UNC-UConn Preview: Top 10 Collision at Madison Square Garden – 247Sports

No. 9 North Carolina (7-1) vs. No. 5 Connecticut (7-1)
New York — Madison Square Garden
Tuesday, Dec. 5 — 9 p.m.
TV: ESPN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, Angel Gray)
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (Jones Angell, Marcus Ginyard)
Quotables
“That’ll be a big-time game, playing a team like UConn — defending national champions, top (five) team in the country, in Madison Square Garden. It’ll be a huge opportunity for us, and we’re definitely going into that game locked in and ready to go.” — UNC big man Armando Bacot on Saturday, after Carolina’s 78-70 comeback win over Florida State.
“They’ve got tremendous athleticism and size. They do a really good job of protecting the paint because of that size, very difficult to get consistent points in the paint. Whether it’s post, penetration and offensive rebounding, they’re really good defensively, very physical. They get to the offensive glass, they’re good in transition and their half-court sets. They’re able to execute, they do a good job of executing their plays, get a lot of movement and have guys that have the ability to knock down shots. There’s a reason why they’re defending national champions and why it’ll be a tough test for us…” — UNC coach Hubert Davis on Monday, about the many challenges UConn presents.
“It’s always great just to go back home and play in probably one of the best, if not the best, arenas in college basketball and even professionally in NBA. I love the higher energy there and just going back there and having my family and friends come and show our support. It means a lot to me and it’s a different type of energy that playing there kind of just favors me a little bit.” — UNC guard RJ Davis, a native of White Plains, N.Y., on returning home to play at famed Madison Square Garden.
Pregame Notes
The Champs are Here: UNC battles reigning national champion UConn, a team that has returned three of its top five scorers from last season’s NCAA title team. The Huskies completed one of the more dominant postseason runs in recent history, winning all of their NCAA Tournament games by 13 or more points last season. Tuesday night marks the first time the Tar Heels meet the defending national champion since knocking off Baylor 93-86 in overtime in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
The Top 10 showdown in New York City is the nightcap of the Jimmy V Classic doubleheader, and kicks off a stretch of three straight nationally ranked opponents for Carolina. Following the bout with Connecticut, the Tar Heels will face No. 16 Kentucky (in Atlanta) and No. 19 Oklahoma (in Charlotte, N.C.).
RJ Davis Thriving in Off-Ball Role: With freshman guard Elliot Cadeau starting UNC’s last three games, RJ Davis has moved off the ball. And shifting into what Davis has called a more “natural” scoring role has paid dividends for the Tar Heels’ leading scorer. In the three games that have featured a Cadeau-Davis backcourt in the starting lineup, the senior guard has produced 84 points.
Davis’ recent scoring tear (30 points against Arkansas, 27 points against Tennessee and Florida State) has made him the first Tar Heel to score 27 or more points in three straight games since Joseph Forte did so in 2001. Across the 132 minutes of game time that Davis and Cadeau have played alongside each other this season, Davis is averaging 29.8 points per 40 minutes and has connected on a 66.3-percent true shooting percentage.
Looking at UConn: Coach Dan Hurley and the Huskies are coming off their first loss of the season, a narrow 69-65 defeat to Kansas on Friday night at historic Allen Fieldhouse. UConn rallied out of a halftime deficit to take a five-point lead midway through the second half, before ultimately falling to the Jayhawks. Former East Carolina guard Tristen Newton scored 31 points (one shy of his career high) and drilled six 3-pointers.
The defeat snapped UConn’s record streak of 24 consecutive victories by double digits over non-conference opponents. The mark previously was held by UNC, which won 23 straight non-conference games by at least 10 points from 2007-2009. The Huskies won their first seven games this season, including an 81-71 defeat of then-No. 15 Texas, by an average margin of 28 points.
Dynamic Offense With Balance: Connecticut features one of the more prolific and efficient offenses in the country, ranking No. 3 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to Ken Pomeroy’s college basketball database. UNC ranks fifth nationally in that department. The Huskies have scored at least 80 points in six games this season, and over 90 points in three of those contests.
Five UConn players average 14 or more points per game. Newtown leads the way, putting up over 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game. Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer has fit in nicely at his third college stop in three seasons. He ranks second on the Huskies with 15 points per contest and has hit a team-high 23 3-pointers on a 43.4-percent shooting clip.
Sophomores Donovan Clingan and Alex Karaban have been elevated from their reserve roles on last season’s NCAA title team into the starting lineup this season. Clingan, a 7-foot-2 center who received NBA Draft lottery buzz coming into the season, is putting up 14.1 points per game on an efficient 64-percent shooting mark. The sharpshooting Karaban has struggled with his outside stroke as of late, missing 13 of his 15 attempts from 3-point distance over the last three games, but still averages 14 points per game on the season.
Health of Stephon Castle: Highly regarded freshman Stephon Castle was a key addition for the Huskies coming into the season. The 6-6 combo guard was a consensus five-star prospect, ranking as the No. 9 overall high school recruit nationally according to 247Sports.
But in UConn’s second game of the season against Stonehill, he slipped and injured his right knee. Six days after that game, Hurley announced that Castle had a “minor procedure” to get “a little bit of clean-up” and that the prized recruit would be sidelined for “maybe a two, three, four-week thing.” UConn’s game against UNC will mark 18 days since Hurley provided that update on Castle.
In his two games this season, Castle averaged 14.5 points while also contributing 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. In his absence, fellow freshman Solomon Ball has moved into the starting lineup.
Series History: UNC leads the all-time series 5-1. The Tar Heels have won the last three meetings, all of which have been decided by seven points or less. UConn’s lone victory over Carolina came by way of an 86-54 rout at Storrs, Conn., in January 2002.
The first-ever matchup between these two programs came as part of the old ACC-Big East Challenge at the Smith Center in December 1990. Hubert Davis played in that game and the Tar Heels, despite playing on their home court, wore their road blue jerseys against UConn.
Last Meeting: Carolina pulled away from UConn 77-70 at the Hartford Civic Center in February 2005. Jawad Williams led the Tar Heels with 17 points and six rebounds. No. 2-ranked UNC also received scoring contributions from Sean May (16 points), Raymond Felton (16 points) and Rashad McCants (15 points). Later that season, UNC claimed its fourth NCAA championship.
Projected UNC Starters:
2 Elliot Cadeau (Fr., 6-1, 180) — 7.1 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 4 apg
4 RJ Davis (Sr., 6-0, 180) — 20.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.9 apg
3 Cormac Ryan (Gr., 6-5, 195) — 11 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2 apg
5 Armando Bacot (Gr., 6-11, 240) — 16.3 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 2 bpg
55 Harrison Ingram (Jr., 6-7, 235) — 14.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.4 spg
Projected UConn Starters:
1 Solomon Ball (Fr., 6-3, 185) — 5.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg
2 Tristen Newton (Gr., 6-5, 195) — 17.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 6.3 apg, 1.6 spg
11 Alex Karaban (So., 6-8, 220) — 14 ppg, 5.8 rpg
12 Cam Spencer (Gr., 6-4, 205) — 15 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.5 apg
32 Donovan Clingan (S0., 7-2, 280) — 14.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2 bpg
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