Staff photo by Robert Willett

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UNC's first visit to Detroit's Ford Field ended with a blowout win.

The Tar Heels picked up their second big win in Motown on Saturday with an 83-69 win over Villanova in the national semifinals.

The Heels will get a third game at Ford Field — for the national title on Monday — and it will be against the same team it beat by 35 points in December in the same building.

DETROIT - Villanova forward Dwayne Anderson calls North Carolina a “machine” on offense, and the Tar Heels’ average of 90 points per game supports his assertion.

By most accounts, No. 1 seed North Carolina (32-4) is a heavy favorite over No. 3 seed Villanova (30-7) in today’s 8:47 p.m. NCAA semifinal game at Ford Field. But the Tar Heels also were favored over Kansas in last year’s Final Four, and we all know how that turned out.

Here are five things to watch Saturday when the Tar Heels meet Villanova:

1) 3 > 2

Since the NCAA adopted the 3-point line in 1986, UNC has always been willing to trade 3-pointers for 2s. Dean Smith believed higher-percentage shots (working the ball inside-out) and getting to the free-throw line was a more efficient way to score points and win games than shooting 3-pointers. Roy Williams is the same way.

1) Been there, done that

UNC is the only team from the 2008 Final Four in the 2009 Final Four. Experience counts, especially one as disappointing as UNC's last year in San Antonio.

So much of the '08 season was about erasing the tournament loss to Georgetown and getting to the Final Four. This UNC season has been geared, since the Kansas loss, towards winning the national title.

While North Carolina will have a comfortable size advantage over Villanova, the defensive matchups for the Tar Heels could be challenging in Saturday's Final Four semifinal game at Detroit.

The short, quick Wildcats are blessed with offensive versatility, which has given bigger opponents trouble much of the season.

Villanova will be the sixth team to face both UNC and Duke in the same NCAA Tournament.

Florida (2000) and Louisville (1986) are the only teams to pull off the double-blue sweep in the same tournament. Louisville won the national title (beating Duke in the final) and Florida lost in the national championship game (to Michigan State).

Even Roy Williams, at Kansas in 1991, couldn't run the Tobacco Road gauntlet.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — North Carolina and Villanova have a long, rich history of conflict in the NCAA Tournament, including a couple of heartbreaks on each side.

When the two meet Saturday at about 9 p.m. in the Detroit Final Four, it'll be their fifth NCAA game.

The Heels have won three of the previous four. But in 1985 at Birmingham, Rollie Massimino’s eventual national championship Wildcats defended the life out of the Tar Heels’ season, winning 56-44 en route to the Lexington Final Four and a championship win over Big East rival Georgetown.

If UNC can get past Oklahoma on Sunday, Villanova will be waiting in the Final Four. That's a good sign for the Tar Heels. UNC beat Nova in the tournament in 2005 and 1982.

What do those years have in common?

Scottie Reynolds' runner with 0.5 seconds left lifted the Wildcats to a 78-76 win over Pittsburgh and a spot in the Final Four for the first time since 1985.