So it will be Rhode Island next Tuesday at 9:15 PM on ESPN in the NIT Semifinals from Madison Square Garden.
Rhode Island trailed Virginia Tech 60-48 in the 2nd half Wednesday night before going on a 31-12 run to win 79-72.
A little UNC vs Rhode Island history for you.
URI leads the all time series 2-1.
The last meeting between the two schools was in the 2nd Round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament. UNC beat the ever living crap out of URI to the tune of 112-67. The 45 point margin of victory is still a UNC record for winning margin in a NCAA Tournament game. Yes, that is shocking considering what the 2008 and 2009 teams were capable of but they only won their 1st Round games by 39 and 43 respectively.
Incidentally, URI gave Duke a huge scare last year before losing 82-79. Fortunately for UNC, Jimmy Baron is no longer with the Rams or else he would probably repeat his 8-10 three point shooting performance.
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That 31-12 run scares me a little bit.
I felt like most of the loss of that lead was on VT rather than how well RI played. Tech had pretty solid control of the game, then began to more or less act like they could make whatever they decided to put up, resulting in some ill-advised shots.
Once RI clawed their way back, they just played harder down the stretch, on offense and D. You could tell Seth Greenberg was pissed…they let this one get away.
Well, VT just fell apart, not that URI didn’t play well in that time but they just couldn’t do anything. During the game, Clay and I were thinking that we would rather see URI based on the match-ups. We should be able to own the paint and be less concerned about the 3-point shot. It was weird watching URI not get down the court quickly after a basket. It happened multiple times during the game and at some point you have to think – get back resonates. That 21 kid is the heat though and I don’t want to see us get in foul trouble working against him. Tickets are $45+$10+…well at least they are lower level.
^^Yes, Seth was pissed, it’s what he does best. He ruined a nice pen and scared a guy at the scorers table.
Kinda like watching the Ole Miss coach almost throw the game away for his kids. That was just maddening, our game clock running, Ole Miss with the technical then two overtimes.
I suppose that makes me feel better. But still…
That’s a relief about Jimmy Baron being gone. Loved watching him torch the nets at Cameron last year.
Meanwhile, Dayton totally dominating Illinois.
I was at the Illinois-Dayton game. Something in this game pissed me off. Can you guys figure out what it is?
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3942615&id=542807378
^Can’t view that what is it?
I think the difference the between the margins of UNC’s 2nd Round beatdown of URI in 1993 and the 1st round beatdowns of 2008/09 is a good example of how much more competitive CBK has become in the last 15 years. Once it started becoming common for freshmen and sophomores to go pro (starting in 1995) the gap between the Top 10-15 teams and the next 60 really started to diminish.
“So it will be Rhode Island next Tuesday at 9:15 PM on ESPN in the NIT Semifinals from Madison Square Garden.”
At least if there is a 2OT game at 7 on Tuesday it won’t prevent us from seeing the 1st 15 minutes of the UNC game…
UCLA playing at 9:15pm … wait, UNC? Aren’t they an east coast team?
That 1993 Rhode Island team was not bad and had played other good teams much more closely. They did make it to the 2nd round. It is hard for me to remember exactly how, but I think that team simply did not match up with us well.
His image has suffered in the interim, but at the time, Montross was a junior who was considered a warrior and a beast and had a reputation similar to Hansbrough’s when Hansbrough was a junior. Both were upper class scions who liked to battle down low. Montross was stronger but Hansbrough was a better shooter. Had Montross gone pro after that season, he likely would have been a number one pick, but he sort of lost his mojo as a senior and was never really the same player again, especially in the NBA.
Guy in a certain blue and white shirt sitting in the Orange Krush.
http://picasaweb.google.com/117722352662189898957/SadDayInMudville?authkey=Gv1sRgCIypnYKZsJfQ3wE#5452552499991044002
“Had Montross gone pro after that season, he likely would have been a number one pick…”
I don’t know, I have a hard time imagining him getting picked over Webber. I suppose he could have gone #2 to the 76ers (who picked Bradley), but I could also see him falling behind Penny Hardaway and Mashburn. The 1993 Draft was actually pretty solid.
^I am guessing we are all not thinking of the same Eric Montross. In hindsight, I am not sure why they took him so high in the draft.
No, not over Webber, but I remember the conjecture that he might be the top pick depending on who came out and who stayed. At the time, he was seen sort of as Bill Laimbeer-type, with possibly more upside, but his shooting faltered and I think he got the injury bug. He still took part in two of the most memorable wins in UNC history, the upset of number one Duke in 1992, when he had the blood running down his face, and of course, the win over Michigan. His match-up against Ostertag was pretty memorable as well.
I am not sure about blocked shots, but Montross was probably the greatest overall presence in the paint that UNC has had on the defensive end.
Most of our other 7-footers have been more like Henson in terms of build and game. Haywood was close, but he was still learning the position when he was at UNC. Maybe Mitch Kupchak was close, but he wasn’t as big as Montross.
^True. And it is inarguable (well, at least in my mind) that his stock was higher in 1993 than it was in 1994, much like Sean May’s stock was probably at its highest after the 2005 tourney.
I think Montross’ confidence suffered in 1994 with the introduction of two all-world freshman, Stackhouse and Rasheed. Those two did things that we hadn’t seen since the days of MJ. Eric was a big stiff compared to those guys.
The radio announcer on Saturday kept saying that Northern Iowa had a whole team of “big stiffs.”
Don’t sell Montross short as a shooter…
True story: In 1994, I coached a team of county all-stars (mainly high schoolers and some small-college players) against the UNC seniors on their post-season barnstorming tour, who that year were Reese, Phelps, Salvadori, and Montross. You may remember that UNC had the Sweet 16 streak broken that year and was a notoriously poor shooting team from outside (sound familiar?)
In any case, we packed back in a junior-high 2-3 zone and these guys ran the patented Dean Smith UNC secondary break, where the ball gets reversed to the big man at the top of the key. I told the guys at the front of the zone to drop and pack the lane, never expecting Montross to shoot.
He dropped three pure jumpers from the top of the key like a wing guard, and my jaw dropped because I had never seen anything like that from him in four years at UNC. Then Montross and those guys stayed for nearly two hours after the game and signed autographs and we raised about $3,000 for charity. It was a great night.
Great story, Doc. Thanks for sharing.
Eric did have one of those inexplicable large dips in free throw shooting percentage as a senior. Lucky for us, he shot close to 70% during the title year because there were several games during the run where we needed every point. I think he fell to about 56% from the line as a senior, which is somewhat similar to what has happened to Ginyard’s foul shooting, too.
So, what is everyone’s prediction for the NIT?
I think we beat URI, but get smoked by Dayton in the final.
^ I agree on the surdace of your matchup concerns Dayton presents, but here’s my counter to that:
While I think we can all agree W&M, Miss St., and UAB don’t frighten anybody, winning on the road in the postseason is still winning on the road in the postseason. Pure and simple this team is more cohesive, healthier, and more confident then it was a month-month and half ago so going to a neutral floor where we’ve already played this year sets up 2 games to which I don’t see us getting “smoked” in either. We’re learning not only how to win but how to compete over a 40 min stretch. If we do lose to URI or the Dayton/Miss winner I think we will be uber competetive and I mean we’ve made it this far, what else is there to do but win the whole damn thing?
UNC wins NIT against Ole Miss. Henson has 4 blocks in the final, 10 points, 14 rebounds, Deon has 18 points and Drew drops 12 points, two of which are critical 3-point shots made in the final three minutes. Marcus gets all rebound crazy.
I think they are in words of the player “feelin’ it” and have a good vibe going on in the tournament. I know Davis is out but if they can keep building and getting back to team play we could be looking at the group that beat Michigan State back in the fall and was close to taking out KY at Rupp. Just let me know if Dayton, URI or Ole Miss was close to these achievements. Not to mention having played in the Garden already this year with one big win, The Ohio State and one painful loss. The storyline is just too good and this team has all the juice.
I’m pulling for Ole Miss since their coach looks like he’s ready to explode at any moment and that Technical was nice. You can push – Roy, K but you can’t overstep. That’s my oversimplification based on suffering through the only game play of Ole Miss I saw all year.
Go Heels.
TarHeel8486 “…what else is there to do but win the whole damn thing?”
Right on.
Might as well…just win the darn thing, that is. It could make for a peculiar piece of trivia to share with newbie Tar Heels in 30-40 years.
“He dropped three pure jumpers from the top of the key like a wing guard, and my jaw dropped because I had never seen anything like that from him in four years at UNC.”
^Eric must’ve taken a dip in the hot tub time machine, and thought he was playing against the 09/10 Heels.