Although I did not watch today’s North Carolina-Washington NCAA Tournament second round game, I followed it on my phone. Just by checking scores, the general trend of the game appeared to be one where Washington seemed to be in more ‘control’ throughout the afternoon as each hit of ‘refresh’ generated information where the Huskies were clearly in front (by 11, by 10, by 7, etc) or were close to being tied.
I didn’t need to watch the game to know what was going to happen. Since Carolina was playing in Charlotte in a big game, everyone on this side of the country knew exactly what to expect. And, it appears that (again) we were correct in letting decades of history to be our guide. I just feel sorry for the poor fans from Washington; I think they really thought they had a chance.
I just got home from church, lunch and some much needed quality family time this afternoon. I had my mind on doing ONE thing when I walked in the door before doing anything else — check the box score to see how many more free-throws Carolina shot than Washington? There was no reason to really watch the game — fouls/free throws were all I needed to know to come to a conclusion regarding Washington’s chances today.
So, I just clicked on the box score and lo and behold my ‘surprise’ to see that the amazing North Carolina Tar Heels played the ENTIRE GAME while committing only 9 fouls — in FORTY minutes of play. Not nine fouls – one just below the bonus – in a single half (which would still be pretty scarce); but UNC got whistled for only nine fouls for the ENTIRE GAME!? Washington, on the other hand…despite leading for much of the game…’committed’ 20 fouls throughout the afternoon.
In the end, the Tar Heels shot 23 free throws to Washington’s 7. Carolina shot in excess of 200% more free throws today than the Huskies. Will wonders ever cease?
How would I know that Carolina was going to shoot (significantly) more free throws than Washington during the afternoon? Really? You ask that? Oh…you must be visiting us from a Washington website. WELCOME!
Do me a favor — why don’t you check the box scores from this season and tell me the last three games that UNC shot less free throws than an opponent. I am dead serious. All you stat-heads leaf back through the archives and tell us about Carolina’s foul and free throw differentials this year and let’s prove that I don’t know what I am talking about.
And, don’t give me this crap about Carolina ‘going inside’ with the ball and therefore generating more fouls than the opponents. At the RBC Center in Raleigh last month, nobody could have gone inside with the ball more than NC State did to Tracy Smith…and, we all know how the ‘athletic’ Tyler Zeller was able to play almost 30 minutes without committing a foul after getting himself in early foul trouble. Amazing! Even when losing by 17 points last week in the ACC Championship against Duke, the Tar Heels found a way to shoot six more free throws (21) than the victorious Blue Devils (15). Old habits are hard to break.
Oh yea. It appears there were both a clock issue and a questionable no call on basket interference at the end of the the game where the officials bungled both calls in a manner that benefited North Carolina. You don’t say? There is little reason to jump too deep into just two plasy at the end of the game when throughout the game calls were made to favor Carolina every time Washington tried to pull away. (You don’t really have to ask how I would know that even though I didn’t watch the game?)
PS: Controversial end to the North Carolina vs Washington game also being discussed here.
