Game and Time: No. 2 North Carolina at No. 19 Connecticut. Tipoff is at 1 p.m.
Site: Hartford Civic Center
TV/Radio: The game will be televised on CBS.
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 19-3, 8-2 in the ACC. Connecticut is 15-5, 7-3 in the Big East.
Series: North Carolina leads 4-1.
Probable Starters:
North Carolina
G: Raymond Felton, 6-1 JR
G: Rashad McCants, 6-4 JR
F: Jackie Manuel, 6-5 SR
F: Jawad Williams, 6-9 SR
C: Sean May, 6-9 JR
Connecticut
G: Marcus Williams, 6-3 SO
F: Rudy Gay, 6-9 FR
F: Denham Brown, 6-6 JR
F: Charlie Villanueva, 6-11 SO
C: Josh Boone, 6-10 SO
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The Key Matchup: The North Carolina backcourt versus the Connecticut backcourt.
The Huskies have been inconsistent since conference play started, due largely to their mediocre guard play.
And UConn. will be at a further disadvantage due to the probable absence of leading scorer Rashad Anderson.
The junior swingman, who is averaging 13.8 points per game, was transported to the hospital Tuesday because of an abscess on his leg.
Tar Heel guards Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants have to rebound from sub-standard performances in Wednesday’s loss to Duke and take advantage of Connecticut’s deficiencies in the backcourt.
Felton scored 13 points Wednesday, but he committed eight turnovers and passed on the potential game-winning shot in the waning seconds.
McCants is just 8-for-31 from the field in his last two games, including a 3-for-13 performance against the Blue Devils.
The junior got some unfriendly rolls from the rim but was missing the sort of open looks that were all but automatic at the beginning of the season.
Still, the Tar Heels stand a good chance of scoring the road victory if McCants can replicate his 27-point performances from each of the last two years against Connecticut, including his game-winning shot last year at the Smith Center.
Final Analysis/Prediction: UNC coach Roy Williams has repeatedly said that he’d learn a lot about his team in the eight-game stretch that started with a loss at Wake Forest and ends Sunday in Hartford.
But he’ll learn a lot simply by seeing how well his team rebounds from Wednesday’s frustrating loss, in which the Tar Heels had a chance to win the game — using the formation that won them last year’s game against Connecticut — but never got off a shot against a swarming Duke defense.
The Huskies are out for revenge after back-to-back three-point losses to North Carolina, but look for the Tar Heels to learn from their mistakes against Duke and score their first major road victory of the year.
The Bottom Line: North Carolina 81, Connecticut 76.
— Compiled by Daniel Blank
