Preview: UNC men's basketball to face San Diego State in First Four of NCAA tournament

The UNC men's basketball team found a way to go dancing in March. Somehow, someway. 

After resting on the bubble for most of last week, No. 11 seed North Carolina — the lowest seed in UNC history — secured the final at-large bid during the Selection Show on Sunday.

"It's March Madness," graduate guard RJ Davis said in Monday's press conference. "This is what you play for. You set a goal at the beginning of the year to be in this tournament and succeed. Just to see our name pop up on the screen, I was just overly excited. I had a smile across my face and I was ready to hoop."

The Tar Heels will travel to Dayton, Ohio to play San Diego State on Tuesday night in the First Four. The winner will advance to take on No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Milwaukee, Wis. 

Here are three keys to look out for as the two programs face off for the first time since 1990:

San Diego State's defense

The Aztecs lost six of their seven top scorers from last season. But what they’ve lost in offensive production, they’ve made up for in defensive prowess. 

San Diego State ranks No. 1 in the nation in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 37.8 percent. The Aztecs manage to keep opponents to 30.2 percent from three and currently rank No. 13 in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. They are also No. 6 in effective field goal percentage defense and No. 8 in 2-point percentage defense.

"It's also important for us to play with purpose and pace, taking care of the basketball and trying to dominate points in the paint through post and penetration and putting ourselves in a position to get to the free-throw line and generate really good threes off those penetrations and off those post catches," head coach Hubert Davis said. "That's something that we've done consistently offensively for 35 games, and we're not changing it."

So, it's likely UNC will face some difficulty scoring. The Tar Heels will have to focus on ball movement, attacking the rim and grabbing offensive rebounds. If they don't, it could be costly.

Battle in the post

Redshirt first-year forward Magoon Gwath has made a name for himself in the Mountain West Conference. 

The 7-footer was named Mountain West Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. He was named to the All-Defensive Team and is an honorable mention All-Conference selection member. Gwath averages 8.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.

Gwath missed the final four games of conference play and the entirety of the MWC tournament with a hyperextended right knee. But the first-year will be back in action on Tuesday for the first time since February, according to San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher.

And that means he will face junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin in the post. The 6-foot-8 forward has been playing his best ball all season, recording three consecutive double-doubles in the ACC tournament. After only reaching double figures five times in the first 26 games of the season, Lubin has scored 10 or more points in the last nine straight games. 

But the forward will have to stay hot for the entirety of his playing time against Gwath. SDSU has the nation's best blocking percentage at 18.5 percent. 

Last chances for RJ Davis, Jae'Lyn Withers

RJ Davis went 4-for-10 in UNC's ACC tournament loss to Duke, leading to an eight point performance.

Then, with 4.1 seconds left and UNC down 72-71 to the Blue Devils, Lubin drew a foul. After missing the first one, he made the second but graduate forward Jae'Lyn Withers' stepped into the paint, resulting in a lane violation. Withers cost North Carolina the potential tie. 

Davis and Withers didn't want their careers to end with those performances. And both players are getting one more chance. To do so, their head coach has given them some advice. 

"[The team] asked me what is noise, and noise is anything that doesn't help you become a better person, a better player and a better teammate," Hubert Davis said. "So anything that doesn't help you become those three things, you're going to have to learn how to turn down and turn off that noise."

Last season, Davis scored 20 or more points in two of his three March Madness games. Across his first 10 NCAA tournament appearances, the guard averaged 15.1 points. Against Alabama in the Sweet Sixteen, Davis went 0-for-9 from behind the arc where the Tar Heels lost 89-87. So, the graduate is looking for some redemption in his final Big Dance appearance. 

After such a critical mistake, Withers is likely searching for the same thing.

@_emmahmoon

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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