NCAA TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

ARKANSAS vs. NORTH CAROLINA

GREENVILLE, S.C.—No. 1 seed North Carolina (28-7) vs. No. 8 seed Arkansas (26-9)

Second round, South Region; Greenville, South Carolina; 5:10 p.m.

BOTTOM LINE: The Tar Heels rolled in their NCAA opener and now get to play a Razorbacks team that likes to play fast, the opposite of what many teams try to do against Roy Williams’ up-tempo bunch.

REBOUNDING FOCUS: Arkansas struggled Friday against Seton Hall on the boards (minus-14) and now get the national leader in rebounding margin (plus 13.1). The Razorbacks rank

207th nationally. “It’s going to be the ultimate challenge for our team,” coach Mike Anderson said.

BERRY’S STATUS: UNC coach Roy Williams said he is “hopeful” that point guard Joel Berry II will be ready to play despite an ankle injury that kept him out of practice Saturday. Berry, for his part, said he was “75 to 80 percent” but sure sounded like he planned to play. Stay tuned.

DID YOU KNOW: The Razorbacks’ last two NCAA Tournament trips ended with losses to the Tar Heels. UNC won 87-78 in the second round two years ago and 108-77 in the second round in 2008 after shooting nearly 68 percent for the game. MICHIGAN vs. LOUISVILLE

INDIANAPOLIS—No. 2 seed Louisville (25-8) vs. No. 7 Michigan (25-11)

Second round, Midwest region; Indianapolis; 11:10 a.m.

BOTTOM LINE: Michigan has used poise, emotion and experience to reel off six straight wins. The Big Ten Tournament champs don’t foul much and take care of the ball, too, as evidenced by the four turnovers they had in a first-round win over Oklahoma State. Louisville, meanwhile, likes to use pressure defense to crank up the tempo. It worked against Jacksonville State, but even coach Rick

Pitino knows it will be much harder to get the Wolverines out of sync.

NEUTRAL PERFECTION: The Wolverines are 7-0 this season on neutral courts, with six wins coming against NCAA Tourney teams. They won beat Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota and Wisconsin on successive days in Washington. And in addition to Friday’s win in Indianapolis, the Wolverines also have beaten Marquette and SMU for the 2K Classic championship in New York. Another neutral court win will send them to the regional semifinals.

SWEET SUCCESS: Louisville has made the Sweet 16 in five of the past six years. The lone miss came in 2016 when the Cardinals served a school-imposed postseason for alleged recruiting violations. The Cardinals have been to 21 regional semifinals, the fourth-highest total in NCAA history.

DID YOU KNOW: The Cardinals are 3-0 in this series with one win in Louisville, one in Ann Arbor and most recently in the 2013 championship game in Atlanta. WICHITA STATE vs. KENTUCKY

No. 10 seed Wichita State (314) vs. No. 2 Kentucky (30-5)

Second Round, South region; Indianapolis; 1:40 p.m.

BOTTOM LINE: It’s a flashback to 2014 , when 35-0 Wichita State lost to Kentucky 78-76 in the second round. The Shockers have won 16 in a row heading into the rematch.

NOTHING BUT W: The Shockers’ 16-game winning streak and the Wildcats’ 12-game streak are the longest left in the tournament.

BIG GAME: Freshman Bam Adebayo had 15 points and 18 rebounds in an opening win over Northern Kentucky, the third-highest rebound total by a Wildcat in NCAA Tournament history.

DID YOU KNOW: It’s only the second time in NCAA Tournament history that a pair of 30-win teams has played in the second round. In 2008, No. 2 Tennessee (30-4) beat No. 7 Butler (30-3) in overtime 76-71. MICHIGAN STATE vs. KANSAS

TULSA, Okla.—No. 9 seed Michigan State (20-14) vs. No. 1 seed Kansas (29-4)

Second Round, Midwest region; Tulsa, Okla.; 4:15 p.m.

BOTTOM LINE: This matchup is nothing short of a second-round battle of two of the biggest blue-blood programs in all of college basketball, especially when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Kansas has the sixth-highest winning percentage (.697) with a record of 10144 in tournament history, while the Spartans are seventh with a record of 64-29 (.688).

FABULOUS FRESHMAN: Kansas standout Josh Jackson didn’t waste any time in making his tournament presence felt in a

first-round win over UC Davis, scoring 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Jackson’s performance came in his first game following a one-game suspension in the Big 12 Conference Tournament for a series of embarrassing incidents this season, including a December confrontation outside a bar and three traffic citations in February.

DID YOU KNOW: Michigan State’s opening-round win over Miami improved the school to 14-10 in the NCAA Tournament as a lower seed under coach Tom Izzo. That’s the most wins by a school as a lower seed in tournament history. RHODE ISLAND vs. OREGON

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—No. 11 seed Rhode Island (25-9) vs. No. 3 seed Oregon (30-5)

Second round, Midwest region; Sacramento, Calif.; 6:10 p.m.

BOTTOM LINE: Rhode Island pulled off one of the three No. 11 seed upsets over No. 6 seeds in its opener, beating Creighton 84-72. The Rams face a much bigger challenge against the Ducks, who rolled over Iona 93-77 despite playing their first game without injured forward Chris Boucher.

BOUCHER AT THE RIM: Oregon is a formidable shot-blocking team, ranking second nationally with 6.5 per game while breaking the Pac-12 single season record with 228. The Ducks were not as effective against Iona with Boucher out, swatting away two. Boucher still leads Oregon with 79 blocks.

RAMS’ RUN: Rhode Island made the most of its first NCAA trip in 18 years by pulling off the opening upset, so it’s a successful season no matter what happens Sunday. Rhode Island beat Kansas on its run to the Elite Eight in 1998 and would love another massive second-round upset.

BROOKS TIME: If the game is close at the end, watch Dillon Brooks. The Oregon guard makes big plays at big moments, including game-winning shots against California and UCLA this season. DUKE vs. SOUTH CAROLINA

GREENVILLE, S.C.—No. 2 seed Duke (29-7) vs. No. 7 seed South Carolina (23-10)

Second round, East region; Greenville, S.C.; 7:40 p.m.

BOTTOM LINE: Count on tight defense from both teams. South Carolina plays a disruptive designed to take opponents out of their comfort zones. The Gamecocks are 27th nationally in points allowed this year. Duke is 21st in the country in scoring margin.

THAT’S SWEET: Duke is looking for its record 24th trip to the round of 16 under coach Mike Krzyzewski. He’s won a record 91 tournament games.

WHERE’S LUKE?: Blue Devils leading scorer Luke Kennard was held to eight points in Duke’s 87-65 win over Troy, the first time in 19 games he was not in double figures.

LOOKS FAMILIAR: South Carolina coach Frank Martin said he learned his defensive principles from his fascination with then high school star Tommy Amaker, who played his college ball at Duke. When Martin’s high school team lost to Amaker’s W.T. Woodson High in a holiday tournament, the Gamecocks coach pledged to follow Amaker’s career. That led to Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Between my high school coach and watching Duke defend is how I’ve kind of developed my philosophies,” Martin said.

DID YOU KNOW? South Carolina last won two NCAA games in the same tournament in 1973. Duke accomplished that last year. UCLA vs. CINCINNATI

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—No. 3 seed UCLA (30-4) vs. No. 6 seed Cincinnati (30-5)

Second round, South region; Sacramento, California; approximately 8:40 p.m.

BOTTOM LINE: This could be a good UCLA was the nation’s top-scoring team during the season and put up 97 points against Kent State in its opener. The Bearcats shot 62 percent to set a school NCAA Tournament record and scored 75 points in their opening win over Kansas State.

BRUINS ASSIST: Unselfish play keys the Bruins’ scoring. UCLA leads the nation with

21.6 assists a game, most since Kentucky averaged 21.8 on the way to the 1996 title. The Bruins had 25 against Kent State, led by Aaron Holiday’s 11. BEARCATS REACH 30:

Cincinnati reached 30 wins for the second time with its win over Kansas State, joining the 2001-02 team. With a win over UCLA, the Bearcats will match that team’s school record for victories and reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2012.

LAST TIME: The last Cincinnati-UCLA game was a thriller: The top-seeded Bearcats won 105-101 in double overtime in the 2002 NCAA Tournament.