Capsule: UNC faces Fairfield Sunday
Fairfield at No. 1 North Carolina
When: 4 p.m. Sunday
Where: Smith Center, Chapel Hill
TV/Radio: ESPNU, 106.1-WTKK
Projected starting lineups
Fairfield (0-1)
G Jerome Segura 4 ppg, 6 apg
G Tyler Nelson 6 ppg, 4 apg
G Curtis Cobb 8 ppg, 1 rpg
F Scott King Jr. 4 ppg, 1 rpg
F Marcus Gilbert 8 ppg, 1 rpg
North Carolina (1-0)
G Joel Berry 14 ppg, 4 apg
G Theo Pinson 7 ppg, 9 rpg
F Justin Jackson 4 ppg, 2 rpg
F Brice Johnson 16 ppg, 10 rpg
F Kennedy Meeks 25 ppg, 11 rpg
Observations
This one could, and probably should, get ugly. Fairfield has won seven games – and no more – in each of the past two seasons, and it’s coming off a 70-57 defeat against Yale in its season opener.
In that game, Fairfield had more fouls (26) than rebounds (24). The Tar Heels, who outscored Temple 42-14 in the paint in UNC’s season opener Friday, might just beat that margin on Sunday. UNC junior Kennedy Meeks took advantage of smaller defenders and scored a career-high 25 points during the Tar Heel’s 91-67 win over Temple. He’s likely to have the same kind of scoring chances against Fairfield, which lacks size up front. Fairfield’s tallest starter, Scott King, is 6-foot-9, and a svelte 220 pounds.
Andrew Carter
This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Capsule: UNC faces Fairfield Sunday."