UNC and Auburn together could create one of the highest scoring games in the Sweet 16. Which team will survive the possible shootout to keep their season alive?
TV schedule: Friday, March 29, 7:29 pm ET. TBS
Arena: Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri
While Duke and Virginia were the ACC teams viewed as most likely to win a national championship, UNC (29-6) has emerged as a legit threat themselves to win it all. The top-seeded Tar Heels struggled a bit versus Iona before pulling away, before handling Washington in the Round of 32.
Luke Maye had a huge game with 20 points and 14 rebounds, with freshman Nassir Little scoring 20 also off the bench. Fellow freshman Coby White had 17 on 4/7 from three-point range, while Cam Johnson contributed with 13 points and seven assists. UNC is third in the country in team scoring with 86 ppg and has one of the fastest paced offenses. There are few teams who can keep up with UNC.
One of them may be Auburn (28-9), coming off of an outstanding offensive performance against Kansas in the last round. They beat the Jayhawks 89-75 after scoring 51 first-half points. Point guard Jared Harper had 18 points and six assists while Bryce Brown had seven of the Tigers’ 13 made three-pointers in route to putting up a game-high 25. Dating back to their SEC Tournament title run, Auburn has looked like the preseason top-10 team that was viewed as a legit Final Four contender.
Both teams like to play up-tempo and launch a lot of threes. That does play into the Tar Heels’ hands a bit but that’s also how the Tigers play at their best. So don’t expect the game to be slowed down. The key will be how effective Maye is against Auburn’s frontcourt who has plenty of bodies to throw at him. If he has an effective game, the odds are great that UNC moves on. However, the Tigers are suited to pull off the upset. If a Sweet 16 upset is to occur, it’ll be involving a high scoring offense that goes off.