Where: Scotttrade Center, St. Louis, MO
When: December 22nd, 7:00 PM
TV: ESPNU
Records: UNC 9-1, St. Louis 9-2
Road trip to Tyler's house!
This is the second half of a home and home with the Billikens. It has been a UNC tradition to play a game near the home of every player on the team at some point in their tenure. This also is the first true road game for the Heels since the four games in the NIT were all neutral court affairs. In one respect it will be a test for the freshmen who have not played in a hostile environment although accordin the Jones Angell this morning on 620 AM about 1/3 of Poplar Bluff have tickets. This is also a game of contrasting styles and Tyler Hansbrough who is intently focused on impressing the hometown folks will be facing the type of center who has given him trouble in the past. Ian Vouyoukas is 6-10 and averaging 1.9 blocks per game. The real test here will be how well Hansbrough handles this type of defense. The Billikens will also look to play a more deliberate pace, probably because they do not go much beyond six people with the seventh abd eighth guys on the depth chart logging about 10 minutes a game. UNC will look to take advantage of their depth and push a tempo to wear the home team down. I expect somewhat of a struggle early with UNC asserting itself and it's superior talent as the game wears on.
UNC 87 SLU 77