The ACC Championship tournament hits the court today with semifinals action featuring the North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Maryland Terrapins. Check out the live stream of this matchup, but first, let's see how these guys got here.
We'd discuss No. 3 North Carolina, but their route has been shorter in the ACC tournament than No. 7 Maryland. Here's how the brackets broke down to set up this matchup.
No. 7 Maryland defeated No. 10 Wake Forest 75-62 in the first round of the ACC Tournament. They then had the tough task of facing No. 2 Duke, where they went ahead and upset them 83-74. They took advantage of their inability to sink threes in their quarterfinals matchup and advanced to the semis where they will have a chance to upset another top ACC team.
For North Carolina, there has been little drama. They basically got payback on No. 6 Florida State after losing to them last year in the ACC tournament. UNC defeated them 83-62 to advance to the semis.
What to Expect?
UNC comes into this matchup with the second best assisting team in the nation. They average 17.5 assists per game and if the Terrapins can disrupt passing lanes, then maybe they can make it interesting against UNC who also averages 77 points per game (14th) and does a great job on the boards grabbing almost 40 per game (13).
One thing Maryland will bring to the table is a great rebounding game and a great shooting team. They were the third best rebounding team grabbing almost 41 per game and shot 47 percent from the floor good for 37th in the nation. It could be a close game being that Maryland averaged 71 points per game.
When these guys met during the regular season, they played once and UNC defeated Maryland 62-52.
Click here for the live ESPN stream of North Carolina vs. Maryland