Vegas Play of the Day: Gonzaga vs. North Carolina

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Monday, April 3, 2017 | 11:28 a.m.

We’ve entered the third season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.

Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. Ray Brewer won the 2015-2016 season, after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-2015. Bern stepped away in the middle of the 2016-2017 season with a 16-12 record and $13,317 bankroll, with Mike Grimala taking his place.

Gonzaga plus-1 vs. North Carolina: $525 to win $500:

Of all the college teams that were legitimate championship contenders at one point or another this year — a distinguished list that included the likes of Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Villanova, UCLA, etc. — it was little Gonzaga that played the most consistent basketball throughout the season. The Bulldogs had the most complete roster, were coached at a high level and never saw their effort or form waver over the course of the five-month campaign. It was an impressive display from a program on the cusp of inclusion into the stratosphere of college hoops blue bloods — an honor that will come if Gonzaga can finish things off with a win in tonight's national championship game against North Carolina.

The Zags are well equipped to slay this final dragon. Carolina has made its way into the title game for a second straight year by bludgeoning opponents with size in the paint, ranking No. 1 in offensive rebounding rate (40.6 percent) and overall rebounding rate (58.2 percent), but Gonzaga isn't going to wilt under the constant pounding like Oregon did on Saturday night. Unlike most college teams, the Zags have two quality big men who are capable of controlling the defensive boards in senior Przemek Karnowski and freshman Zach Collins, and they should combine to keep UNC's second-chance points down to a manageable number.

Without easy putbacks to bolster their offense, the Tar Heels don't have the shot-making ability to stay with Gonzaga, which finished sixth in the nation in effective field goal percentage (57.1 percent). Five Gonzaga regulars shot 37 percent or better from 3-point range this season, and they're peaking at the right time. Since getting out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, the Zags have hit 29-of-69 (42.0 percent) from long distance over the last four games.

If Nigel Williams-Goss, Josh Perkins, Jordan Mathews and the rest of the Gonzaga shooters can connect from deep, it will put a lot of pressure on UNC to match them shot for shot. The Heels are a good offensive team — Roy Williams squads always are, and this year's edition finished 10th in the nation in points per possession — but they're also a team prone to poor shot selection when the stakes are raised.

I like Gonzaga to score 80-plus points in this game, and I expect the Bulldogs to do a good enough job on the defensive glass to keep UNC from matching that total. Gonzaga wins its first national championship tonight.

Current Standings: Grimala (6-9, $8,950), Keefer (39-34-3, $7,831), Granger (13-17-1, $6,677), Brewer (26-28-1, $6,285)