UNC Basketball: Keys for Tar Heels against Washington in Round of 32

COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 22: Rameses, the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot, is seen as they take on the Iona Gaels during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

4 of 4

COLUMBUS, OHIO – MARCH 22: Coby White #2 and Kenny Williams #24 of the North Carolina Tar Heels embrace before taking on the Iona Gaels during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

3. Zone Busters

Washington’s zone is one to be respected and dealt with cautiously, but that doesn’t make it invincible or impervious to opposing offenses. With any zone, there are cracks and weak spots, holes where offensive players can make life difficult for even the stingiest of defenses.

Up to this point, Washington has sported one of the best zones that basketball has to offer. Yet, they haven’t faced many relevant teams, with only two wins over teams in the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, they’ve yet to play a team with as strong as an offense as North Carolina, which will truly test the limits of what a zone can do to slow down UNC.

For the Heels, this isn’t the first zone they’ve seen this year, and it’s certainly not one that they can’t score against. Ball control will be a concern, of course, but getting shots to fall shouldn’t, not if earlier regular season play is any indicator. UNC put up 93 points against Jim Boeheim‘s patented zone in a victory over Syracuse in February. Statistically speaking, the Heels see no real difference between man-to-man defense and zone defense, scoring at similar rates against man (0.939 PPP, 86th percentile) and zone (1.02 PPP, 84th percentile) according to Synergy Sports.

Like past games against similar set defenses, UNC will need to play to its own strengths while simultaneously picking apart the weaknesses in front of them. Playing through the elbows and shooting over defenders should make the Huskies’ defense start to crumble, and pushing the pace (Washington sits 259th in adjusted pace) should make matters even worse for the 9-seeded underdogs.

Next. Three Keys for Duke versus UCF. dark

Roy Williams has a difficult matchup on his hands, but UNC is still the favorite nonetheless. Zones have struggled to contain the Tar Heels’ vaunted offense so far, and it’s hard to see Washington bucking the trend on Sunday, despite how much talent they boast up and down the roster. Nothing should be taken for granted in March, though, so expect the Heels to treat this game with the caution it deserves.

UNC and Washington tip off at 2:40 PM EST on CBS.

Home/North Carolina Tar Heels