FORT WORTH, Texas — Coach Hubert Davis accomplished in his first NCAA tournament game something North Carolina didn’t do in three previous tries — beat a Shaka Smart coached team.
The No. 8 seed Tar Heels defeated No. 9 seed Marquette 95-63 in Thursday’s first round at Dickies Arena advancing to face Baylor, the East Region’s No. 1 seed on Saturday.
Smart, who is in his first year with the Golden Eagles, owned a 3-0 record against the Heels during his six seasons at Texas. But it was clear early on UNC would hand him his first loss.
Carolina used a 20-4 run midway through the first half to take a 27-12 lead and it only ballooned from there. The Golden Eagles’ leading scorer Justin Lewis was added to the list of players Leaky Black shut down, missing his first eight shots and scoring just six. Lewis, an all-Big East first team member, had averaged 17 points per game.
Davis has repeatedly spoken about the togetherness of the team in the closing month of the season and players accepting their roles. That showed against Marquette in the way they passed the ball.
Carolina had 29 assists on its 34 baskets, which was its highest percentage of the season. R.J. Davis led the way with a career-high 12 assists, which tied Kenny Smith for the second most by a UNC player in the NCAA Tournament. (Kendall Marshall has the record with 14.)
The Heels also set a program record for 3-pointers in the NCAA Tournament with 13 as Caleb Love and Brady Manek combined for 11. Manek set a new season-high with 28 points, which marked the fourth time in the past five games that he’s scored at least 20 for UNC.
Here’s what we learned from Carolina’s win:
Love gets hot, but keeps cool
UNC sophomore guard Caleb Love made six 3-pointers in the first half, which tied his career-high against Florida State this season and tied the most in program history in the NCAA tournament.
With a lead that reached 35, Love only had one 3-point attempt in the second half and he missed it. So he remains tied with Marcus Paige, who made six against Indiana in 2016, and Shammond Williams, who had six against UNC Charlotte in 1998.
Love finished with 23 points, just a basket shy of his career-high 25 points in Carolina’s win at Duke last season.
Love had already made four 3s when he and Marquette’s Darryl Morsell exchanged words and had to be separated when Morsell tried to jerk the ball from Love’s hands after he was called for a carrying violation with 5:29 left in the first half.
Morsell was later given a technical when both he and Love scrambled for the ball on the floor and he grabbed Love by the neck. Despite the back-and-forth, Love never retaliated.
Controlling the boards
The Golden Eagles often used a four guard lineup, which left them a bit undersized in the frontcourt. Carolina took full advantage of what had been a season-long weakness for Marquette.
UNC forward Armando Bacot had five rebounds before the game’s first media timeout, which put him ahead of Brice Johnson for the greatest single-season rebounding in program history. Bacot finished with 10 rebounds and 17 points.
With Bacot setting the pace, the Heels dominated especially on the offensive boards. Carolina had 15 offensive rebounds, which led to a new season-high with 23 second chance points. The Heels’ twice scored 21 second chance points this season in games against Purdue and Florida State.
Rest up
Davis has used his starters for prolonged stretches, most notably in the second half of their win at Duke in which he stuck with them for the entire 20 minutes. But with a battle against No. 1 Baylor looming on Saturday, he was able to use the bench for extended minutes.
Marquette tried to make it a physical game where the toughest team won, but with the Heels grabbing such a big lead early, the strategy never paid off.
Bacot only played 28 minutes, which was the first time he didn’t play at least 30 minutes in a win since they beat Florida State on Feb. 12.
Coach Hubert Davis’ first NCAA Tournament appearance ended in the same fashion as the previous three North Carolina games against a Shaka Smart-coached team.
