PHILADELPHIA — North Carolina continued the NCAA Tournament run no one saw coming a month ago with its 71-66 win over UCLA Friday to advance to the Elite Eight. The Tar Heels will face St. Peter’s on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four in New Orleans.
Read that last sentence again.
A month ago for the No. 8 seed Heels, that seemed totally unrealistic. Now, it will be a disappointment if they don’t get there. All that remains from Carolina taking a trip to the site of its 1982 and 1993 titles is No. 15 seed St. Peter’s, which advanced by upsetting No. 3 seed Purdue, 67-64.
For a team that didn’t show a lot of heart early, they showed plenty in knocking off the Bruins.
UCLA led for nearly 27 minutes of the game.
But Carolina (27-9) closed out the last four minutes of the game like a veteran team.
UNC forward Brady Manek missed his first five shots in the second half. But his first made shot came on a 3-pointer with 4:18 to put Carolina up 61-60. UCLA called a timeout and as the teams walked to the sideline, UNC coach Hubert Davis was as demonstrative as he’d been all game. Davis twice yelled out, “Let’s go” to no one in particular as he paced back and forth before making his way to their huddle.
It was Carolina’s first lead since a Caleb Love 3-pointer put them ahead 51-50 with 11:13 left.
UCLA responded by re-taking the lead on just its second basket of the game that came off an offensive rebound. Jules Bernard put back a Johnny Juzang miss for a 62-61 lead.
It seemed like the Heels had resorted too much in just shooting 3s. On their next possessions both Manek and Love missed from behind the arc. Love missed a second attempt with Carolina trailing by three, but Armando Bacot chased down the rebound and saved it from going out of bounds. Bacot tossed it back to Love who pulled up for a second 3 at the top of the key. Love made good on that one to tie the game with 1:40 left.
Love, who scored a career-high 30 points, followed that possession with a 3 to put the Heels up for good at 67-64 while looking over at Davis and mouthing, “I got you, I got you.”
When Bacot followed an R.J. Davis miss with 15 seconds, UNC went up five and the celebration started to bubble.
Here’s what we learned from Carolina’s win:
Love heats up
All season long, Love has shown a knack for being able to shake off a poor shooting performance like it never happened. Against UCLA he was no different. After making his first shot, a 3-pointer to start the game. He missed his next seven straight shots from the field in the first half.
But he started the second half like his 1-for-8 shooting never happened. Love got going by attacking the basket instead of settling for jumpers. His first basket in the second half was a layup on UCLA’s 6-foot-7 senior Jules Bernard.
It was all he needed to get going. Love made a 3-pointer and was on his way to scoring 27 in the second half alone. Love was 10 for 16 from the field and made five 3-pointers after halftime.
Out of sync
All the chemistry Carolina showed on offense in the first two games of the tournament was thrown off in the first half by the Bruins defense. The Heels resorted to playing more like they did earlier in the season. There were a lot of 1-on-1 shots and too much dribbling instead of passing.
UNC had assists on 82% of their baskets against Marquette and Baylor. That number came back down when the Heels had just 11 assists on 27 made baskets.
Saved by second chances
Carolina shot just 35% form the field in the first half including making just 4 of 14 attempts from 3-point range. Fortunately for the Heels, they grabbed eight offensive rebounds which led to 12 second chance points.
The most emphatic came when R.J. Davis missed a short jumper and Manek cleaned it up with a one-handed dunk.
Carolina outscored UCLA 12-0 in second chance points and only allowed the Bruins to get one offensive rebound in the first half. The Heels finished the game with a 19-6 advantage in second chance points.
Jaquez was fine
All of the speculation on UCLA forward Jaime Jaquez’s sprained right ankle was for no reason. Aside from wearing a brace on both of his ankles, the Bruins second leading scorer was just fine. He scored eight in the first half on 4-for-7 shooting, but he’d finish with just 10 points after going 1 for 11 in the second half.
