Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC
When: Sunday, December 30th, 7:30 PM
TV: FSN
Records: UNC 12-0; Valpo 10-2
Now begins life without Bobby Frasor. And what better test than a good mid-major who will present certain challenges to UNC as Roy reconfigures the rotation to account for Frasor's absence. Questions range from how well Quentin Thomas will do running the point as the sole backup to who gets more minutes now. For the most part these questions will not be remotely close to an answer after this game but this contest could offers some early insight as to how Roy plans to adjust.
The interesting part of this matchup is Valpo is yet another tTar Heel opponent that comes in having won a lot of games and appears to be a good team despite being absent from any rankings. It will be fun to go back and see how many of these teams UNC has played outside the conference end up making the NCAA Tournament. At any rate, UNC will need to be sharp since Valpo comes in with an extremely balanced offense that spreads the scoring load among six players none of them above 12 ppg. Individual defensive matchups will be key since everyone on the floor for Valpo is a threat. The Crusaders are also an excellent three point shooting team at 41% with two players clocking close to 50% from beyond the arc. This will be another stern test for the UNC perimeter defense as they continue to improve upon that much talked about bugaboo.
This game is as much about watching this team do some growing to account for the loss of Frasor and continue to improve upon the last two excellent efforts to get into midseason form for the ACC grind.
UNC 105 Valpo 81