North Carolina Basketball: 3 keys for the Tar Heels against Gonzaga

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 05: Kai Toews #10 of the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks drives against Sterling Manley #21 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second half of their game at the Dean Smith Center on December 05, 2018 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina won 97-69. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

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Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images /

2. Keep the Gonzaga backcourt in check

Keeping Hachimura’s points down and Clarke off the offensive glass is one challenge, but that’s not all. They’ll also need to keep Zach Norvell Jr. and Josh Perkins in check in the backcourt.

Norvell is the team’s second-leading scorer (17.6 ppg) and assist-man (3.5 apg) entering Saturday’s matchup. He’s shooting 37.9 percent from 3-point range and making 3.3 shots from behind the arc per contest in 2018-19.

The last time Perkins played against the Tar Heels was as a member of the 2017 Final Four squad, so that should certainly raise the stakes for him in this one. He’s producing 10.2 points, 8.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game as their senior floor general.

Both teams like to push the pace and score a lot of points. The Bulldogs are putting up 94.1 points per game but they’ve yet to face an offense quite like North Carolina’s this year.

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