summer and the start of the season with a broken foot, Oregon won its second straight Pac 12 regular season title and the Ducks have topped the 30-win mark for just the third time in program history.
Brooks, whose injury recovery contributed to UNC and Oregon not meeting in Maui in November, is back to full strength and is without question one of the nation's best players. The Pac 12 Player of the Year leads the Ducks in scoring at 16.3 points per game and has turned himself into a strong perimeter threat to round out his game. After two years as a sub-35-percent shooter from deep, Brooks is making 41 percent of his 3s this season. He was exceptional in conference play, making 63 percent of his 2s and 44 percent of his 3s despite being the No. 1 volume shooter in the league.
With the loss of 6-10 senior Chris Boucher to a knee injury, Oregon is somewhat limited up front. Boucher's absence has led to increased minutes for 6-11 junior Kavell Bigby-Williams, but the star man down low for the Ducks is 6-9 junior Jordan Bell. More of a role player in 2016, Bell has emerged as a dominant force this season. The Pac 12 Defensive Player of the Year, he's been even better in the postseason, winning Midwest Region MOP honors after a near triple-double (11 points, 13 rebounds, eight blocks) in the regional final win over Kansas.
Bell and Bigby-Williams are basically the only regular rotation players who don't have the green light from deep. Led by Dorsey, who has made a ridiculous 17 of 26 3-point attempts in the tournament, the Ducks rank 37th nationally in 3-point shooting and 15th in effective FG percentage. While the loss of Boucher impacts the Ducks' shot-blocking ability, Bell's standout postseason has helped lessen the blow. Don't let the fact that you may not have seen them much fool you, Oregon is in Phoenix for a reason.
Gonzaga
Location: Spokane, Wash.
Rankings: No. 1 KenPom, No. 2 AP
Record: 36-1, 17-1 WCC
Bid: Automatic (Beat Saint Mary's 74-56 in WCC final)
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): Series tied 1-1 (UNC 98, Gonzaga 77, March 27, 2009, FedEx Forum, Memphis)
Just think, if not for Eric Mika's 29-point, 11-rebound effort for BYU in the regular season finale, Gonzaga would be two wins away from perhaps the greatest season in college basketball history. While 39-0 is no longer in play, the Bulldogs don't seem to mind. After finally getting over the Final Four hump, Gonzaga is the favorite to win its first NCAA title.
The most efficient team in the country for more than two months according to KenPom.com, Gonzaga does it with a balanced attack and an underrated defense that leads the nation in defending the 2. The Bulldogs feature a front line with a pair of seven-footers in 7-1 (and 300 pounds!) senior Przemek Karnowski and 7-0 freshman Zach Collins. Both big men are strong on the boards and above-average shot-blockers, and the Zags do a great job keeping their opponents from getting second chance opportunities.
A pair of transfers have also helped Mark Few's team finally reach the season's ultimate weekend. All-American and Washington transfer Nigel Williams-Goss has gotten the bulk of the headlines (and rightfully so), but former Missouri product Johnathan Williams has been fantastic as well. Williams-Goss has been an elite point guard as both a distributor (25.3% assist rate) and a scorer (team-high 16.7 ppg, 88 percent at the free throw line), while Williams is a dangerous inside-outside threat. The 6-9 forward ranks in the top 100 nationally in 2-point shooting while also making 40 percent of his threes (though in a small sample of just 37 attempts).
While people like to short Gonzaga due to a perceived lack of competition in the WCC, the Bulldogs have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are legit. Non-conference wins over Florida, Arizona and Iowa State plus a three-game sweep of Saint Mary's prepared this team for March, and the wins speak for themselves. It's going to take a special effort to deny Gonzaga its first title.
South Carolina
Location: Columbia, S.C.
Rankings: No. 25 KenPom, NR AP
Record: 26-10, 12-6 SEC
Bid: At-large (Lost to Alabama 64-53 in SEC quarterfinals)
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 57-21 (UNC 87, South Carolina 62, Orleans Arena, Las Vegas)
South Carolina may be the team that doesn't appear to belong in Phoenix, but it's possible that the Gamecocks are playing better ball than anyone left in the field. After a choppy finish to the regular season that saw them drop five of their last eight, the Cocks quietly bowed out of the SEC tournament with an 11-point loss to Alabama. Since then, a team that many picked to lose in the opening round to Marquette has been nothing short of dominant.
Any discussion of South Carolina has to start with SEC Player of the Year Sindarius Thornwell. The senior guard has taken his play to another level in the postseason, averaging 25.8 points and 7.5 rebounds in wins over Marquette, Duke, Baylor and Florida. He's even making better than 42 percent of his 3s, a sizable jump from his regular season rate. And that's just his offense. He's also spurs a Gamecock defense that ranks second nationally in defensive efficiency and forces turnovers at a higher rate than any team in the field not named West Virginia.
The emergence of Thornwell as an outside threat has been key for Frank Martin's squad, preventing opponents from packing it in against the somewhat undersized front line of P.J. Dozier, Chris Silva and Maik Kotsar. Dozier especially has feasted from inside the arc during the tournament, making two-thirds of his 2s over four games. Another crucial aspect of South Carolina's offensive surge has been the foul line, where the Gamecocks have gotten 105 times in the tournament, an average of seven more attempts per game than their opponents.
