The Maui Invitational always brings together the best college basketball teams to beautiful Hawaii and this year is no different. The Chaminade Silverswords have been the hosts of the tournament every season since the tournament began and although they aren’t a Division I school, they have pulled off upsets before. In the last game on the first day of the tournament, Chaminade will face the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels in what is sure to be an interesting affair.
At 11:30 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN2 for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Monday, November 21, 2016, at Lahaina Civic Center.
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Chaminade has won just 7 of its 85 games played in this tournament, but that’s pretty impressive for a school that has been at the NAIA or Division II level for its history. The Silverswords last won a game in this tournament in 2012, when they defeated Texas.
It’s no surprise that North Carolina is off to a solid start this season. The Tar Heels have been running up the score on everyone they have played thus far, dropping at least 93 points in each game and are averaging 95 PPG. Roy Williams’ squad is 3-0 SU and 2-0-1 ATS on the season.
Matchup to Watch
North Carolina returns all but two of its major rotation players from last year’s roster that fell just short of a national title. The Tar Heels have plenty of experience, with Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks as seniors in the frontcourt, and Joel Berry II and Justin Jackson also providing experience as juniors.
That’s a bad draw for Chaminade as North Carolina is exactly the type of team that won’t overlook them. The Tar Heels are deep and talented and with plenty of quality upperclassmen they won’t be shaken if they go down early or unaccustomed to such a different environment.
Coaching Angle
Roy Williams is one of the best coaches in all of college basketball and tends to do better when his team is overlooked. This season all the attention has been on Duke and Kentucky and his Tar Heels have been able to glide under the radar. Even though this team was favored to win it all last season, it has no first-place votes through the first two weeks.
During his time at North Carolina, Williams has been one of the best coaches against the number. Since he took over in Chapel Hill, he has been the eighth most profitable coach according to BetLabs. In that time, he has a mark of 174-142 ATS.
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Chaminade has a guard heavy line-up and is going to let it rain from three in this game. The Silverswords have shot well from behind the arc thus far this season, burying 24 of 53 three-point attempts, but don’t have a lot of size and are going to get killed on the boards. The Tar Heels have a plethora of big men who are going to be able to come up and dominate the blocks against this smaller squad. North Carolina is averaging 18.5 more rebounds than Chaminade per game and it wouldn’t be surprised if that was the disparity when these teams hit the court.
The Tar Heels’ guards should get plenty of drive and kick penetration in this one and that will create open perimeter looks as the SIlverswords struggle to match-up. Provided UNC hits these shots, it will have no time winning the game.
This will be a large spread for North Carolina to cover, but betting on the Tar Heels is the right play. North Carolina is deep and experienced and that combination bodes well in not blowing huge leads late in games. Chaminade will want to run and North Carolina will be more than happy to oblige on the way over the century mark.
College Basketball Odds: North Carolina 104, Chaminade 68
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