PHILADELPHIA — North Carolina first-year coach Hubert Davis made good on getting his players a taste of what he experienced as a player. The Tar Heels are going to the Final Four.
UNC advanced to New Orleans for the second time as an eight seed in program history with its 69-49 win over Saint Peter’s in the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight on Sunday. Carolina will face rival Duke for the third time this season on Saturday to determine a spot in the NCAA title game.
Davis, who reached the Final Four as a player for the Heels in 1991, joined Bill Guthridge as the second UNC coach to lead a team to the Final Four in just his first year as head coach.
Early in the game, the Heels eliminated all the hope for the New York/New Jersey partisan crowd who filled in the Wells Fargo Center to see if the 15 seed could continue its improbable run.
Carolina played with the scrappiness that had defined Saint Peter’s run to the Elite Eight. There was guard R.J. Davis, who is all of 6-feet tall, jumping up to snatch a sure offensive rebound and potential putback from the outstretched hands of SPU’s 6-foot-7 forward Hassan Drame. There was Leaky Black hustling to make up space on what looked like an open 3-pointer for SPU’s Isiah Dasher to block his shot.
When the Heels jumped out to a 7-0 lead forcing a SPU timeout, they showed they weren’t going to be like Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue, which had all fallen victim to the Peacocks’ gritty style.
Here’s what we learned from Carolina’s win:
Bacot ties Big Fundamental
UNC junior forward Armando Bacot tied former Wake Forest forward Tim Duncan for the most double-doubles in ACC history in a single season. Bacot had 22 rebounds and added 20 points for his nation-leading 29th double-double this season. Duncan established the record during the 1996-97 season.
The Peacocks’ frontcourt of 6-foot-8 Clarence Rupert and 6-foot-7 Hassan Drame showed their toughness in their Sweet 16 win over Purdue by not backing down against 7-foot-4 Purdue center Zach Edey and 6-foot-10 forward Trevion Williams. They were able to frustrate Edey especially into five turnovers and limited him to just two rebounds.
Bacot proved early on he was not going to make himself small. Bacot dominated the undersized forwards from Saint Peter’s with 15 rebounds in the first half. For much of the first 20 minutes, he had more rebounds than their entire team.
Balanced attack
Carolina avoided the trap that led to the Peacocks upset of Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue to reach the Elite Eight. SPU was able to disrupt its opponents’ offensively by taking away at least one of their main scorers.
Against Kentucky, Tyty Washington and Kellan Grady were a combined 3-for-19 shooting. SPU limited Purdue’s Jaden Ivey, who is a potential top five pick in the NBA draft, to just nine points.
But the Tar Heels simply had too many weapons. Brady Manek had 19 points including four 3-pointers. Bacot was steady inside shooting 8-for-15 from the floor. And Caleb Love, who didn’t need to change shoes at halftime this game, scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half.
Full court press
What is it about Carolina and 25-point leads that end with letdowns? The Heels squandered a 25-point advantage against Baylor in the second round before winning in overtime. Manek got ejected and Love fouled out in the closing minutes of that game, which contributed to the Heels losing some of their composure.
Their starters were fine against the Peacocks, but once the Heels grabbed a 47-20 lead, it seems they let up. SPU picked up with a full court press, similar to what Baylor used to rally, and forced two turnovers — including a five-second violation on an inbounds pass. KC Ndefo then blocked a Love layup attempt, which led to a shot clock violation.
The Peacocks used that spurt to chip off seven points of their deficit to 51-31. Carolina was not in danger of falling totally apart, but for a second game seemed to initially be thrown a bit out of sorts by a full court press.
