Where: RBC Center, Raleigh, NC
When: Wednesday, February 20th, 7:00 PM
TV: ESPN
Records: UNC 24-2, 9-2 ACC; NCSU 15-10, 4-7 ACC
No screwing around and letting these guys shoot 76% from the floor again
If you ask me, UNC needs to treat this game with extreme caution and do their best to bring their A game. When you are talking about a team whose fans hate UNC with almost every fiber of their being and staring at their last chance to salvage NCAA Tournament hopes I expect a more spirited effort from the Pack than we saw in Chapel Hill last month or any other lazy versions appearing in red uniforms over the past few games.
Given the PG situation at NCSU and the vastly improved play of Quentin Thomas the Ty Lawson equation is minimized for this particular game. Questions surrounding Deon Thompson availability strikes me as a much bigger issue given how well NCSU plays in the interior. If Thompson is again limited it means Alex Stepheson needs to step up and play huge as he did versus Virginia Tech. The whole depth issue in general also puts Will Graves on the spot again, not so much for his offense, but for him to hustle and play defense.
This is a straight up "go on the road and take care of business" game. Wake Forest pulled Duke back to within a game for the ACC lead and UNC needs to answer the bell and not give that progress up. I would also like to see this team show some consistency and play a game similar to what we saw on Saturday. Some evidence that the Heels are finding a groove heading down the stretch would be a great ramp up to the games that end up with trophies being awarded.
UNC 88 NCSU 72