Getty Luke Maye #32 of the North Carolina Tar Heels goes up for a shot against Noah Dickerson #15 of the Washington Huskies during their game in the Second Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
The No. 1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels (29-6; ACC at-large) take on the No. 5 seed Auburn Tigers (28-9; SEC tournament champion) in a Midwest Region Sweet 16 matchup at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri as 2018-19 NCAA Tournament action continues on Friday evening.
The game is scheduled to start around 7:29 p.m. ET, and will be televised on TBS. But if you don’t have cable, you can sign up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services that allow you to watch TBS on your computer, phone or streaming device:
FuboTV
TBS is one of 85-plus live TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which is largely tailored towards sports. Also included are TNT, TruTV and CBS (live in select markets), allowing you to watch every NCAA tournament game.
You can start a free 7-day trial of FuboTV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which allows you to watch the game (and other programs) on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
PlayStation Vue
PS Vue–which doesn’t require an actual PlayStation console to sign up or watch–offers four different live-TV channel packages: All four include TBS. Also included are TNT, TruTV and CBS (live in select markets), allowing you to watch every March Madness game.
You can start a free 5-day trial of PS Vue right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the PS Vue website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation (3 or 4), or other supported device via the PS Vue app.
If you can’t watch live, PS Vue comes with cloud DVR.
Hulu With Live TV
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 60-plus live TV channels, including TBS. Also included are TNT, TruTV and CBS (live in select markets), meaning you can watch every other NCAA tournament game.
You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
North Carolina vs Auburn Preview
North Carolina looked as good as any team in this year’s NCAA Tournament during the first weekend. The Tar Heels struggled for 20 minutes against Iona before disposing the Gaels rather easily. UNC followed up that win with a lopsided 81-59 victory against No. 9 seed Washington in the Round of 32.
Senior forward Luke Maye led the way against the Huskies, finishing with a double-double (game-high 20 points, 14 rebounds). Freshman Coby White finished with 17 points, and sophomore Cameron Johnson added 13 with seven assists.
The Tigers have gotten lucky en route to the Sweet 16. Following a narrow 78-77 win against New Mexico State, Auburn soundly beat Kansas by 14 989-75) in the Round of 32. Senior Bryce Brown led the way for the Tigers, rebounding from a 12-point effort against the Aggies to a dominant 25-point performance against the Jayhawks.
The Tar Heels play at a breakneck pace. After a National Championship win two years ago in 2017, this team plays faster than that team did:
This is the fastest North Carolina team in the Roy Williams era. I went searching for why that is:
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is usually outspoken. On Tuesday, Pearl spoke to reporters, and mentioned he sees similarities between how his Tigers play and how the Tar Heels attempt to.
“I used the terminology that we’re not afraid to run with North Carolina. It wasn’t a challenge or trying to say we’re not afraid of North Carolina. We’ve got a good, healthy fear and respect of North Carolina. It’s just … that’s how we play too.”
Pearl continued:
“For us to not try to play fast would go against how we play best also. Even though historically, the way to beat Carolina is to get them in a half-court game and not let them beat you in transition. That’s going to be difficult to do because of the way we like to play.”
For the first time since 2003, Auburn reached the Sweet 16. The Tigers have qualified for the NCAA Tournament 10 times in program history, but only reached the Elite Eight once, way back in 1986. Auburn has never appeared in the Final Four.
Auburn has won eight consecutive games dating back to February 23, including four in SEC Tournament play. The Tigers’ last loss came in Lexington, a 80-53 loss to Kentucky, a defeat that has seemingly turned an entire season around.
Contrast the Tigers with the Tar Heels, and there is no comparison. Six-time National Champion North Carolina could make its third Final Four appearance in the past four years with two more victories. In 16 seasons at North Carolina, Williams has won 453 games as of Friday. Williams has also led the Tar Heels to the Elite Eight eight times, with one Sweet 16 exit (2014-15) sprinkled in.
The winner of North Carolina vs Auburn faces the winner of Kentucky vs Houston in the Elite Eight. That game will be played at Sprint Center on Sunday, and be broadcast on TBS.