North Carolina's Rebounding Advantage Will Test Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. – Shortly after seeing Wisconsin’s name appear as a No.9 seed in the 2021 NCAA tournament bracket, paired up opposite No.8 seed North Carolina, Brad Davison was asked his impressions on the Tar Heels over the years
The senior guard acknowledged a program being one of the best in college basketball, possessing a lot of athletic talent coached by 900-game winner Roy Williams. He also assumed the Tar Heels, like usual, were exceptional at crashing the offensive glass. When informed North Carolina indeed led the nation in offensive rebounding, all Davison could do was chuckle.
“That’s kind of the usual UNC protocol and how they operate,” Davison said. “I’m looking forward to watching somebody new.”
While the Badgers (17-12) are relieved they finally get out of the grind of the Big Ten after losing six of their last eight, their NCAA tournament opener is going to have a familiar feel to it. Not only will they be playing in Purdue’s Mackey Arena (where UW is 4-42 all-time against the Boilermakers), North Carolina’s frontcourt is imposing like some of the Big Ten units the Badgers consistently fell short against.
Rotational forwards Armando Bacot (8.0 rbs), Day'Ron Sharpe (7.8) and Garrison Brooks (6.8) do all their scoring around the rim, as the trio has a combined 11 3-point attempts on the season. Guard Leaky Black (5.0 rbs) is also active on the glass, giving the Tar Heels (18-10) a unit that leads the ACC and is third nationally with 43.2 rebounds per game.
North Carolina rebounds 41.3 percent of its misses and its 15.8 offensive rebounds per game is the best in the country by a full rebound. With the Tar Heels recording more offensive rebounds than their opponents in 25 of their 28 games, it’s not shocking to see they are first in the country in rebounding margin, a whopping 239 spots ahead of the Badgers.
“They are always a really talented, long, athletic team,” senior D’Mitrik Trice said. “I haven’t got a chance to watch a lot of them. I’ve watched a few different games. They played Iowa earlier in the year. I've seen them play a couple other games throughout the year, bits and pieces, but we always know they play fast, long and athletic.”
North Carolina lost, 93-80, in Iowa City in early December, but the Tar Heels secured 47 rebounds and 15 on the offensive glass. That number should be concerning to Wisconsin considering Iowa outrebounded Wisconsin in all three victories over the Badgers this season, including Friday’s Big Ten Quarterfinals when the Hawkeyes turned 12 offensive rebounds into eight second-chance points in a 62-57 victory.
In three games in the ACC tournament, the Tar Heels registered 110 points in the paint and turned 61 offensive rebounds into 62 second-chance points.
“You got to try to force tough shots and if they miss the shot, you got to go rebound it, too,” Davison said. “That’s on everybody. The role for everyone is the same: you box out, you can’t let your man get it. That’s ultimately what these games in March come down to, who comes down with those 50-50 balls and who gains the most possessions.”
In the three prior games between the two programs, the winner has been determined by who has the edge on the glass. The Tar Heels outrebounded UW by six and won by six in the 2005 Elite Eight, while the Badgers won the 2015 Sweet 16 matchup by seven after outrebounding the Tar Heels by seven. In the last meeting between the two, North Carolina finished plus-12 on the boards in a 71-56 win in the 2016 Maui Invitational title game.
Asked whether being disciplined, being physical or relying on air-tight fundamentals will be critical in keeping North Carolina off the glass, head coach Greg Gard said it was all the above.
“The ingredients of a successful program don’t change,” Gard said. “You don’t see coaches very often who have been successful over time, and Coach Williams has been, changing what they do. The names change through the years, but how they go about it and their M.O. remains the same.”
Wisconsin was outrebounded in eight of its final 10 games of the season, but seven of those games came against teams who are either a one, two or four seed in the tournament. UW lost all seven of those games and finished 3-10 against teams who are in the tournament field, which emphasizes the need that all five players need to be locked in on keeping the Tar Heels out of the paint.
“It’s going to be a team effort,” Trice said. “We all got to go in there and give it our all and scrap and fight for every rebound we’re going to get.”