UNC's next opponent goes slow

Bennett expects 'collision' of styles

Top-seeded North Carolina scored more than 100 points during its first two games of the NCAA Tournament. No. 4 seed Washington State held its first two opponents to fewer than 50.

"There's a big collision coming, isn't there?" second-year Cougars basketball coach Tony Bennett asked during his Monday conference call.

Yep.

Thursday's NCAA East Regional semifinal game between the Tar Heels (34-2) and Washington State (26-8) at Charlotte Bobcats Arena will feature a clash of styles.

UNC is second in the nation in scoring (89.9 points per game), thrives in transition and likes to wear out opponents by outracing them down the court.

The Cougars, on the other hand, use a relentlessly plodding style that tries to frustrate opponents by running down the shot clock before scoring themselves, then forcing their foes into half-court sets -- where they try to aggressively coax impatient shots and turnovers.

The tactic has been successful. Washington State has held 11 opponents to fewer than 50 points this season. The most the Cougars have given up is 81 -- to UCLA in a loss.

Bennett acknowledged that few probably will favor his team (or its style) in this game, "but we played in a pretty good league. Learning to play our system gives you a chance to play against the very best, and we're going to have that chance.

"The things that we value, the things we try to do, I don't think we have to change our game plan completely to be successful in this game. We just have to do what we do at an elite level. That's all you can do. You can't try to re-invent [the] wheel."

FAMILIAR TERRITORY: Bennett used to hear plenty of cheers when he was a player in Charlotte.

However, when he returns this week as the Cougars' coach, he doesn't exactly expect the same welcome.

"I don't think too many people will remember me and be pulling for the Cougs down there," he said. "They'll be cheering for the Carolina blues."

The former point guard has plenty of fond memories of Charlotte, where he was drafted by the NBA's Hornets in 1992 and played for three seasons at the Charlotte Coliseum.

He was even on the court when Alonzo Mourning hit the 20-footer to beat the Boston Celtics and advance to the second round of the playoffs in 1993.

"It was Kevin McHale's last game, there was probably 9 or 10 seconds left when [I got] put in," Bennett remembered.

"Somehow the ball got back to Alonzo, and he made a step-back. And if you watch the replay ... I was ready to get the tip to put it back in; I was in perfect position."

That's one of his fondest memories.

But the best: meeting his wife, who was an assistant youth pastor at the church he attended.

"When the brackets came up, my wife and I said, 'This would be sweet, to go back to Charlotte,' " Bennett said.