The Auburn Tigers gear up for their Sweet Sixteen matchup with the North Carolina Tar Heels, on Friday March 29th in Kansas City.
A matchup in the Mid-West bracket for the ages. Auburn, led by head coach Bruce Pearl, has birthed its first spot in the sweet sixteen since 2003. The Tigers head into the contest coming off a very dominant offensive performance over the Kansas Jayhawks. Auburn has been led all season by Senior Bryce Brown, Junior Jared Harper, and Sophomore Chuma Okeke. Brown is coming off his best performance of the tournament, where the senior guard posted twenty-five points on 7-11 shooting from three point range. The high powered offense of the Auburn Tigers comes into the matchup averaging 79.4 points per game.
On the other side of the court is the North Carolina Tar Heels. A perineal college basketball powerhouse with a team built for another run at the national championship. Roy Williams and the Tar Heels come in riding off of a convincing win over Washington in the round of thirty-two. North Carolina is led by Senior Luke Maye, Freshman Coby White, and Senior Cam Williams. Williams leads the Tar Heels on the offensive end, averaging nearly 17 points per game on 51 percent shooting from the field. The Tar Heels use their rebounding to set up their notorious fast breaks and fast paced mentality. White, Freshman point guard, has burst onto the college basketball scene with his electric style of play and his speed.
North Carolina comes into the matchup as the favorite. The style of the two teams in this matchup is creating a lot of buzz around the NCAA tournament. This matchup is any basketball fans dream game. North Carolina comes in averaging 86.1 points per game which is third highest in Division 1. Auburn comes in averaging 79.5 points per game which ranks them 36th in the nation. Auburn enters Friday as the highest seed left in the Mid-West bracket and closest thing to a bracket buster in the region. Auburn is riding the high off of an SEC Tournament Championship in which they demolished Tennessee in the final. With both of these teams coming into Friday playing their best basketball, this sweet sixteen matchup is a must watch game in the tournament. The 5th seed Auburn Tigers look to keep their championship hopes alive in an exciting sweet sixteen matchup versus North Carolina.
