Gonzaga vs. North Carolina: How the teams match up in the NCAA title game

A look at how the Gonzaga Bulldogs and North Carolina Tar Heels match up in the NCAA championship game:

WHO: No. 1 Gonzaga (37-1) vs. No. 1 North Carolina (32-7).

WHAT: National championship, Monday, 6 p.m. PDT.

WHERE: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz. TV: Channel 2.

UPDATE: This will be a matchup of teams whose similarities go beyond having been top-seeded in their respective regions. North Carolina and Gonzaga both like to play man-to-man defense, run whenever they can and get the ball inside to two of the brawniest players in college basketball. North Carolina’s Kennedy Meeks stands 6 feet 10 and 260 pounds — if you believe rosters that tend to accentuate svelteness whenever possible — and that’s after having lost at least 50 pounds. He might look like Spud Webb compared to Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski, whose listed size of 7-1 and 300 pounds also seems a bit, well, short of reality. “I have a tremendous amount of respect and maybe even some fear,” Tar Heels Coach Roy Williams said, “because I want to see how our guys are going to react playing against some other big guys like that.” Bulldogs reserve forward Zach Collins, who is a relatively smallish 7 feet and 230, might be the most skilled big man on the court, equally adept at making shots, grabbing rebounds and soaring for blocks. North Carolina hopes to erase the sting of its buzzer-beating loss to Villanova in last season’s national championship game, which Williams conceded he hasn’t watched and probably never will. He said he told his current players he thought they could win a national title after they gathered in his living room before the season. “I’ve tried to focus on that, our dreams and our goals,” Williams said. “And not as much that we’ve got to make up for something. Because last year’s over with.”

STARTERS

GONZAGA; Ht; Wt; PPG; P; NORTH CAROLINA; Ht; Wt; PPG

Nigel Williams-Goss; 6-3; 195; 16.9; G; Joel Berry II; 6-0; 195; 14.5

Jordan Mathews; 6-4; 203; 10.8; G; Theo Pinson; 6-6; 211; 6.1

Josh Perkins; 6-3; 190; 8.0; G/F; Justin Jackson; 6-8; 210; 18.3

Johnathan Williams; 6-9; 228; 10.2; F; Isaiah Hicks; 6-9; 242; 11.8

Przemek Karnowski; 7-1; 300; 12.3; C/F; Kennedy Meeks; 6-10; 260; 12.7

RESERVES

Zach Collins; 7-0; 230; 10.0; F; Tony Bradley; 6-11; 240; 7.1

Killian Tillie; 6-10; 200; 4.3; F; Luke Maye; 6-8; 235; 5.7

Silas Melson; 6-4; 195; 7.3; G; Nate Britt; 6-1; 175; 4.6

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch