Unlv Upsets #1 UNC

UNC went into the Las Vegas Invitational championship heavily favored over the UNLV Rebels.  As a matter of fact, no one expected UNLV to win this game as UNC has been playing exceptionally well this season and before tonight, deserved that #1 ranking.  The only true advantage that would sway the game in UNLV’s favor was the fact that the “neutral” court was being played extremely close to them as the tournament was held in Las Vegas. 

The game remained close up to halftime with UNC in control of the game, however with only a four point lead.  As the second half began, the Eagles started up a run.  The second half seemed to be dominated by UNLV until UNC’s coach Roy Williams called a timeout after the Tarheels had gone scoreless the beginning few minutes of the half.  After this timeout, the game was played evenly point-wise, however UNLV seemed in total control of the game and tempo.  When they wanted to run, they ran, and so did the Tarheels.  Additionally, UNLV seemed to be simply outplaying UNC by beating them to all the loose balls and snagging every rebound although much shorter than the UNC’s bigs of Tyler Zeller and John Henson.  

To me, UNC is definitely a top contender, and with a little work on their press, pick and roll defense, along with their free throw shooting they will be an exceptional team.  Don’t let this loss make them go off the radar as during March you can guarentee they will be one of the top seeeds in the tournament.  In the end, this game was exciting to watch as it was played as a typical, fast-paced ACC-like game.