UNC Basketball: Rematch vs Hurricanes Will Be Another Blowout

Since North Carolina destroyed the Miami Hurricanes on Jan. 10, the Tar Heels have had some rough losses to unranked Florida State and Duke.

Given Miami beat Duke on Feb. 5, you'd think the Hurricanes would be in better position against the Tar Heels this time around.

But this game will end much the same way.

North Carolina is better in multiple areas. The Tar Heels are scoring 83.5 points per game and grabbing 46.3 rebounds per game, both top in the nation. Beyond that, their ball movement has been excellent, averaging 17.9 assists per game, fourth in the nation.

In my mind, the Hurricanes just don't have the firepower offensively or the rebounding to compete with North Carolina. Last time the two teams played each other, North Carolina out-rebounded Miami 44-27, while Tyler Zeller and John Henson racked up 14 rebounds and 10 rebounds respectively.

Miami is averaging 34.7 rebounds per game, 163rd in the country. They are also averaging 71.5 points per game, 97th in the nation. One of the reasons they were able to beat Duke was because they were able to out-rebound the Blue Devils. That won't be the case on Wednesday night.

The Hurricanes will likely hang around for the first half or so, but sooner or later that disadvantage in rebounding and scoring  is going to come back to haunt them. They gave up 15 offensive rebounds to North Carolina on Jan. 10. For a team with so much firepower, that's a recipe for disaster.

The Hurricanes' leading rebounder, Reggie Johnson, averages a mere 6.9 rebounds per game.

Rebounding isn't everything, but when you combine it with the Tar Heels' ability to rack up points, second-chance points will be plentiful for North Carolina on Wednesday.

That will once again spell doom for the Hurricanes.