Bullock, McAdoo hope to feed off each other

GREENSBORO – Both Reggie Bullock and James Michael McAdoo are in some ways experiencing the NCAA tournament for the first time this weekend in Greensboro.

Bullock, a sophomore guard, missed the postseason last year because of a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee. McAdoo, on the other hand, is a freshman.

McAdoo saw extended minutes in last week’s ACC tournament because of John Henson’s left wrist injury. Now, the two anticipate they will be on the court at the same time in many stretches during UNC’s second-round game against Vermont Friday night.

“This means a lot to me because I just observed last year, and I saw what that team needed,” said Bullock, who is averaging nine points and five rebounds a game. “I’m just trying to be a great defensive player who can make shots coming down the stretch.”

McAdoo and Bullock know they need to do well in their roles to help UNC reach the Final Four.
McAdoo says he knows what the biggest priority is for him and Bullock.

“I feel like we’re the best rebounding team in the nation,” McAdoo said. “That’s somewhere where we have to exploit teams.

Early in the season, Bullock and James sat on the bench together as backups.

“When we weren’t starting, we were on the bench always talking about what we were going to do on the court,” Bullock said.

But starting guard Dexter Strickland was lost for the season with a knee injury in late January. Since then, McAdoo took notice of Bullock’s improvements as a better defender.

McAdoo sees that he is just a freshman on a team full of marquee players. He sees Bullock as a friend and mentor.

Though UNC fell to Florida State in the ACC Tournament championship game, Bullock was proud of McAdoo’s toughness given the circumstances.

“I think it helped his confidence a lot just knowing that he’s playing more,” Bullock said of McAdoo. “He’s a big part to our team. With him out there with me now, we hope not to be the weak link on the team.”


-Nate Taylor

Roy Williams compares John Henson and Ty Lawson injuries

GREENSBORO — The comparison is a natural one. In 2009, North Carolina began the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed, and with one of its star players, Ty Lawson, attempting to recover from an injury that placed his status for the tournament in doubt.

On Friday, North Carolina will begin play in the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed, and with one of its star players, John Henson, attempting to recover from an injury that has placed his status in doubt.

For Lawson, it was a toe that ailed him. For Henson, a wrist. Different injuries, of course, and different situations, UNC coach Roy Williams said earlier today. Williams acknowledged that what happened then, with Lawson, and what’s happening now, with Henson, are similar in some respects.

But in others the scenarios don’t compare.

“I'm awfully uncomfortable talking about it because I don't know what I'm going to do,” Williams said, asked whether the experience he went through with Lawson’s uncertainty has helped him prepare amid Henson’s injury. “Ty's was a little different; Ty hurt it and then came back and played and was very successful and then it ballooned up on him again. So it was almost like a recurrence, but he didn't get it hit again.

“It's just the swelling went up there. There is the difference of that and there's also the difference of that with Bobby [Frasor] particularly I knew that we would be very solid at the point guard spot. Bobby is not Ty, but Bobby had played that position before and I had tremendous amount of confidence in him. We had so many weapons with Danny and Wayne and Tyler; we just had a lot of weapons there.

“But I also know that Ty Lawson came in in the second game against LSU and if he had not played that game, I don't think we would have won that game. His second half performance was about as good as any half I've ever seen a point guard play in any stage. So, yeah, it does, there are some similarities, but it certainly [has not] made me more comfortable in what I'm trying to decide right here.”

Lawson sat out UNC’s first NCAA tournament victory in 2009, but returned to help lead the Tar Heels to a victory against LSU in the third round. Henson’s status, meanwhile, remains in doubt for UNC’s game on Friday against Vermont.

-Andrew Carter

UNC arrives in Greensboro for NCAA tournament: What to watch

GREENSBORO — Welcome to Greensboro. I have arrived here for NCAA tournament preparations and, more important, so too has North Carolina. The Tar Heels will hold their open “practice” here at the Greensboro Coliseum later today at 2:15. And before that, we’ll have a chance to hear some words of wisdom from Roy Williams and his players.

UNC will play Lamar tomorrow afternoon but, in the meantime, some things to watch between now and then:

First …

The John Henson watch. Will Henson play or won’t he? Is his injured left wrist feeling better or not? Can he catch, dribble and shoot … or can’t he?

Henson warmed up for the ACC championship game on Sunday in Greensboro, and he appeared to be catching and shooting just fine. But he struggled with the dribbling. He remained dressed for Florida State's 85-82 victory against UNC, and could have played in an emergency situation. But he stayed on the bench.

The Tar Heels have been careful with Henson in practice this week, and have kept him limited. And even if he is healthy enough to play, few would be surprised to see him take a break against Vermont.
Stay tuned …

Second …

Will the Tar Heels flip a switch and keep it on? There were more than a few times along the way to this point when the Tar Heels looked like they might be bored. With a few notable exceptions, UNC mostly coasted through November and December, and then began ACC play with a couple of easy victories before playing at Florida State on Jan. 14.

And we know what happened then.

The Heels’ 90-57 debacle of a defeat at FSU served as a kind of turning point for UNC. The embarrassing lost refocused the Heels, and it gave them new energy. Still, though, UNC has been prone to lapses in energy and intensity since then, too.

Look no further than the Heels’ 85-82 defeat against the Seminoles in the ACC title game on Sunday, when the North Carolina started the game flat and never overcame its poor start. All along, we’ve been waiting for UNC to flip a switch, so to speak, and turn into the kind of dominant team that a lot of people expected the Tar Heels would be entering the season.

And they have been that team at times this season – for a half, or for a 10-minute stretch or, in the case of the 88-70 victory at Duke, for an entire game. But can the Heels be that team consistently over the course of several games? Now we get to find out.

Third …

Will Creighton beat Alabama? The Bluejays and the Crimson Tide play on Friday at 1:40 and the winner will play UNC here on Sunday in the the round of 32 (assuming, of course, that UNC beats Vermont on Friday).

If Creighton emerges victorious on Friday, it’d set up a reunion of sorts between UNC’s Harrison Barnes and Doug McDermott, Creighton’s sophomore all-American forward. Both Barnes and McDermott were stars on the same Ames (Iowa) High School team, which they led to back-to-back undefeated state championships.

Barnes entered this season surrounded by considerable expectations, and he enters the tournament averaging 17.4 points per game. He earned first-team All-ACC honors.

McDermott, though, has perhaps exceeded his own lofty expectations. He became the first sophomore in Missouri Valley Conference history to be named the league’s player of the year. He enters the tournament averaging 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. And if you like good storylines, root for Creighton on Friday.

It’d be fun to see McDermott matched against his old high school teammate, who isn’t too bad in his own right.

NCAA tournament reunion for Lutz and Wolfpack

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The last time Bobby Lutz coached in an NCAA tournament game, he was Charlotte's head coach, in 2005. The 49ers' opponent? N.C. State.

The Wolfpack beat Lutz and the Niners 75-63 in a first-round game in Worcester, Mass. in 2005. N.C. State star Julius Hodge helped the Wolfpack erase a 14-point first-half deficit with 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

"We were up big," said Lutz, who was 2-5 in five NCAA tournament appearances with Charlotte. "Then Julius took over the game late."

The Pack went on to beat Connecticut in the second round before losing to Wisconsin in the Sweet 16.

Lutz, in his first season as an assistant to Mark Gottfried with the Wolfpack, coached at Charlotte through the 2009-10 season and then was an assistant for Fred Hoiberg at Iowa State last season.

His wife, Janet, and his two daughters are driving to Louisville, Ky. tonight to watch Iowa State take on UConn, the defending champions.

"Fred got them tickets, and they’ll be back for us tomorrow," Lutz said. "I’m very excited about it.”

Pitino: Louisville must disrupt Davidson

   Louisville coach Rick Pitino has been busy studying the Davidson Wildcats in advance of their NCAA tournament game Thursday and, to hear him talk, he's impressed.

   Pitino said the Wildcats push the offensive tempo as consistently as any team the Cardinals have faced this season. Because Davidson has five players averaging in double figures, keeping the Wildcats off balance will be critical.

  "Anytime you play a team like that, you have to disrupt their passing ability," Pitino said. "It all starts with pressure on the basketball. If you allow them to pass the ball around, they're going to pick you apart...and certainly they have that ability."

   Pitino called the Southern Conference "a very underrated league.

  "We played Charleston early in the year who beat Davidson at home and we were life and death to beat Charleston at our place," Pitino said. "It's a very good league, very underrated."

-- Ron Green Jr.

Davidson ready for Louisville challenge

It took the Davidson Wildcats four seasons -- and a six-hour plane flight from Charlotte to Portland, Ore., on Tuesday -- to get back to the NCAA basketball tournament.

How are they dealing with the moment?

The Wildcats were playing 'Hangman,' the spelling game, in the locker room Tuesday while waiting to take the court for their official practice session at the Rose Garden where they'll meet Louisville Thursday.

"We've got to do something to kill the time," guard Nik Cochran said.

So much for nerves.

The Wildcats may be underdogs to fourth-seeded Louisville, which won the Big East tournament Saturday night in New York City, but they sounded unfazed by the challenge facing them. They know all about Louisville's basketball legacy and coach Rick Pitino's success but Davidson is focused primarily on being Davidson.

"We're going to come out with the confidence we've had all year," center Jake Cohen said.

Will they change the way they play to adapt to the defensive pressure Louisville is likely to employ?

"We're not going to change anything. We're going to do what we've been doing all season," guard J.P. Kuhlman said.

-- Ron Green Jr.

Virginia faces tough road in NCAA tournament

Florida State got rewarded for winning the ACC championship over North Carolina on Sunday in Atlanta, but Virginia got punished for losing its ACC tournament opener against N.C. State on Friday.

All four of those ACC teams, and Duke, made the 68-team field for the NCAA tournament beginning Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.

But among the five ACC teams to land NCAA bids Sunday, no one fared worst in the draw than the Cavaliers (22-9).

Tony Bennett's team ended up with a 10th seed in the West Regional and will open in Omaha, Neb., against No. 7 Florida (23-10) of the SEC.

The Seminoles (23-9 after Sunday's 85-82 ACC title win over North Carolina) get to play in the inviting East Regional and will open in Nashville, Tenn., against a St. Bonaventure team (20-11) that N.C. State defeated.

Seeded third in the East Regional, Florida State needs only to get past only the Bonnies and then either No. 6 Cincinnati or No. 11 Texas to reach the regional semifinals in Boston.

Virginia, on the other hand, will have to deal with Missouri - the West Regional's second seed - if the deliberate Cavaliers can get past the Gators (23-10) in the opener.

The Tigers, coached by former Miami head coach Frank Haith, rate among the quickest teams in the country and force the sort of fast tempo that Virginia hopes to avoid.

- Caulton Tudor

Davidson earns 13th seed, faces Louisville

The Davidson Wildcats have been tabbed the West Region's 13th seed and will face fourth-seeded Louisville Cardinals in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday in Portland, Ore.

It's the first appearance for the Wildcats since they made their magical run to the regional finals in 2008 as the No. 10 seed behind future NBA lottery pick Stephen Curry. They beat Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin before losing to Kansas.

Davidson earned its 11th tournament bid after a thrilling double-overtime win over Western Carolina to capture the 2012 Southern Conference tournament title.

The winner of the Davidson-Louisville game faces the winner of fifth-seeded New Mexico (27-6) and 12th-seeded Long Beach State (25-8) on Saturday.

- Associated Press

N.C. State is last team announced in NCAA tournament field

With the suspense peaking, N.C. State was the last team announced for the NCAA tournament on Sunday evening.

The Wolfpack, a No. 11 seed, will face San Diego State (26-7) on Friday in Columbus. Led by Mountain West Conference player of the year Jamaal Franklin, the Aztecs lost to New Mexico in the MWC championship.

After winning two games in the ACC tournament and falling short in the final seconds in the semifinals against North Carolina, N.C. State was on just about every prognosticator’s bubble heading into Sunday night.

As more and more teams were revealed, it looked like the Wolfpack may be on the outside looking in.
But after San Diego State was displayed, the N.C. State logo flashed on the screen, giving Mark Gottfried an NCAA tournament appearance in his first season as Wolfpack coach.

-Jack Daly

North Carolina is No. 1 seed, plays Friday

North Carolina will begin play in the NCAA tournament on Friday as the top seed in the Midwest region. The Tar Heels will play either Lamar or Vermont on Friday at the Greensboro Coliseum.

If the Tar Heels advance, they would then play on Sunday against either Creighton, the No. 8 seed in the region, or Alabama, the No. 9 seed.

Kansas is the second-seeded team in the Midwest, which sets up the possibility that the Tar Heels and Jayhawks could play one another in the regional championship game in St. Louis. Georgetown is the No. 3 seed in the Midwest, and Michigan the No. 4 seed.

The Tar Heels are tournament's third No. 1 team. Kentucky, the No. 1 seed in the South, received the top overall seed, and Syracuse, the No. 1 seed in the East, received the second overall top seed. Michigan State, the top seed in the West, received the final No. 1 seed.

-Andrew Carter