Kentucky-North Carolina thread

One last ticket to the Final Four will be punched when the SEC clashes with the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Kentucky is in its 108th season of basketball and is the all-time NCAA leader in wins with 2,051. The Wildcats are 104-45 (.698) in the NCAA Tournament and 14-1 (.933) in tournament games played in the New York City metro area. The Wildcats own a 13-18 record in regional final games, but haven’t won a regional final since the 1998 season. The Wildcats are 123-62 against the ACC overall and 10-6 against the conference in the NCAA Tournament. UK’s last meeting against an ACC foe in the tournament was last season. Kentucky defeated Wake Forest 90-60.
Since 1992, UK is 96-25 (.793) in postseason play (SEC, NIT and NCAA). Kentucky has faced six schools from the ACC in the NCAA Tournament, including Duke (3-2), Florida State (3-1), Maryland (0-1), North Carolina (0-2) Virginia Tech (1-0) and Wake Forest (3-0). Kentucky is making only its second appearance as a No. 4 seed. The Cats were a four seed in the 2002 tournament, when they advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to top-seed Maryland, 78-68. UK has a 5-1 record as a four seed.

The Tar Heels are making their 25th appearance in an NCAA regional final. Carolina has won nine of its last 10 regional finals, losing only in 2007 in East Rutherford, N.J., since a 1988 loss to Arizona in the West Regional final in Seattle. A win on Sunday against Kentucky will earn the Tar Heels their NCAA-record 19th Final Four berth and their eighth consecutive decade with at least one Final Four appearance. u UNC is 18-6 in its 24 previous NCAA
Tournament regional finals and has won nine of its last 10 regional finals (since 1988). Carolina has appeared in the regional finals (Elite Eight) 25 times: 1941, 1946, 1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. UNC’s 25 regional final appearances rank second in NCAA history behind Kentucky’s 32. UCLA is third with 22.The Tar Heels have reached the regional finals four times in the last five years. Carolina also played in four regional finals in a five-year span from 1981-85 (Elite Eight appearances in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1985).

Notes courtesy of ukathletics.com and tarheelblue.com.

Tar Heels eyeing another Final Four

UNC’s Knox knows Kentucky

DeAndre Liggins is Wildcats’ battle-tested, blue-collar guy

Kentucky and North Carolina duke it out for spot in Final Four

Tar Heels vs. Wildcats a royal matchup

Elite Eight preview

Probable starters

Kentucky Wildcats
P # Name Pts. Rebs. Assts
G 1 Darius Miller 11.1 4.6 1.7
• Has hit a 3-pointer in 23-straight games
F 3 Terrence Jones 15.9 8.7 1.9^
• Has SEC best 12 double-doubles
G 12 Brandon Knight 17.2 3.8 4.2
• Scored two game-winners in three NCAA Tour. games
G 20 Doron Lamb 12.4 2.0 1.7
• Shooting 47.4 pct. from 3-point range
F 55 Josh Harrellson 7.5 8.8 1.6^
• Avg. 13.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.2 bpg in postseason

North Carolina Tar Heels
P # Name Pts. Rebs. Assts
G 1 Dexter Strickland 7.4 3.1 2.2
• Leads team with 43 steals
G 5 Kendall Marshall 6.2 2.1 6.2
• Has team-high 222 assists
F 31 John Henson 11.9 10.1 3.3^
• Team-high 118 blocks
F 40 Harrison Barnes 15.6 5.8 1.4
• Shooting 81 pct. from the free-throw line
F 44 Tyler Zeller 15.6 7.2 1.1^
• Shooting 54.0 pct. from the field

TEAM STATISTICS …………………….UK……………………. OPP
SCORING ……………………………………..2714…………………… 2287
Points per game …………………………….75.4……………………. 63.5
Scoring margin …………………………….+11.9 –
FIELD GOALS-ATT …………………….954-2065…………….. 813-2077
Field goal pct ………………………………. 4 6 2………………….. . 3 9 1
3 POINT FG-ATT …………………………260-658………………. 206-621
3-point FG pct ………………………………. 3 9 5…………………. . 3 3 2
3-pt FG made per game …………………….7.2…………………….. 5.7
FREE THROWS-ATT ……………………..546-761………………. 455-632
Free throw pct ………………………………. 7 1 7………………… . 7 2 0
F-Throws made per game ………………….15.2………………….. 12.6
REBOUNDS …………………………………….1349…………………… 1211
Rebounds per game ………………………….37.5…………………… 33.6
Rebounding margin …………………………+3.8 –
ASSISTS …………………………………………..454…………………… 390
Assists per game ……………………………….12.6………………….. 10.8
TURNOVERS ……………………………………..382…………………… 430
Turnovers per game …………………………..10.6…………………… 11.9
Turnover margin ……………………………….+1.3 –
Assist/turnover ratio …………………………..1.2……………………. 0.9
STEALS ……………………………………………..190…………………… 187
Steals per game …………………………………..5.3…………………….. 5.2
BLOCKS ……………………………………………..231……………………. 124
Blocks per game …………………………………..6.4…………………….. 3.4
ATTENDANCE ………………………………….354046…………….. 308003
Home games-Avg/Game ………………….15-23603……………. 11-15222
Neutral site-Avg/Game – 10-14056
Score by Periods ……………………1st……….. 2nd………. OT………. Totals
Kentucky …………………………….1337…….. 1371………. 6 …………2714
Opponents …………………………..1124……… 1156………. 7……….. 2287

TEAM STATISTICS……………………… NC …………………OPP
SCORING ……………………………………….2799………………. 2469
Points per game ………………………………77.8……………….. 68.6
Scoring margin……………………………….. +9.2 –
FIELD GOALS-ATT……………………. 1017-2256………… 921-2283
Field goal pct …………………………………. 4 5 1……………… . 4 0 3
3 POINT FG-ATT…………………………. 187-564…………… 255-784
3-point FG pct ……………………………….. 3 3 2………………. . 3 2 5
3-pt FG made per game…………………….. 5.2…………………… 7.1
FREE THROWS-ATT ………………………578-863…………… 372-564
Free throw pct ………………………………. 6 7 0 ……………….. 6 6 0
F-Throws made per game ………………….16.1…………………. 10.3
REBOUNDS …………………………………….1542…………………. 1309
Rebounds per game …………………………42.8………………….. 36.4
Rebounding margin ………………………..+6.5 –
ASSISTS …………………………………………560…………………… 459
Assists per game ……………………………..15.6………………….. 12.8
TURNOVERS ……………………………………480………………….. 514
Turnovers per game …………………………13.3………………….. 14.3
Turnover margin …………………………….+0.9 –
Assist/turnover ratio …………………………1.2……………………. 0.9
STEALS …………………………………………..223…………………… 268
Steals per game ………………………………..6.2…………………….. 7.4
BLOCKS …………………………………………..199…………………… 109
Blocks per game ………………………………..5.5……………………. 3.0
ATTENDANCE ………………………………287155……………… 280462
Home games-Avg/Game ……………….15-19144…………… 10-11604
Neutral site-Avg/Game – 11-14947
Score by Periods ……………………1st…………. 2nd…. OT………. Totals
North Carolina …………………….1366……….. 1414…. 19……….. 2799
Opponents …………………………..1156……….. 1299… 14……….. 2469