Getting To Know Carolina's Hoops Opponents -Part II
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With North Carolina’s basketball season almost here, THI continues a series taking a healthy look at each of the Tar Heels’ nonconference opponents for the 2021-22 campaign.
UNC has 11 non-ACC games, but we will focus on 12 teams in this series, since the Heels will play one of two clubs in their second game at the Mohegan Sun in November. The series is broken into four parts, with three opponents featured in each segment. We will go in chronological order.
Here is our second installment:
Note: The three teams here are in the Hall of fame Tip=Off, which will be held at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT. UNC will open with Purdue and then play either Villanova or Tennessee on the second day of the event.
Purdue Boilermakers
Date: Nov. 20, Uncasville, CT
Head coach: Matt Painter (Entering year 17 as head coach of the program)
2020-21 Record: 18-10 overall, 13-6 Big Ten
2021 Postseason: Lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to North Texas
Returning starters: Trevion Willams, 6-10, Sr. G (15.5 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 2.3 apg); Mason Gillis, 6-6, So. F (5.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.3 apg); Eric Hunter, 6-4, Sr. G (8.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.8 apg); Brandon Newman, 6-5, So. G (8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.3 apg); Sasha Stefanovic, 6-5, Sr. G (9.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.6 apg)
Other key returners: Jaden Ivey, 6-4, So. G (11.1 ppg,3.3rpg, 1.9 apg); Zach Edey, 7-4, So. C (8.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.1 bpg); Isaiah Thompson, 6-1, Jr. G (4.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 1 apg)
Transfers: No transfers
Possible impact freshmen: Caleb Furst,6-9, Fr. C (4-star prospect, No. 54 nationally, No. 7 C) Trey Kaufman, 6-8, Fr. F (4-star prospect, No. 41 nationally, No. 8 PF)
Key stats: Last season, Purdue averaged 71 points per game, while shooting 44.7% from the field, and knocking down 7.2 threes per game.
Keynotes: The Boilermakers will bring back 94.6 percent of their scoring and 88.2 percent of their rebounding from last season.
Most recent meeting: Nov. 24, 1999
All-time series: UNC leads 2-1
Preseason projection: Purdue was picked to finish second in the Big Ten by the media, they also rank No.7 in the AP preseason poll.
Purdue’s primary strength:
“We return our top I think seven or eight scorers. We have some experience. Obviously, the thing that you want is experience, success in guys really pulling the rope all in the same direction.”- Head Coach Matt Painter
Purdue’s primary weakness: Purdue hosts a number of quality big men on their roster. Finding ways to get them on the court at the same time has admittedly been a struggle for Painter.
“You get two of the biggest guys on the court, they're anchored by the rim, a turnover happens, now you got to sprint to the other end. They're faster and running 80 feet, you're running 90 feet, I think we can all figure out how that ends. You can't have a lot of that.”- Head Coach Matt Painter
Villanova Wildcats
Date: Nov. 21, Uncasville, CT
Head coach: Jay Wright (Entering 21st year as head coach of the program)
2020-21 Record: 18-7 overall, 11-4 Big East
2021 Postseason: Lost in the sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament to Baylor
Returning starters: Caleb Daniels, 6-4, Sr. G (9.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.2 apg); Collin Gillespie, 6-3, GR. G (14 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4.6 apg) Jermaine Samuels, 6-7, Gr. F (12 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.5 apg)
Other key returners: Justin Moore, 6-4, Jr. G (12.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3 apg); Brandon Slater, 6-7, Sr. F (3.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg); Bryan Antoine, 6-5, So. G (2.3 ppg, 1.2 rpg)
Transfers: No transfers
Possible impact freshmen: Nnanna Njoku, 6-9, Fr. C (4-star prospect, No.104 nationally, No. 16 C); Jordan Longino, 6-5, Fr. G (4-star prospect, No.45 nationally, No. 10 SG).
Key stats: Last season the wildcats made an impressive 9 threes per game. They also shot 76.3% from the charity stripe, while dishing out 15 assists per game.
Keynotes: The Wildcats return the core of a team that reached the Elite 8 last year. Replacing talented forward Jerimiah Robinson Earl will be an obstacle for Villanova to overcome.
Most recent meeting: Apr. 4, 2016
All-time series: UNC leads 11-5
Preseason projection: Villanova was voted to win the Big East by the media. The Wildcats were also ranked No.4 in the AP preseason poll.
Villanova's primary strength: "This could definitely be the most depth we've had in a long time. Depth is determined by how much experience you have. Young guys can provide depth, but it's not valuable depth. We have a chance to have valuable depth."- Head Coach Jay Wright
Villanova's primary weakness: My concern about Villanova when Tournament time rolls around is that I see a group of good to very good players, but no transcendent — basically, NBA level — talents, especially among the bigs. No sand here, but not much granite, either. - Brad Martinez SB Nation
Tennessee Volunteers
Date: Nov. 21, Uncasville, CT
Head coach: Rick Barnes (Entering seventh year as head coach of the program)
2020-21 Record: 18-9 overall, 10-7 SEC
2021 Postseason: Lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Oregon State.
Returning starters: Victor Bailey, 6-4, Sr. G (10.9 ppg, 2 rpg, 1.6 apg); John Fulkerson, 6-9, Gr. F (9.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.7 apg); Josiah-Jordan James, 6-6, Jr .G (8 ppg,6.5 rpg, 2 apg) Santiago Vescovi, 6-3, Jr. G (8.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.1 apg)
Other key returners: No key returners.
Transfers: Justin Powell, 6-6, So. G (11.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 4.7 apg at Auburn)
Possible impact freshmen: Jahmai Mashack, 6-5, Fr. F (4-star prospect, No.53 nationally, No.12 SF); Kennedy Chandler, 6-0, Fr. G (5-star prospect, No. 9 nationally, No.1 PG); Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, 6-9, Fr. F (4-star prospect, No.35 nationally, No.7 PF) Jonas Aidoo, 6-11, Fr. C (5-star prospect, No.24 nationally, No. 1 C)
Key stats: Tennessee was active defensively last season, getting 4.8 blocks per game and 7.3 steals per game. The Volunteers also shot a solid 74.6% from the free throw line.
Key notes: Tennessee brings in Auburn transfer Justin Powell who had a stellar year as a true freshman. The Vols also brought in 5-star point guard Kennedy Chandler, and the duo should provide an instant impact on the Volunteers backcourt.
Tennessee’s primary strength:
“I'm being frank and honest when I say we have the best leadership with our upperclassmen that we’ve had in a couple of years. We have some guys who have been through some tough times, yet they have had some good times, and they have done a really fine job showing the younger guys what it's about in our program.”
Tennessee’s primary weakness: Tennessee will rely on freshmen to step up and play big minutes right away. With young players come inconsistency.
“It's going like you would expect. They’ve all had some good days, they’ve all had days where they have been up and down...They’re finding out with the game of basketball there are a lot of things they have never heard of. They might have heard of it but didn't understand the importance of it. They are learning now that you have to play when you are tired, learn how to execute, learn how to respond opposed to reacting when things aren't going well”- Head Coach Rick Barnes