donbosco
Legend of ZZL
- Messages
- 5,266
No. 16 North Carolina (6-1) vs. No. 18 Kentucky (5-2)
Lexington, Ky. — Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center
Tuesday, Dec. 2 — 9:30 p.m.
ESPN: (Dave O’Brien, Dick Vitale and Jay Williams)
Radio = 97.9 The Hill WCHL - Chapelboro.com
UNC Tar Heels:
#1 Kyan Evans P = 10, E = 40, I = 10, X = 10
#8 Caleb Wilson 7/18/06 P = 5, E = 0, I = 60, X = 30
#44 Luka Bogavac P = 35, E = 20, I = 0, X = 15
#13 Henri Veesaar P = 100, E = 5, I = 45, X = 70
#15 Jarin Stevenson P = 5, E = 20, I = 5, X = 5
#11 Jonathan Powell P = 90, E = 100, I = 25, X = 55
#3 Derek Dixon P = 20, E = 100, I = 100, X = 60
#2 James Brown P = 100, E = 60, I = 10, X = 55
#1 Zayden High P = 80, E = 20, I = 55, X = 65
#4 Jaydon Young P = 25, E = 70, I = 100, X = 60
#7 Seth Trimble Will Not Play
Coach Davis Wisdom = 20
Kentucky Wildcats
00 Otega Oweh P = 45, E = 15, I = 50, X = 45
1 Denzel Aberdeen P = 90, E = 90, I = 0, X = 45
3 Kam Williams P = 50, E = 100, I = 15, X = 30
5 Collin Chandler P = 85, E = 40, I = 75, X = 70
24 Malachi Moreno P = 65, E = 100, I = 55, X = 60
2 Jasper Johnson P = 0, E = 10, I = 30, X = 15
4 Andrija Jelavic P = 0, E = 0, I = 95, X = 45
10 Brandon Garrison P = 95, E = 0, I = 15, X = 55
Coach Mark Pope Wisdom = 90
Rolling into this blood blue den with the home team ranked #18 (Carolina tags in at #16) makes the visitor the underdog – and we are. Kentucky has lost two games to good teams (U of L and MSU) but has not really beaten a good team (Nicholls (77-51), Valparaiso (107-59), Eastern Illinois (99-53), and Loyola (Md.) (88-46), Tennessee Tech 104-54). UK is a bit of a M.A.S.H. unit at present and will almost certainly be missing four good players tonight. Their guards lead the scoring with #00 Otega Oweh (Sr., 6-4, 220) hitting for 13 ppg, #1 Denzel Aberdeen (Sr., 6-5, 195) with 14 ppg and 4.3 apg, and #5 Collin Chandler (So., 6-5, 205) averaging 11.7 and 49% from Long Distance. 7-foot freshman #24 Malachi Moreno (Fr., 7-0, 250) is using his size well, garnering 10.6 ppg and 7.6 rpg. #3 Kam Williams (So., 6-8, 205) joins the frontcourt with 5.4 ppg and 4 rpg. A patchwork team as is the trend in these times, Oweh is in from OK, Aberdeen from FL, and Williams hales from Tulane. There are bigs off the bench in 4 Andrija Jelavic (So., 6-11, 225) and 10 Brandon Garrison (Jr., 6-10, 245). Jelavic is a Croatian with 5 years of pro ball under his belt – designated a sophomore (6 ppg, 5 rpg). Garrison comes in from OK State. Pitt gave up 6-2 Jaland Lowe (#15, 7.5 ppg) as a wing sub and #2 Jasper Johnson (Fr., 6-5, 180) is a much-sought-after first-year guard off the bench. This squad is big and talented even with missing parts and the Rupp Arena environment will be uber-hostile. Biorhythmically Bomber Collin Chandler looks like trouble and Big Man Moreno shows some testiness in the paint. Aberdeen could also be trouble.
Frontcourt: Veesaar is strong and athletic while Caleb Wilson has his first challenging set of ritmos of the year – it is all about Intel for the young man tonight. James Brown looks good to go as long as the tasks are straightforward while Zayden High has some of the best Biorhythms on the Team.
Wings: Luke Bogavac is bottoming out biorhythmically tonight with experience his top weapon. Jarin Stevenson joins Luka – at least he knows this atmosphere and likely developed anti-wildcat sentiments while playing in the Yellowhammer State. Powell’s arcs are on an uptick – watch for good play there.
Guards: Evans is down across the board. Could Jaydon Young prevail? This category is troubling overall. It is a gut-check night for #1…his biggest test of the year/career. That’s where Derek Dixon could come up big…His 100 Mensa Mark for Intel bodes well for a step-up moment. Watch him very closely.
Overall: Late night start means get your ducks in a row. A couple of highly ranked teams play the opener tonight and that one could easily run over. No telling what the networks will do in that case so get your radio ready (link above to Chapelboro/WCHL). Also note that this game will apparently be called by Dick Vitale so you probably ought to be muting the TV anyway. I’m on my tenth year of only hearing snippets of Mr. Obnoxious Babbler before I can cut and I’m much happier and better for it.
What’s the prognostication then? Hard fought one coming up. Head-to-head battles will be highlighted and important. If Caleb Wilson can rise above his ritmos and Carolina get some equity sweat out of the unexpected (Dixon, Brown or High) and Bogavac and Stevenson can play games consistent with their previous performances then the opportunity is there to steal this one. Mind you, Kentucky is favored by 8.5 by the gamblers. The Ritmos are straight up UK by 3. But this is why they play them. Think back on a mid-December night in 1962 when a young Dean Smith led a Tar Heel team into hellish Memorial Coliseum in Lexington and took down the mighty Rupp 68-66. We’ve got some history on our side.
