Tonight at 7:47 p.m. ET on TBS the West Region's first Sweet 16 game will tip off between the top-seeded Wisconsin Badgers and the fourth-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels. Live stream the game free by clicking this link. Badgers fans can catch the radio broadcast by turning their dials to WIBA 1310, while Tar Heels fans may do likewise on News Talk 1110 WBT.
North Carolina has spent this season pounding opponents on the glass, riding their big men, particularly center Kennedy Meeks and forward Brice Johnson, to the second-most rebounds per game in the nation. Tonight though, Wisconsin will unleash Frank Kaminsky on UNC's frontcourt. Kaminsky, a Player of the Year candidate, is not just bigger than the Tar Heels' forwards-he's seven feet tall-he has lethal touch from behind the 3-point line and will draw them away from the cup.
"Very, very seriously is the way we're going to try to deal with him," UNC coach Roy Williams said of guarding Kaminsky.
The Badgers big averaged 18.4 points and 8.1 rebounds this year while canning 40 percent of his 3-pointers.
Making matters worse for the Heels is a knee injury to Meeks, sustained late in their Round of 32 win over Arkansas. He took limited contact in practice, but Williams said if there is swelling Meeks won't be put in the game tonight.
"I'm doing pretty well," Meeks said. "I'm jumping a little bit more and trying to do all the right things so I can take care of my knee."
If Meeks misses the game, Johnson will have to provide a similar mismatch on his end when Kaminsky must guard him. "His combination of size and athleticism isn't very common in college basketball," Kaminsky said. "He does a great job of attacking the glass, getting things done inside."
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