North Carolina Giving Two Points To Ohio State

Sports News - November 19th, 2009 - Written by John

North Carolina guard Larry Drew, Jr. made it perfectly clear. There was nothing wavering when he addressed his team's upcoming game at Madison Square Garden.

“I’m not trying to travel all the way to New York just to get embarrassed,” Drew Jr. said. “This team, we have a lot of potential and we need to wake up now and know the games aren’t going to get any easier.”

There's little else to say.

The sixth-ranked Tar Heels assuredly must play better tonight than in their first three games when they squeaked by Florida International, North Carolina Central and Valparaiso. For the first time this season, North Carolina meets a ranked team when they face no. 15 Ohio State in the 2K Sports Classic semifinals. The winner will go on to face either no. 12 Cal or Syracuse in the finals.

The Tar Heels are favored by two points on BetUS. But a bet on Ohio State straight up nets a reasonable +115 payout, according to the College Basketball Betting Lines at Betus Sportsbook.

Head coach Roy Williams has been critical of his team after mediocre showings in the first three games of the year. Without it's leading scorers from last year's National Championship team via NBA Draft, North Carolina is still trying to find an identity, and has allowed lower-tier teams to hang around in the second half. Deon Thompson is the lone starter returning and is averaging 17.7 points a game. In the last game against Valpo, Thompson scored 20 points, but North Carolina blew a giant halftime lead by committing 14 turnovers and won by 11. Not a bad margin, but hardly enough to feel confident about the Buckeyes.

“We have no chance in New York if we play this kind of basketball,” Williams said after the game.

That's because Ohio State has five experienced players from last year's 22-11 team that was inevitably upset by Siena in the first round of the Big Dance last year. Junior guard Evan Turner was selected to the preseason All-Big Ten First Team, and has 38 points, 34 rebounds and 14 assists through the first two games.

“We’re all about competing, competing in practice - an attack mentality,” Turner said. “We’ll be prepared for any situation. It’s another game, another opportunity, another day to get better. (North Carolina) is a new team out there. We’re not really looking at them as national champions. We’re just looking at them as a great team that’s very capable.”

A very capable team that has handled Ohio State in each of their last four meetings. The last game, in 2007, was won by the Tar Heels, 66-55.

North Carolina is averaging just two points more than the Buckeyes per game, but have allowed 11 more points by their opponents.

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