North Carolina vs. Washington NCAA Tournament Prediction, Game Preview

By: Pete Fiutak | March 22, 2019 10:26 pm

NCAA Tournament: North Carolina vs. Washington fearless prediction and game preview.

Broadcast

Date: Sunday, March 24
Game Time: 2:40 ET
Venue: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
Network: CBS

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All You Really Need To Know About Washington (27-8)

(Pac-12), NCAA NET Rank: 45. Midwest 9-seed

Now there’s the Washington team we were all hoping to get in the Pac-12 Tournament title game loss to Oregon. The Huskies came out roaring against a strong Utah State team, ripping it up from the start from three on the way to a surprisingly laughable 78-61 laugher. And now it’s time to have some fun.

The Huskies are usually just okay from three, but they hit 10-of-17 tries from the outside and shot 49% overall from the field. The problem against North Carolina? They don’t do enough on the boards – they were out rebounded 35-29 by the Aggies – and they commit a whole lot of fouls. However, this is a terrific young team that forces a whole lot of mistakes.

All You Really Need To Know About North Carolina (28-6)

(ACC), NCAA NET Rank: 7. Midwest 1-seed

There weren’t any issues with Iona in the first round … after the half. The offense turned it on to put the game away, but stopping the Gaels kept bombing from three and hit 15 of them. It was a sloppy performance, it wasn’t exactly the opener the team might have wanted, and … it was a blowout. The 86-73 win was fine.

The Tar Heels are killers on the boards, leading the nation in total rebounds and finishing third in rebounding margin. But the real problem for the rest of the field going forward is their scoring punch.

They can hit from the outside, but they’re at their best on the move and have the inside presence to play the power game, too. Few teams are better at moving ball around.

What’s Going To Happen

Washington has the make-up to get hot on the right day and pull this off, but this isn’t going to be one of those days. This is a horrible matchup for the Huskies, mainly because of UNC’s ability to dominate on the board.

The Tar Heels are good enough at guarding the three to keep from getting rocked, and they pass too well and are too tight with the ball to have problems with the Washington guards and steals.