After last night’s dramatic win over the Dayton Flyers, the Tar Heels are back in action later tonight, this time against the Auburn Tigers, with a spot in the Maui Invitational championship game on the line. Carolina advanced in the winner’s bracket after erasing a 21-point deficit in the second half, the second-largest comeback in the program, and the first time since 2006 that they were able to overcome a 20-point deficit. The charge was led by the best player in college basketball, RJ Davis, who scored a season-high 30 points. But it wasn’t just RJ Davis, as his running mate Seth Trimble added 27 points, a career-high for him.
There hasn’t been a more impressive team in the first month of the season, than the Auburn Tigers, who are ranked #4 in the country and have wins against top-10 team Houston, and Iowa State under its belt. They are led by veteran big man Johni Broome, and his 20.2 point, 11.0 rebound double-double, as he’s among the best big men in the sport. It’s not just Broome though, Auburn’s offense features six players that average double-figures scoring, and they do so in an efficient manner, shooting 54% from the field as a team, the third most efficient percentage in the country. Furthermore, the Tigers convert at a high level from inside the arc, shooting 68% from two, the second-best mark in the sport.
The Tar Heels were able to draw from a recent experience last night, when they found themselves down 21 points, as it wasn’t too long ago that they were down 20 on the road at Kansas, the #1 team in the country. While Hubert Davis was excited to get the win, he spend his postgame press conference stressing for Carolina to start games faster, because erasing double-digit deficits isn’t sustainable every time out. Tonight’s game will require Carolina to play as close to 40 minutes as possible and put together their best performance of the season if they hope to advance to tomorrow’s championship game. Here’s what to watch tonight against Auburn:
Contain Broome: Johni Broome might be the second-best big man in the country, behind Hunter Dickinson from Kansas, and if he looks like it tonight, it’s going to be a long night for the Tar Heels. He’s averaging over 20 points per game, and 11 rebounds, meaning he has owned the paint in their first five games, which has included two top-5 teams. Zed Key got the best of Jalen Washington in the first half last night, but Washington rose to the challenge in the second half, getting Key to foul out, meanwhile Washington scored 9 second-half points, to help Carolina’s comeback effort. Broome is too good and too experienced to be taken out of the game completely, but he can’t man the interior all night long. Hubert Davis needs to throw multiple bodies at Broome to try and wear him down, but it starts and ends with Washington, holding his own, and not allowing Broome to bully him on both ends. If Broome has a big game, watch out.
Limit Turnovers: After turning it over 12 times in the first half last night, and 15 times for the game, you know Auburn is going to turn up the pressure on the basketball, and try to force them into turnovers. Like Dayton, Auburn will look to score off of turnovers, and the more that they aren’t playing at their desired pace the better. Elliot Cadeau committed 6 turnovers last night, and RJ Davis added 4, if that happens tonight, it might be too much to overcome.
Dominate the Backcourt: The strength of this Auburn team in their frontcourt. The strength for Carolina is their backcourt. Last night felt like an NCAA Tournament, and a big reason why UNC prevailed, was their backcourt was better. The same is true tonight, and the Heels need their trio of guards, Cadedau, Davis, and Trimble to build off the second half from the Dayton win, to help overcome them being at a disadvantage.
Series History:
Carolina is 3-1 against Auburn all-time, but this is the first meeting since the 2019 Sweet 16, a 97-80 win for Auburn, on their way to the Final Four.
KenPom:
North Carolina - 12th overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 121.2 (5th) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 98.1 (52nd)
Auburn - 3rd overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 123.8 (2nd) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 93.5 (10th)
TV Info:
Tonight’s game is set to start at 11 PM on ESPN.
The Four Corners Podcast: