Apr 1, 2017; Glendale, AZ, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs center Przemek Karnowski (24) collects a pass during the first half South Carolina Gamecocks forward Chris Silva (30) during the first half in the semifinals of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Final Four at University of Phoenix Stadium. Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
GLENDALE, Ariz. — When North Carolina and Gonzaga play for the national title Monday night, there will be a big low-post matchup within the big matchup.
Correction.
“A very big low-post matchup,” said Tar Heels coach Roy Williams.
OK. Very big it is.
The point guard play could be stellar and the 3-point shooting hot, but there might not be anything more seismic in this NCAA championship tilt than Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski vs. North Carolina’s Kennedy Meeks.
This is definitely big-boy basketball.
“He’s a big fellow,” Williams said Sunday of the 7-foot-1, 300-pound Karnowski. “I just shook his hand a few minutes ago, and he just engulfed mine. I’ve been around some big dudes before, but he’s a big dude.”
This will be an old-school center matchup Monday night when the teams tip off at 9:20 p.m. ET at University of Phoenix Stadium. All muscle, sharp elbows and high-percentage shots.
“I live for physical play,” said Meeks, coming off a 25-point, 14-rebound game over Oregon in the Final Four. “These are games that I live for. There will be a lot of physical action.”
Meeks, 6-10, used to be even bigger than Karnowski. Meeks pushed toward 320 pounds when he arrived on the UNC campus. But he’s gone from the kid with a lot of baby fat to a manly presence in the post. A senior who has started 116 games, Kennedy is playing in his second consecutive NCAA Tournament championship game.
“It’s been love and hate,” Williams said of his relationship with Meeks, adding that he means that in a tongue-and-cheek kind of way. “I’ve been on him really hard. I really have. … I have a great deal of respect for when he got here and lost 50, 60 pounds, whatever it was, because that has to be extremely difficult.
“And he keeps coming back, keeps coming back, keeps coming back, and I keep pushing him, keep pushing him. And hopefully at the end we’ll both look back on it and think it’s been a great partnership.”
Meeks is averaging 12.7 points and 9.4 rebounds, both career highs, and is shooting 55.5 percent from the field. He has grabbed 55 rebounds in the past four games, including 17 vs. Kentucky.
Karnowski is a fifth-year senior who has come back strong after taking a medical redshirt last season because of back surgery and a scary staph infection that threatened his career. The bearded one is averaging 12.3 points and 5.8 rebounds, making nearly 60 percent of his shots.
Nothing fancy here. Nothing “stretch” about these post players.
“A type of guy kind of like me,” Karnowski said of Meeks. “I think it’s going to be a lot of big bodies hitting around. He likes to play it back to the basket a lot. I think our coaches and all the players were great at dialing in the entire season to make sure we take away the other team’s strengths, and I’ll try to go out there and compete as well as I can.”
Others could have their say in the paint Monday night.
North Carolina needs a bigger contribution from power forward Isaiah Hicks. He averages 11.8 points but has scored a total of six points in the past two games, including a 1-for-12 shooting effort vs. Oregon.
Gonzaga has a wonderful second option in freshman 7-footer Zach Collins, a rangier, more athletic big man than Karnowski. Coach Mark Few often subs one for the other, but they can also be twin towers on the court at the same time.
“I think both these teams are probably facing, for the first time, depth that mirrors each other inside, but also a willingness to just keep going and going in there to generate a lot of offense inside-out,” Few said.
Inside. That’s where to look Monday for one serious rumble.
“Mark and I were talking about it a few minutes ago,” Williams said. “All year long we’ve had to send our big guys out to play against all those screen-and-pop guys that want to shoot 3-point shots, and how comfortable it is when you can tell Kennedy and Karnowski that you don’t have to do that this game.
