GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Breaking down the Friday afternoon games in Greensboro:
No. 9 Alabama (21-11) vs. No. 8 Creighton (28-5), 1:40 p.m. ET
Creighton loves to score in a hurry; the Bluejays averaged 80 points per game and scored 90 or more nine times this season.
Alabama prefers to play at a relative snail's pace, limiting its opponents to only 58.1 points per game, fewest in the SEC and ninth-fewest in NCAA Division I.
Their contrasting styles will meet in a Midwest Region second-round game at Greensboro Coliseum on Friday.
"It's tough for us to simulate," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "But we're not going to change anything that we do. We're going to shoot a bunch of 3s, we're going to try to jam it inside, we're going to try to fly it up and down the floor, just like we have played all year. You can't change anything at this stage of the game."
Why would the Bluejays change anything now? Creighton has won seven games in a row, including an 83-79 victory in overtime over Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship game on March 4. The Bluejays rank No. 7 nationally in scoring and they've made 42.5 percent of their 3-pointers and 50.9 percent of their shots overall.
Sophomore guard Doug McDermott, the coach's son, ranks No. 3 nationally in scoring with 23.2 points per game and was No. 2 in the MVC with 8.2 rebounds. He knows he'll face a stiff challenge from the Crimson Tide, who will be longer and more athletic than most opponents he faced this season.
"I've seen a lot of different defenses this year with double teams and guys just being more physical with me," McDermott said. "But I think that if they're going to put a lot of attention on me, it's just going to open up a lot of things for [my teammates]."
The Crimson Tide recovered from a 3-6 stretch in midseason to earn its first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2006. Alabama overcame the suspensions of four players and myriad injuries to win five of its final seven games. Tide forward Tony Mitchell, the team's second-leading scorer with 13.1 points per game, was suspended on Feb. 20 for the rest of the season. Because of the roster upheaval, the Tide used 13 different starting lineups and eight in its past 11 games.
"I think that every program at some point during the year, whether it's injuries or illnesses or something, you go through adversity," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. "I think every coach you talk to says your team's going to face adversity and [it's about] how you handle that adversity. Sometimes that adversity can come through losing; sometimes it comes through winning. But that's just a part of the game. Our team's no different. I think our guys have grown and matured over the course of the season, individually and collectively."
Who to watch:
Creighton's McDermott: No player will get as much defensive attention as McDermott, who was named MVC Player of the Year and set a Creighton single-season record with 765 points. Only two other sophomores in MVC history scored 700 points in a season -- Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson and Indiana State's Larry Bird. McDermott ranked second in the MVC in 3-point shooting (49.5 percent) and scored 30 points or more in six games.
Creighton's Gregory Echenique: Creighton's chances might come down to Echenique's ability to hold his own against Alabama's frontcourt of JaMychal Green and Nick Jacobs. Echenique, a junior from Guatire, Venezuela, averaged 9.8 points and 7.4 rebounds and led the MVC in blocked shots in each of the past two seasons.
Alabama's Green: After returning to the starting lineup against Auburn on Feb. 29, Green recorded double-doubles in three of the Tide's final four games. He had 22 points and 10 rebounds in the Tide's 66-63 loss to Florida in the SEC tournament, the 27th double-double of his career. Green, the Tide's only senior, missed seven games because of injuries and suspensions, but still averaged 14 points and 7.4 rebounds.
What to watch: Guard play. The Crimson Tide likes to turn opponents over with a full-court press and half-court traps. The Bluejays turned the ball over 405 times -- 61 more than their opponents had in 33 games -- but senior Antoine Young led the MVC in assist/turnover ratio in each of the past two seasons. Gonzaga transfer Grant Gibbs was also among the MVC leaders with 5.1 assists per game.
No. 16 Vermont (24-11) vs. No. 1 North Carolina (29-5), 4:10 p.m. ET
North Carolina probably won't need forward John Henson to defeat Vermont in Friday's Midwest Region second-round game at the Greensboro Coliseum.
After all, No. 1 seeds are 110-0 against No. 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament.
But if the Tar Heels are going to advance beyond the tournament's opening weekend and perhaps even to the Final Four in New Orleans, they'll need Henson to return from a left wrist injury that caused him to miss most of the past three games.
Henson, a 6-foot-10 junior from Tampa, Fla., went through about 70 percent of the team's practice in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Thursday morning and then most of the Tar Heels' light workout in Greensboro. The two-time reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Henson is averaging 13.8 points and 10.1 rebounds with 94 blocked shots this season.
Henson says he's ready to play for the first time since injuring his wrist in the early minutes of an 85-69 win over Maryland in the ACC tournament on March 9, but UNC coach Roy Williams isn't so sure.
"We practiced [Thursday] morning," Williams said. "John did a little more than he did [Wednesday]. We let him in some live situations. He did not shoot the ball left-handed a single time. He did not block any shots left-handed. So I'm extremely concerned about that part of it, because that's his dominant hand in a big, big way. He did block one shot, it was right-handed, and he took one jump hook right-handed and it fell about three miles short. But he felt like if the game were to be played today, he felt like he could play. I'm not convinced."
If Henson can't go, UNC freshman James Michael McAdoo will probably start his third consecutive game. McAdoo struggled on offense in UNC's 85-82 loss to Florida State in the ACC tourney championship game on Sunday, scoring four points on 2-for-10 shooting. But he grabbed eight rebounds with one blocked shot and four steals.
"We prepare both ways, prepared for [Henson] to play as well as not play," UNC senior Tyler Zeller said. "We don't know yet what's going to happen with him, so we have had him in for some plays. We have also had James Michael in with the first team playing a lot also. We're just trying to prepare for whatever we have and make the best of it."
Henson, who has 272 blocked shots in 106 games at Carolina, would be a big mismatch for the Catamounts, who don't start a player taller than 6-foot-8.
"I don't think it's affecting us," Zeller said. "We would love to have John play. He's a fantastic player, a great rebounder, shot blocker, and he can score. So all-around he's a fantastic player. But we also have confidence in our substitutes, and John Michael especially, we have a lot of confidence in him to be able to step up and fit in the role."
Who to watch:
North Carolina's Kendall Marshall: The Tar Heels point guard has 330 assists this season, a new UNC and ACC single-season record. Marshall's assist total is the fifth-highest in NCAA history -- he only needs four more to move into fourth place -- and his 9.71 assists per game were the most ever by a sophomore in NCAA history.
North Carolina's Tyler Zeller: The ACC Player of the Year led the conference in field goal percentage (56.9 percent) and offensive rebounds (4 per game), was second in rebounds (9.7), third in scoring (18.5 points) and sixth in free throw percentage (83.3 percent).
Vermont's Four McGlynn: McGlynn's real name is Patrick McGlynn IV, but he goes by "Four." McGlynn, a freshman York, Pa., didn't start a game all season, but he led the Catamounts with 12 points per game. He shot 39.3 percent on 3-pointers and 88.7 percent on foul shots.
What to watch: Pace of play. The Tar Heels average 82 points per game, which is No. 2 in NCAA Division I. The Catamounts gave up 80 points only one time in 35 games, an 80-75 loss to Long Island, which was No. 3 nationally in scoring with 81.9 points per game. Vermont held 23 of its last 24 opponents to 70 points or fewer in regulation.
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