North Carolina (19-3) and Maryland (13-8) Face Off

Filed under Game Preview on February 3rd, 2012

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It should be a lively atmosphere at Comcast Center on Saturday as Maryland plays host to North Carolina in an ACC showdown. It gets started at 4:00 EST and it will be televised on ESPN.

North Carolina is in 1st place in the conference, Maryland is in 7th place. A win here would also maintain the Tar Heels #5 AP ranking. The Tar Heels come in at 19-3 overall and are 6-1 in the ACC. Meanwhile, the Terrapins have a record of 13-8 including 3-4 in the conference. North Carolina is 5-2 on the road while Maryland has a record of 11-2 at home. The RPI ranks the Terrapins at #101 and the Tar Heels at #11. North Carolina will be looking to extend its four game win streak.

North Carolina can find a statistical edge in three areas. The Tar Heels beat the Terrapins in assists, where they have the advantage 18 per game to 10 per game. Additionally, North Carolina tops Maryland in rebounding, 46 per game to 36 per game. Finally, the Tar Heels have scoring as well, 84 pts/game to 69 pts/game. Last season, the Tar Heels beat the Terrapins 87-76. Over the last four seasons, North Carolina is 2-3 against Maryland, and 0-2 at Comcast Center.

• North Carolina is taller. The average height of the top 8 players on North Carolina is 79.4 inches compared to 77.8 inches for Maryland.
• We win when it counts, too. North Carolina has more NCAA Tournament wins over the last 10 years than Maryland (24 vs 12).
• The North Carolina rebounding leader (John Henson) has more rebounds than the Maryland rebounding leader (James Padgett).
• We're a talent magnet. Since 1998 North Carolina has recruited more Top 10 high school players than Maryland (15 vs 0).

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