North Carolina is the best rebounding team in the country. Oregon is down a big guy.
The Tar Heels reek of old-school. They are the only blue-blood in the Final Four. They have an old-school coach in Roy Williams. They have an old-school, low-post big man in Kennedy Meeks, who dominated Kentucky in the South Regional final, grabbing 17 rebounds and blocking four shots.
North Carolina (31-7) has a national-best rebounding margin of plus-13 per game. And the Tar Heels are rebounding nearly 42 percent of their missed shots entering Saturday's game in Glendale, Ariz., tipping off at 8:49 p.m. ET.
"We feel like it's extremely important to get the other team in foul trouble," Williams said. "The biggest way to get their big guys in foul trouble is to go inside. That's something that's been important for us ever since I started coaching, and I still believe that. And Kennedy does a great job rebounding the basketball. ...
"I do think you have to have some guys that can make 3-point shots. But I've seen very few teams win the NCAA championship just shooting threes, because everybody's got somebody inside that can give you a little balance."
Oregon (33-5) provides a contrast. It is a good rebounding team, too, although not like North Carolina. The Ducks do it more through athleticism and effort, especially after losing shot-blocking stretch-forward Chris Boucher to a torn ACL in the Pac-12 tournament.
The Ducks, playing in their first Final Four since winning the inaugural NCAA Tournament in 1939, often play with 6-foot-7 wing Dillon Brooks at power forward next to active 6-9 center Jordan Bell.
Bell had 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks in a 74-60 takedown of overall No. 1 seed Kansas in an Elite Eight game in Kansas City, Mo.
"I can't overemphasize Jordan controlling the paint in the first 10 minutes of the game and just putting a thought in their mind that they were not going to get easy baskets," Ducks coach Dana Altman said.
While many wrote off Oregon after the Boucher injury, the Ducks got hot behind a tight rotation that is not going much past six players.
Sophomore guard Tyler Dorsey has scored at least 20 points in seven consecutive games. He made 25 of 40 3-point shots in the past six games.
Bell, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, has double-digit rebounds in six straight games. Hardly anyone plays harder than Brooks, the Pac-12 Player of the Year who is averaging 16.3 points per game.
"I think all the guys have picked it up a little bit, just knowing that Chris isn't there," Altman said. "But we will have our work cut out for us on Saturday. North Carolina is probably the best rebounding team that we faced all year. They score pretty good on the first shot, but their offensive rebounding numbers are off the charts."
Much of the focus before Saturday will be on the health of North Carolina point guard Joel Berry II, who is dealing with two balky ankles, but still expects to play Saturday.
The Tar Heels have been led all season by All-America wing Justin Jackson, who is averaging 18.2 points per game and shooting 38 percent from 3-point range (101 of 266). Berry is averaging 14.6 points, Meeks is at 12.3, and forward Isaiah Hicks scores 12.1 per game.
Forward Luke Maye came off the bench to average 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games in the South regional in Memphis. His jumper with 0.3 seconds left beat Kentucky 75-73.
North Carolina, which was the top seed in the South, is in the Final Four for the second consecutive season, having lost in the 2016 final when Villanova's Kris Jenkins hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. The Ducks, the No. 3 seed in the Midwest, have taken a step further than last season, when they lost in the Elite Eight.
"This is a bigger stage," Altman said. "Our guys are aware of that."
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Prediction: Oregon has solid guard play that can make this a tight game throughout, especially with a banged up Joel Berry II for the Tar Heels. But, North Carolina has a significant advantage on the boards and a solid, stable rotation of scorers from inside or outside. Oregon has a solid rotation, but is comprised of only six players that will need to stay hot from the play of its guards.
Roy Williams and the Tar Heels are more familiar with this stage, and that very well may be the difference.
Pick to win: North Carolina 83, Oregon 78
