Butler Eager To Add North Carolina To List Of Its Upsets
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - No. 4 seed Butler (25-8) vs. No. 1 seed North Carolina (29-7). Third round, South region; Memphis, Tennessee; 7:09 p.m. EDT.
BOTTOM LINE: Butler is 2-4 against No. 1 seeds in the tournament all-time, reaching the national title game in 2010 and 2011 when they knocked off a No. 1 seed. The Bulldogs also beat defending national champ Villanova not once, but twice this season. They have not trailed in beating a pair of double-digit seeds in Winthrop and Middle Tennessee. The last time North Carolina came into Memphis as the South's No. 1 seed, the Tar Heels wound up winning the 2009 national championship. The Atlantic Coast Conference regular season champs routed Texas Southern and rallied from five down in the final 2:57 to beat Arkansas and reach this stage.
HOLTMANN VS. WILLIAMS: Butler has won the last two games between these teams, and Bulldogs coach Chris Holtmann is 1-1 himself with a win in 2014 at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Coach Roy Williams is 7-1 in the Sweet 16 with North Carolina.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Butler's Andre Woodson and North Carolina's Justin Jackson. Woodson played his last two seasons at Memphis before graduating and transferring to Butler. He is 8 of 14 beyond the arc in the tournament and returning to an arena where he averaged 38 percent from 3-point range. Jackson, the ACC player of the year, is averaging 18.1 points per game and has hit a school-record 98 3s this season.
DID YOU KNOW? Williams has made the NCAA Tournament in 27 of his 29 years as a head coach, and this is his 18th berth in the Sweet 16 where the coach is 12-5 overall.
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