Capsule: UNC-Miami winner decides first place in ACC
No. 11 Miami at No. 5 North Carolina
When: 1 p.m.
Where: Smith Center, Chapel Hill
TV/Radio: WRAL, 106.1-WTKK
Projected starting lineups
North Carolina (21-5, 10-3 ACC)
G Joel Berry 12 ppg, 4 apg
G Marcus Paige 12.7 ppg, 3.7 apg
F Justin Jackson 12.1 ppg, 4 rpg
F Brice Johnson 16.9 ppg, 10.4 rpg
F Kennedy Meeks 10.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg
Miami (21-4, 10-3 ACC)
G Angel Rodriguez 11.5 ppg, 4.4 apg
G Sheldon McClellan 16.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg
G Davon Reed 10.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg
F Kamari Murphy 6 ppg, 5.8 rpg
C Tonye Jekiri 8.2 ppg, 9.6 rpg
Observations
The Tar Heels have no time to sulk after their 74-73 loss against Duke on Wednesday night. The winner of the UNC-Miami game will decide which team is in first place in the ACC with two weeks remaining in the regular season. Under coach Jim Larranaga, the Hurricanes have had success against UNC. Miami won four straight in this series in 2013 and ‘14. Expect Miami, which ranks 252nd nationally in adjusted tempo, to slow the pace and try to force UNC to run its offense as often as possible from a halfcourt set. That’s something the Tar Heels struggled to do in the second half against Duke. UNC will have its hands full defensively against Miami’s starting backcourt of Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan, and Miami sixth man Ja’Quan Newton has been cleared to play after recovering from an illness.
Andrew Carter
This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Capsule: UNC-Miami winner decides first place in ACC."