Game on: North Carolina makes for formidable substitute opponent for Kentucky
As widely assumed, Kentucky will play North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday. The Tar Heels replace Ohio State, which had to drop out of the event because of positive COVID-19 tests in its program.
Saturday’s game will tip off at 5:30 p.m. EST in Las Vegas. The Kentucky-North Carolina matchup was confirmed Friday morning shortly after UCLA, like Ohio State, withdrew from the CBS Sports Classic because of COVID-19 protocols.
Tickets that were already purchased for the original matchups are still valid for Saturday’s rescheduled game.
As substitutes go, North Carolina could be likened to Babe Ruth pinch-hitting.
The Kentucky-UNC game will feature two of the three winningest college basketball programs. UK goes into the game with 2,334 all-time victories. North Carolina is third on the list with 2,302 victories. Kansas is second with 2,331 victories going into a home game Saturday against Stephen F. Austin.
Kentucky trails in the all-time series against North Carolina, 25-16. That makes North Carolina one of only two opponents to lead UK in a series that consists of more than five games. The other is Saint Louis at 9-8.
In John Calipari’s time as coach, Kentucky has won six of 10 games against North Carolina.
In terms of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) and Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, North Carolina is a slight step down in competition.
Ohio State was No. 18 in the NET rating going into this weekend. North Carolina was No. 30.
Pomeroy’s ratings going into the weekend had Ohio State at No. 14 and North Carolina at No. 30.
North Carolina and Kentucky had similar NET breakdowns. UK’s 7-2 record included 0-1 in Quad 1 games, 1-1 in Quad 3 games and 6-0 in Quad 4 games. UNC’s 8-2 record included 0-2 in Quad 1 games, 2-0 in Quad 2 games, 3-0 in Quad 3 games and 3-0 in Quad 4 games.
North Carolina, which was originally scheduled to play UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic, has lost to two ranked teams: Purdue 93-84 and Tennessee 89-72. Pomeroy ranked the UNC schedule to date as the 132nd-most difficult in Division I.
UNC has out-rebounded the opposition on average 40.6-29.9. The Tar Heels have also made more free throws (145) than the opposition has shot (119).
Point guard Caleb Love leads the Tar Heels in scoring (16.2 ppg) and three-point baskets (21 of 49). He has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 39-to-21.
Big man Armando Bacot, who is projected as an All-ACC player, is averaging 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds. He also leads UNC with 17 blocks.
Hubert Davis, 51, is in his first-year head coach. Like his predecessor, Roy Williams, he worked as an assistant coach for a Hall of Famer before assuming the head coaching position. Williams was an assistant under Dean Smith for 10 years. Davis was an assistant for Williams for nine seasons.
North Carolina had only a 32-30 record the previous two seasons. The Tar Heels saw both sides of the transfer portal: losing Walker Kessler (Auburn) and Garrison Brooks (Mississippi State), while adding 6-11 Dawson Garcia from Marquette. Garcia is averaging 12.2 points and has made 11 of 23 three-point shots.
UK is 2-1 vs. the Tar Heels in the CBS Sports Classic after falling to North Carolina 75-63 in the event last season in Cleveland. Last season’s meeting was also a rescheduled matchup to closely align COVID-19 testing protocols between the competing programs and their respective conferences.
In 2018, Kentucky won 80-72 in Chicago. In 2016, UK won 103-100 in Las Vegas in the game in which Wildcats freshman Malik Monk scored 47 points.
North Carolina leads the four schools in the CBS Sports Classic with a 5-2 record. Ohio State is 4-3, UK is 3-4 and UCLA is 2-5 in the event.
U of L-WKU before UK-UNC
Even though the CBS Sports Classic was reduced from a doubleheader to one game, college basketball fans will still be able to enjoy a pair of back-to-back games on the main CBS network on Saturday afternoon.
Louisville’s game against Western Kentucky in Bowling Green was changed Friday from a 2:30 p.m. tip-off to 3 p.m. EST and moved from the CBS Sports Network to CBS.
The game provides a national showcase for 7-foot-5 WKU center Jamarion Sharp of Hopkinsville and offers Kentucky fans a checkpoint on archrival Louisville before the Cardinals visit Rupp Arena on Wednesday night.
Saturday
No. 21 Kentucky vs. North Carolina
What: CBS Sports Classic
Where: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
When: 5:30 p.m. EST
TV: CBS-27
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Kentucky 7-2, North Carolina 8-2
Series: North Carolina leads 25-16
Last meeting: North Carolina won 75-63 on Dec. 19, 2020, at the CBS Sports Classic in Cleveland
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 10:49 AM.
