Game and Time: No. 2 North Carolina at Maryland. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Site: Comcast Center.
TV/Radio: The game will be televised regionally by Fox Sports Net. The Tar Heel Sports Network will provide radio coverage; the broadcast will air on 100.7 FM and WCHL-AM 1360.
Records: North Carolina is 23-3, 11-2 in the ACC. Maryland is 16-9, 7-7 in the ACC.
Series: North Carolina leads 110-53.
Probable Starters:
North Carolina
G: Raymond Felton, 6-1 JR
G: Melvin Scott, 6-2 SR
F: Jackie Manuel, 6-5 SR
F: Jawad Williams, 6-9 SR
C: Sean May, 6-9 JR
Maryland
G: John Gilchrist, 6-3 JR
G: Chris McCray, 6-5 JR
F: Nik Caner-Medley, 6-8 JR
F: Travis Garrison, 6-8 JR
C: Ekene Ibekwe, 6-9 SO
The Key Matchup: North Carolina point guard Raymond Felton versus Maryland’s John Gilchrist.
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Maryland will only be as good as its floor leader. Gilchrist was one assist shy of a triple-double in a Feb. 12 overtime victory against Duke.
But the Terrapins are 1-2 since that win, and in the two losses Gilchrist shot 5-of-22 from the field.
When the Tar Heels stomped Maryland by 34 at home in January, the two point guards had pretty similar lines in the box score. But Felton was able to set an up-tempo pace as North Carolina ran up 109 points.
Gilchrist will have to stop the UNC guard from getting into transition, but Felton is playing his best ball of the season right now.
In the four games since committing eight turnovers in a loss to Duke, Felton has dished out 30 assists to just seven giveaways.
Final Analysis/Prediction: It’d be foolish to assume this will be an easy Tar Heel victory based on January’s meeting, regardless if leading scorer Rashad McCants is healthy come Sunday.
Two years ago, Maryland destroyed the Tar Heels by 40 in College Park, but UNC turned around and upset the Terps in the ACC Tournament three weeks later.
Also, this year’s Terrapins are impossible to figure out. This is a team that swept Duke but has also been swept by Clemson and blown out by N.C. State twice.
The Terps are coming off an embarrassing loss to Clemson at home. But after their last tough home loss — a 16-point spanking at the hands of the Wolfpack in which they trailed by 26 at the half — Maryland turned around and upset Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Expect coach Gary Williams to have his team fired up for what might be a must-win game if the Terps want to feel comfortable about receiving an NCAA Tournament bid.
But an inspired Terrapin team still might not be good enough to knock off the Tar Heels.
The Bottom Line: North Carolina 86, Maryland 78.
— Compiled by Daniel Blank
