NEW ORLEANS — North Carolina coach Matt Doherty says he’ll be ecstatic if his team can just eke out a one-point win over Princeton tonight in the first round of the South
Regionals.
Princeton coach John Thompson III, on the other hand, talks like the second-seeded Tar Heels (25-6) should win by at least a hundred.
“I’ve got a list of local chapels and churches,” said Thompson at Thursday’s press conference. “I’m gonna visit that whole list, because North Carolina is a team without a weakness. We have a chance if we make no mistakes and Carolina has an off night. We have no margin for error.”
Logic tells you that Thompson’s assessment of this literal David-Goliath matchup is closer to reality that Doherty’s. There’s no way this game between the ACC regular-season co-champ and the Ivy League champ should be competitive.
Want numbers?
Fifteenth-seeded Princeton’s biggest and best player,Nate Walton, son of Hall of Famer Bill, is 6-foot-7, which makes him shorter than Tar Heel small forward Jason
Capel.
Walton leads the Tigers (16-10) in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. He’s also tied for the team lead in dunks — with zero.
That’s right, the Tigers haven’t dunked all season, which ranks them somewhere behind Tar Heel sub Orlando Melendez.
“We don’t like to show off,” deadpanned Walton.
Walton, a fifth-year senior, has battled a bad ankle, bad knee and broken hand over the course of his career. Last season, he looked like the fourth best of the four Walton brothers, averaging 1 point per game. Now he’s as close to a star as anyone the Tigers have.
“As Nate goes, we go,” admitted Thompson.
Walton, who apparently is just as quirky as his free-spirited old man was, should be going home Saturday morning, because Tar Heel big men, Brendan Haywood and Kris Lang, can expect a field day against a bunch of guys whose heads are at their armpits.
Princeton, fresh off its 34th Ivy League title, was the worst rebounding team (25 per game) in Division I. That’s not just the worst rebounding team in the NCAA Tournament. That’s the worst rebounding team in D-I — period.
Princeton was outscored by seven of its fellow Ivy League schools. It puts up fewer than 60 points per contest and got to the foul line fewer times than any D-I team, because of its deliberate motion offense and because it gets precious little inside play.
“Mentally, we’ve got to be ready for a game in the 40s or 50s and deal with it,” said Doherty.
Princeton will almost surely score in the 40s, but the Heels should put up 65 or so.
Still, there are reasons why Princeton, which is working on a five-game winning streak, is here. And reasons why you should watch this late game instead of getting a good night’s sleep.
The Tigers did beat the Heels in the NCAA tourney back in 1967 and in recent times played UNC a 69-60 game at Princeton (’97) and a 50-42 contest at Chapel Hill (’98).
Princeton, which is in the NCAAs for the 22nd time, ranks No. 3 nationally in scoring defense and led the Ivy League in field goal percentage, free throw percentage and 3-pointers made.
The 3-pointers are the big concern for Doherty. Princeton actually tried 30 more 3-point attempts than 2-point attempts. The Tigers’ top shooter, Combas Javas Chapman, who answers to C.J., took 101 more 3s than 2s — a staggering ratio.
Then there is that determined Princeton mind-set and the Tigers’ amazing history in the NCAAs. The Tigers stunned UNLV three years ago and beat UCLA (the defending national champ) in ‘96. They’ve also had a two-point loss to Villanova in ‘91 and a one-point loss to Georgetown in ‘89 when the Hoyas were a No. 1 seed and the Tigers were a No. 16.
“Because we are Princeton, we go into NCAA games feeling that we should win,” said Walton. “We’ve had success.
“But that may also work against us against Carolina. Teams are pretty leery of us. More so than they would be against an Eastern Illinois or something.”
Doherty certainly is trying hard to sound leery. “It’s a heck of a challenge for us,” he said. “No one likes to play Princeton. I assure you they aren’t afraid of playing North Carolina.”
Capel echoed his coach, even as he traded grins and elbows with Haywood on the podium.
“On paper, there’s no one on their team that we’re scared of or anything,” said Capel. “But we still respect them as a tough opponent.”
The Tiger players may not be scary, but they are unique.
Iron-man Point guard Ahmed El-Nokali has sat out only 21 minutes all season. Sixth-man Konrad Wysocki is Polish, although he grew up in Germany and played high school ball in the U.S. at Greensboro Day.
But the Tar Heels have the depth, the height and the talent to make it a rout unless Princeton hits an extraordinary number of 3-pointers.
After all, Duke beat the Tigers 87-50, and it’s unlikely the Heels want to end their season with a loss to a team that the Blue Devils destroyed.
“They are North Carolina,” said El-Nokali, a bit of awe creeping into his voice. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
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