Lowdown on No. 13 Ohio vs No. 1 North Carolina

The winner of the North Carolina-Ohio game will face either N.C. State or Kansas for a shot at the Final Four.

Kansas is the No. 2 seed in the region and advanced to the Sweet 16 with a close win against Purdue.

N.C. State was one of the last teams to make the tournament, but has made a splash with upsets against both Georgetown and San Diego State.

UNC is 3-0 against the Wolfpack this season. Roy Williams coached the Jayhawks before becoming UNC’s coach.

Head-to-head

Point Guard:
Ohio’s offense is all about the point guard. D.J. Cooper is the Bobcats’ leading scorer, averaging 15 points a game. He has a solid two-to-one assist to turnover ratio and is also pesky in defensively, racking up 83 steals this season. That could spell trouble for a Kendall Marshall-less Tar Heel squad.

Edge: Cooper

Shooting Guard:

Bobcat’s two-guard Walter Offutt averages 12 points per game and is one of the better shooters on the team, but he might struggle getting shots off over the taller and longer Reggie Bullock. Bullock, who replaced defensive-minded Strickland, has been a more than adequate replacement.

Edge: Push

Small Forward:

Nick Kellogg is by far Ohio’s best deep threat and has made 42 percent of his attempts this season, but he’s no Harrison Barnes. Barnes put up 17 points in Creighton game and hit three 3-pointers, the most he’s hit since the Clemson game more than a month ago.

Edge: Barnes

Power Forward:

Given their size, the Bobcats aren’t the best rebounders. Ohio’s top two rebounders’ combined average is the same number of boards that John Henson pulls down. Henson’s had some game action with his wrist injured and had an extra week to recover. He should be good to go.

Edge: Henson

Center:

Ivo Baltic has been the tallest Bobcat on the floor to start games; he’s 6 feet 8 inches tall and tonight he’ll be battling with the ACC Player of the Year. Tyler Zeller puts up 16 points per game and runs the floor better than any seven-footer in the country.

Edge: Zeller

Intangibles:

Ohio is riding the momentum of the program’s first appearance in the Sweet 16 since the tournament expanded in 1985. And oh yeah, Kendall Marshall just had surgery five days ago.

Edge: Ohio

Bench:

The Tar Heel bench has increasingly grown shorter and shorter as the season has progressed and will now likely have to make due with Justin Watts or Stilman White at the point.

Edge: Push

The Bottom Line — North Carolina 78, Ohio 65