‘I guess we really weren’t that good’: UNC’s ACC tourney loss puts NCAA hopes in peril
In need of something miraculous to happen this weekend, the North Carolina Tar Heels instead served themselves another dose of misery.
We won’t know for sure until Sunday night, but UNC’s 68-59 loss to Virginia on Thursday night in an ACC tournament quarterfinal probably left the Tar Heels (20-13) on the outside looking in at the 68-team NCAA tournament field.
And if so, the Tar Heels have no one to blame but themselves. They had four starters back from the team that made the national final in 2022, they were the preseason AP No. 1 in all of America and now they aren’t even going to make the field?!
That’s not only disappointing, it’s historically unprecedented. A preseason No. 1 hasn’t missed the tournament since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
“I guess we really weren’t that good,” UNC’s Armando Bacot said in a disconsolate locker room at the Greensboro Coliseum.
How far UNC has fallen could be measured in one of the main questions in the postgame locker room — whether UNC would accept a bid to the NIT, if it comes down to that.
Caleb Love said he’d like to play in it because he wants to “win something” with this team. Bacot, whose ankle kept him out for most of the second half Thursday, was less enthusiastic about the idea, as were several of the other Tar Heels. They sounded iffy at best, with coach Hubert Davis saying: “I’m not thinking about that.”
But the fact that’s now even a possibility? It’s almost incomprehensible. Teams like Furman and UNC Asheville are safely into March Madness. UNC is on the edge of a knife blade.
“Never will be disappointed in these kids,” Davis said afterward. “I’m so proud and honored and thankful and appreciative to be one of their coaches and to be around them every day. I’m sad and disappointed for them that we’re in this position.”
You have to ladle out some blame to everyone: Both the players and the coaching staff have dramatically underachieved. The Tar Heels were playing with a gimpy and obviously compromised Bacot on Thursday, but still. This is a team that, and it bears repeating, had four starters back from a spectacular squad that led Kansas by 15 points at halftime in the national championship game in 2022.
How did it go so wrong?
So often, these Tar Heels were disjointed, dispirited and dysfunctional. One player might play very well — that was R.J. Davis (24 points) against Virginia (24-6) Thursday. But then, at the same time, a couple of others would play poorly. While Bacot’s ankle understandably limited his effectiveness Thursday, Caleb Love and Pete Nance combined for zero points through the game’s first 24 minutes and ended up shooting a combined 5-for-22.
Against Virginia and its stifling defense, a UNC mistake on the offensive end would lead to a letdown on defense. Once more, Davis and his staff couldn’t push the right buttons. The Tar Heels missed five free throws, but it seemed like a dozen.
Injuries? Sure, UNC had them this season. Bacot’s absence — for practically all of the first Virginia game and for long stretches of this one — certainly hurt. Every team has injuries, though, and the 2022-23 Tar Heels didn’t lose any of their key players for the season.
But they still had a lot of issues they never solved. They never developed a dangerous bench. They never beat Duke after whipping the Blue Devils twice in huge games a year ago. They never found a consistent replacement for Brady Manek, who had made so many huge shots for them a year ago. They were the worst 3-point shooting team in the ACC, at 31.2%.
“I really feel kind of numb,” said Leaky Black, who set a record for games played at UNC and may well have played his last. “... Nothing can prepare you for this type of feeling ... for it to potentially end like this.”
On Thursday, before a heavily pro-UNC crowd, the Tar Heels seemed on the verge of committing a shot-clock violation for much of the night.
Part of the soundtrack of this game was the light blue crowd shouting in desperation: “3 ... 2 ... 1!” and prompting another brick off the backboard. At one point, UNC had six field goals and six turnovers.
Love, who had been so good the day before in a win against Boston College, shot 3-for-15. Bacot, according to Hubert Davis, pulled himself out of the game early in the second half and said he couldn’t play anymore. When he was in, he had a plus-minus of minus-16. Some fans in the Virginia portion of the crowd were yelling, “N-I-T! N-I-T!” at the end.
And so now UNC must wait, watching the NCAA bubble projections for the next couple of days, where they usually hover in the “First Four Out” or “Last Four In” range.
It’s worth noting, for the optimists, that UNC did win 20 games, did have a winning record in the ACC and is getting some help from other teams with similar metrics losing in their conference tournaments.
And, if it’s coming down to the Tar Heels and three other at-large contenders, would UNC’s pedigree make a difference? Sure, it will help. But will it be enough?
No way to tell for sure until Sunday.
But given the chance Thursday, UNC didn’t help itself. Again.
This story was originally published March 9, 2023 at 10:45 PM.
