Greensboro, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - The 24th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels continue a three-game road trip, albeit in their backyard, as they take on the UNCG Spartans in a non-conference matchup at the Greensboro Coliseum on Tuesday evening. Roy Williams squad hasnt exactly lived up to the immense hype it came into the season with as it sits a modest 6-3 on the year. The team did its best to contend with the top team in the land in Lexington this past weekend but fell to the No. 1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena, 84-70. UNCG comes into this contest at just 4-6 overall, However, that doesnt tell the whole tale. The Spartans have already suffered a six-game losing streak, but have righted the ship perhaps thanks to their current three-game win streak. UNCG was last in action on Saturday and escaped a road test at East Tennessee State, 80-79. Despite these schools being about 50 miles apart, this is just the second all- time meeting between them. Last season represented the first and North Carolina rolled to an 81-50 victory in Chapel Hill. Going into the matchup with Kentucky, UNC had held all of its previous eight opponents to under 40 percent shooting. The Tar Heels were unable to continue the trend, as the Wildcats were on fire to the tune of 56-percent efficiency in the game. To compound the problem, the Heels committed 18 turnovers, resulting in 24 Kentucky points. Brice Johnson led the way in defeat with 15 points. Marcus Paige tallied 14 points and doled out six assists, while Kennedy Meeks added 10 points to the cause. Scoring hasnt been a problem for North Carolina for the most part. The team enters this contest still averaging just over 80 points per game, despite shooting a less than desirable .297 from 3-point range. Paige leads three Tar Heels with double-digit scoring averages, putting up 14.0 ppg. Meeks has been a dominant force in the low post, converting 62.3 percent of the time and averaging a near double-double with 13.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Johnson rounds out the top scoring threats on the roster at 11.7 ppg. J.P. Tokoto and Justin Jackson are just under double-figure scoring at 9.8 and 9.7 ppg, respectively. The Spartans manage a modest 72.0 ppg on the year, but are getting it done at a strong rate, shooting an efficient .452 from the floor. The team does not suffer from a lack of scoring depth, as four of the five starters boast double-digit averages. Tevon Saddler is the best of the bunch and the straw that stirs the drink as both a potent scorer (16.4 ppg) and deft distributor (4.3 apg). R.J. White (12.8 ppg), Nicholas Paulos (12.3 ppg) and Kayel Locke (12.2 ppg) are all jockeying for position behind Saddler in the scoring column. UNCG opened up Southern Conference play in impressive fashion, winning on the road at ETSU and handing the Bucs just their second loss of the season. All five starters finished in double figures for the Spartans and combined for 72 of the teams 80 total points. Saddler had a terrific outing, as the sophomore finished with 24 points, six assists and five rebounds. White posted a double- double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Locke, Paulos and Clay Byrd matched Whites scoring output, all finishing with 12 points of their own.
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Lance Mccullers Jr. Jersey . Now, Sarah Burkes legacy will live on in Canadas Sports Hall of Fame. Burke, who tragically died at age 29 from a training accident in 2012, headlined the 2014 class named for induction Wednesday. Scott Cullen checks in with notes on the Habs sweep, the Bruins defensive dominance, Rangers vets leading the way and the Sharks putting the Kings in a hole. HABS ADVANCE Max Pacioretty tucked in the winning goal, on a last minute power play, giving the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, ending the series in a four-game sweep. While he didnt register a point, Game Four was yet another big game for Canadiens LW Rene Bourque, who led the Canadiens with seven shots on goal and a plus-14 Corsi (68.4%), during a game in which the possession battle was virtually even (60-59 in shot attempts, favouring Montreal, at 5-on-5). Even so, it was also a dominant game for Lighting D Victor Hedman, who was on for 72.5% (29 for, 11 against) of the shot attempts at 5-on-5, while the Lightning were just under 38% (30 for, 49 against) when Hedman was off the ice. Lightning rookie LW Ondrej Palat had a goal and an assist in the Game Four loss, giving him three points (in three games) in the series, tying Hedman for second on the Lightning. Steven Stamkos was their top scorer in Round One, with four points in four games. RW Ryan Callahan, who played more than 20 minutes per game, was held off the scoresheet in the series, registering five shots on goal. After Hedman, who was plus-15 in shot attempts for the series, RW J.T. Brown (+13), D Andrej Sustr (+10) and C Cedric Paquette (+8) were the next-best possession players for the Lightning. On the other hand, D Matt Carle (-23), C Tyler Johnson (-23) and D Radko Gudas (-16) -- who missed Game Four with an injury -- were on the low end of the possession scale for Tampa Bay. Surprisingly, the Canadiens won the possession game -- a facet of the game at which the Lightning were better throughout the season. Canadiens D Josh Gorges was a net plus-22 Corsi through four games, best on the team, ahead of Thomas Vanek (+19), Brendan Gallagher (+19) and P.K. Subban (+17). Montreals leading scorers in the series were C Lars Eller (2 G, 3 A), RW Brendan Gallagher (3 G, 2 A) and P.K. Subban (5 A). To get a series sweep, and production outside their potent No. 1 line, has to be encouraging for the Canadiens. Coming into the series, it looked like a tough spot for the Lightning, turning to backup G Anders Lindback with Ben Bishop hurt late in the regular season, and while Lindback was hardly the only reason the Lightning lost, he wasnt nearly as strong as Carey Price, who finished with a pedestrian .904 save percentage; though that was better than Lindbacks .881 mark, which isnt good enough to win. The result might have happened a little easier than expected, but this series matched the forecast. BRUINS GAIN ADVANTAGE Tuukka Rask stopped 23 shots and Patrice Bergeron had an empty-net goal and an assist to give the Boston Bruins a 3-0 win in Game Three at Detroit, giving the Bruins a 2-1 series lead over the Red Wings. The Bruins controlled play early, outshooting the Red Wings 11-4 in the first period, taking a 2-0 lead on goals by Dougie Hamilton and Jordan Caron. Even with the Red Wings trying to mount a rally in the final two periods, the Bruins still ended up with a slight edge in puck possession. Even with that being the case, the best individual Corsi for the game belonged to Red Wings RW Gustav Nyquist, who was one for 18 shots for, seven against (+11, 72.0%). Without Nyquist on the ice, the Red Wings had 36.1% (17 for, 30 against) of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. With one goal total in the past two games, the Red Wings are finding it difficult to get on track against the Bruins and Nyquist, who leads the team with 10 shots on goal, still has yet to record a point. Detroit might be holding its own in the possession game for this series, but theyre not going to get very far if they dont find a way to finish against Rask and the Bruins. RANGERS OVER FLYERS Martin St. Louis, Rick ;Nash and Dan Girardi each recorded two points as the New York Rangers downed the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 in Game Three, taking a 2-1 series lead.dddddddddddd The Flyers may well have deserved a better fate in this game, outshooting the Rangers 32-23 and getting 80 total shot attempts to the Rangers 49; that indicates a rather decisive territorial edge. Every Flyer had a positive Corsi, led by RW Wayne Simmonds, who was on for 76.2% (16 for, 5 against) of the shot attempts at 5-on-5. The mirror image, for the Rangers, was RW Mats Zuccarello, who was on the ice for 20.8% (5 for, 19 against) of 5-on-5 shot attempts. Put into the lineup against his former team, Rangers LW Dan Carcillo scored the Blueshirts fourth goal to ice the game; a nice contribution from a player that had one goal in his final 20 regular season games. Overall, though, the Flyers are having a hard time generating shots on goal. D Luke Schenn led the way with five shots on goal in Game Three and hes now tied with call-up RW Jason Akeson for the team lead, with eight. At the very least, Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds and Scott Hartnell should all be getting more pucks on net. But, in Game Three, the bigger issue was in goal, where Ray Emery surrendered four goals on 20 shots and while he wasnt terrible, Emery was yanked in favour of Steve Mason with under eight minutes remaining. That could be an indication that Mason will be ready to start Game Four. Flyers captain Claude Giroux is confident that Philadelphia will take Game Four, and go back to New York with the series even, but Giroux is going to be front and centre in that effort. If Philly wants to even up the series, they need their top guns firing. KINGS ON THE BRINK A series that was supposed to be a first-round classic is in danger of going to a sweep after the San Jose Sharks 4-3 overtime win in Game Three against the Los Angeles Kings. Patrick Marleau had a goal and an assist and Brent Burns scored the games first goal and contributed seven shots on goal in the winning effort. The nature of Burns first goal of the game and Marleaus last goals of the game shows just how important it is to get shots at the net. Burns flubbed a one-timer and the puck floated, virtually in slow-motion, past Quick. Marleaus goal was a weak backhand that deflected off Kings D Slava Voynov and past Quick. Add in a rebound goal for Tomas Hertl, for the game-tying third goal, and a deflection by Sharks RW Matt Nieto past a fallen Quick, who had been knocked over by D Robyn Regehr, and the quality of San Joses goals wasnt nearly as high as it had been in Game Two, when clean shots were beating Quick at every turn. After complaining about his Game Two ice time, Kings D Drew Doughty had a couple of assists and played a game-high 28:31, even though he missed some time while dealing with a shoulder injury. As if a 3-0 series lead isnt daunting enough to overcome for the Kings, but trying to do it with their No. 1 defenceman playing through injury is a virtually impossible task. The possession game for each team was won by Kings C Mike Richards (22 shot attempts for, 11 against) and Sharks LW Tomas Hertl (20 for, 13 against). At the wrong end of the scale, Sharks D Brad Start was on for 26.5% (nine for, 25 against) of the 5-on-5 shots against, though that meant the Sharks captured 53.7% of the shot attempts when Stuart was off the ice. For fans of high level hockey, its disappointing to see the Kings down 3-0, because a goal by Los Angeles in overtime (where they outshot San Jose 5-1) would have improved the odds of a long series. As it is now, theres little reason to imagine that the Kings can overcome this deficit against a Sharks team that is playing as well as any in the postseason. Scott Cullen can be reached at
Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '
