Getting to know UNC’s next basketball opponent: Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors

Nov 15, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels bench including forward Ven-Allen Lubin (22) and guard Drake Powell (9) and guard RJ Davis (4) react after a three point shot in the second half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

I can’t tell you how excited I am to watch college basketball over Thanksgiving Week, starting with the Maui Invitational on Monday night.

The North Carolina Tar Heels will be one of eight teams in the stacked tournament, with other first-round matchups including Memphis vs. back-to-back National Champion UConn, Colorado vs. Michigan State, Auburn vs. Iowa State and the most important one, UNC vs. Dayton.

Before North Carolina faces a plethora of stacked opponents, it’ll be facing the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors in a Saturday morning tune-up. The Tar Heels are facing Hawai’i practically overnight, with a 12:30 a.m. ET tip-off on tap.

UNC has a 5-0 advantage in its brief history with the Rainbow Warriors, who we’re going to give you a brief preview on.

Hawai’i, already off to a 4-0 start this year, is a member of the Big West conference. Fellow conference members include the likes of UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State and UC Riverside.

The Rainbow Warriors started their campaign with a 96-61 victory over Life Pacific on Nov. 8. They beat San José State two days later, topped Pacific 76-66 on Veteran’s Day, then escaped Weber State in overtime (73-68) last Sunday.

Hawai’i rolls deep offensively, with four players averaging a minimum 10 points per game. Starting center and Utah Tech transfer Tanner Christensen leads the Rainbow Warriors with 17 points per game, Tom Beattie averages 12.3 points per game, while Gytis Nemeiska and Marcus Greene both average 10.3 points per game apiece.

Hawai’i has five NCAA Tournament appearances under its belt, with the most recent one coming in 2016, when it beat a Jaylen Brown-led Cal squad for its first-ever victory in the Big Dance.

Here’s to hoping North Carolina…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/getting-know-uncs-next-basketball-143058480.html

Author : Tar Heels Wire

Publish date : 2024-11-22 14:30:00

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