Mark Thompson and I are gracing the Smith Center for an afternoon contest between North Carolina and St. John's.
The Tar Heels are looking to respond from a loss to Michigan State on Thursday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Despite a career-high 29 points from Italee Lucas, UNC just couldn't pull out the road win.
Despite that setback for UNC fans, here's some things to look forward to in today's matchup:
1. The North Carolina frontcourt. The Tar Heels will likely face a fairly large task with the Red Storm's Da'Shena Stevens. Although just a sophomore, Stevens has put together an impressive statistical year thus far. She's averaging 15.4 points a game along with 6.9 rebounds. We'll see what Laura Broomfield and Chay Shegog have to say about that.
2. Italee Lucas and Cetera DeGraffenreid. The pair bring the most experience to UNC's starting lineup, and likely, the most star power. Lucas can light it up from distance, and DeGraffenreid brings speed like no other. As always, look for big games from both of them.
3. Avenging a loss. Plain and simple, North Carolina suffered its first setback of the young season. How it responds to adversity again will be a big test. The Tar Heels certainly haven't faced many problems prior to Michigan State.
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