Think of it as the opening act. The matchup between No. 6-seeded Wisconsin and No. 10 North Carolina State on Friday may not be as exciting as the North Carolina – Villanova nightcap, but that’s just how they like it.

The Badgers and the Wolfpack have methodical offensive attacks, opting to slow the ball down in order for easy baskets. Bottom line: if you’re looking to make a wager on Friday, take the under line.

Wisconsin and NC State will face off in the opening game of the Syracuse Regional on Friday at 7:27 p.m. But don’t let their possession-oriented offenses lure you to sleep. At least not before the UNC-Villanova game to follow.

NC State plays a spread offense, focusing on passing, cutting and overall team basketball. Wisconsin uses a similar attack called the Swing, in which the ball is passed around the key while players cut to the basket.

Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said he developed the Swing offense by emulating different aspects from certain teams – grabbing a little bit from UCLA, a little bit from Princeton, and so on.

‘It’s kind of a mutt offense with a lot of different things taken and put into one capsule,’ Ryan said. ‘As we would run it, it would look like the ball was swinging back and forth. Pretty clever, huh?’

Star Watch

North Carolina: Raymond Felton

While Felton’s uber-athletic, often-crass teammate Rashad McCants often grabs the spotlight, Felton’s the one who runs UNC’s offensive machine. The junior is averaging 12 points and 7.3 assists.

‘Coaches love guards that can make them comfortable and big guys love guards because they give them the ball,’ said North Carolina head coach Roy Williams. ‘Raymond does both: he makes his coach comfortable and he gives the ball to the other players.’

North Carolina State: Julius Hodge

Hodge, most known around these parts as the recruit who spurned Syracuse, thus leaving a spot open to Hakim Warrick, has developed into the star everyone expected. The senior is averaging more than 17 points, tops on NC State. He also leads the team in assists and rebounds.

‘I’ve seen too much of (Hodge),’ said Ryan jokingly. ‘I’ve seen all the good things he brings to the table.’

Villanova: Allan Ray

Ray went to the same high school, St. Raymond’s, as SU sophomore Louie McCroskey. Expect McCroskey to be rooting his buddy on against the No. 1-seeded Tar Heels.

Ray, who is averaging a team-leading 16.5 points, may need to pick up the slack to replace Villanova’s Curtis Sumpter, who tore a ligament in his left knee and is out for the tournament.

Wisconsin: Clayton Hansen

He’s not the team’s leading scorer, but Ryan says Hansen is Wisconsin’s most admired player. A former walk-on, Hansen has started all 32 games this year at guard. This year, the Reedsburgh, Wis., native was rewarded with a scholarship. So far he’s proven his worth, averaging 6.2 points.

‘He has exceeded all expectations from anyone and everyone,’ Ryan said.

TV Timeout

The North Carolina-Villanova game is scheduled to start around 9:57 p.m., or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. It seems like a reasonable start time for young college kids, but not for a 54-year-old head coach.

‘I hate it,’ Williams said. ‘I hate waiting so long. I hate that TV dominates things so much that they can say a college athletics event will start at 10 p.m. But I’m not sitting there when TV is talking about the millions of dollars going into this thing. I think it’s wrong for college athletics, period.

‘It’s wrong for me because I hate waiting all day for something that is going to happen at 10 p.m. I don’t sleep much anyway so I’m not worried about losing sleep that night – I’ll be up early the next morning anyway. But I wish we didn’t have that.’

This and that

Williams said UNC senior forward Jawad Williams is still bothered by a hip flexor injury, which limited his movement in UNC’s first and second round games against Oakland and Iowa St. … Ryan, who will coach the Badgers against North Carolina State, underwent basic training as a youth at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. … North Carolina leaves for Syracuse on Wednesday evening. … He may be in only his second year at UNC, but Williams has already picked up some of the southern lingo. Yesterday, Williams said ‘daggumit‘ twice during his 20-minute teleconference with the media.

Published on March 22, 2005 at 12:00 pm