UVM doesn't plan to Heel against North Carolina

GREENSBORO, N.C. Seven years after shocking Syracuse, the University of Vermont mens basketball team seeks a bigger miracle today.A Catamount win over North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA contest would mark one of the biggest upset in sports.Those are the odds the No.16-seed Cats face when they take on the No.1-seed Tar Heels at approximately 4:10 p.m. The game will be televised on TBS.Even though No.1 seeds are 110-0 in the history of the NCAA tournament, UVM first-year coach John Becker said his team is riding a wave of confidence after thumping Lamar in a First Four game Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.We understand the task in front of us, Becker said, but theres something about this group and I believe in these guys. ... We are going to come out and try to hang around. The longer we hang around, the better we will be.That could be easier said than done against the Tar Heels, a team ranked No.4 in The Associated Press top-25 poll and featuring a roster loaded with NBA-caliber players.While Vermonts program has just two NCAA contest triumphs the latter coming in the so-called play-in round UNC owns 105 contest wins and six national championships. This years powerhouse has a 29-5 record and is smarting from a loss to Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game last weekend.North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who said he watched much of UVMs win over Lamar, spoke highly of the Catamounts during his press conference Thursday.The thing that got me is their intelligence on the offensive end of the court and the right guys shooting the ball, Williams said about UVMs win over Lamar. They ran the shot clock down to the end and got great shots; thats hard to do.A Vermont defense that was solid during its America East Conference schedule and suffocating against Lamar will get all it can handle against a UNC team that averages 82 points a game and boasts the ACC player of the year in Tyler Zeller. The 7-foot, 250-pound senior is the ACCs leading scorer (16.5) and second-leading rebound! er (9.3) .We feel like if we guard and rebound, we can compete with anybody in the country, said Matt Glass, a senior captain for a Vermont team that has held 23 of its last 24 opponents to 70 or fewer points in regulation.Vermont twice before faced No.1 seeds in the NCAA tournament, losing 80-51 to Arizona in 2003 and 79-56 to Syracuse in 2010.We just have to continue to be ourselves and do what we do, Becker said. Every team in this contest at this point has gotten here playing a certain way and we cant really deviate from that.North Carolina, obviously, is going to be the best team we have played all year, Becker added, and we are going to have to play a perfect game.The winner of todays game will play either No.8 seed Creighton or No.9 seed Alabama on Sunday.Contact John A. Fantino at 651-4851 or jfantino@burlingtonfreepress.com. Follow his coverage of the NCAA contest on Twitter at www.twitter.com/johnfantinoPowered By iWebRSS.co.cc