Left out of NCAA tournament, the season is done for UNC men, Hubert Davis says

By R.L. Bynum

After not earning the chance to make another run at the Final Four, North Carolina’s men’s team has declined an opportunity to play in the National Invitation Tournament.

“Many factors go into postseason play and we believe now is the time to focus on moving head, preparing for next season and the opportunity to again compete for ACC and NCAA championships,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said in a statement the school released Sunday.

The Tar Heels (20–13), probably needing three wins at last week’s ACC Tournament in Greensboro, only beat Boston College 85–61 before falling to Virginia 68–59 in the quarterfinals.

After losing to the Cavaliers, Carolina players wouldn’t say directly if they wanted to play in the NIT, only saying they would go along with whatever the team decides. The decision obviously was not to play, which means the college careers of Leaky Black and Pete Nance are over.

In a cruel twist for Nance, Northwestern will go to the NCAA tournament after the Wildcats failed to make the field in Nance’s four years there.

“All season our focus and goal have been on being the best team we can possibly become and reaching our full potential to give us another opportunity to compete, play for and win an NCAA championship,” Coach Davis said. “Although we no longer have that opportunity and this season wasn’t what we had hoped for, I want to thank our players and staff for their hard work and love for Carolina basketball.”

Carolina has played in the NIT six times, winning four games before falling to Dayton 79–68 in the championship game in 2010. That season, one year after the Tar Heels won the 2009 national championship, they beat William & Mary 80–72 in Carmichael Arena in the first round.

The consensus that season was that the players didn’t want to go to the NIT, but Coach Roy Williams decided that the team could use the experience.

The only other time that the Tar Heels won more than three NIT games was when they won the 1971 title with four victories. They defeated Julius Erving and Massachusetts in the first round 90–49, Providence 86–79 in the quarterfinals, Duke 73–67 in the semifinals and Georgia Tech 84–66 in the championship game.

Date	Month/day	Time/score	Opponent/event (current ranking)	Location	Record
	October
28	Friday	W, 101–40	Johnson C. Smith	Home	Exhibition
	November
7	Monday	W, 69–56	UNCW	Home	1–0
11	Friday	W, 102–86	College of Charleston	Home	2–0
15	Tuesday	W, 72–66	Gardner-Webb	Home	3–0
20	Sunday	W, 80–64	James Madison	Home	4–0
			Phil Knight Invitational
24	Thursday	W, 89–81	First round: Portland	Portland	5–0
25	Friday	L, 70–65	Semifinals: Iowa State	Portland	5–1
27	Sunday	L, 103–101, 4 OTs	Consolation: No. 1 Alabama	Portland	5–2
			ACC/Big Ten Challenge
30	Wednesday	L, 77–65	No. 21 Indiana	Bloomington, Ind.	5–3
	December
4	Sunday	L, 80–72	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Va.	5–4, 0–1 ACC
10	Saturday	W, 75–59	Georgia Tech	Home	6–4, 1–1 ACC
13	Tuesday	W, 100–67	The Citadel	Home	7–4
			*CBS Sports Classic*
17	Saturday	W, 89–84, OT	Ohio State	New York	8–4
			*Jumpman Invitational*
21	Wednesday	W, 80–76	Michigan	Charlotte	9–4
30	Friday	L, 76–74	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	9–5, 1–2 ACC
	January
4	Wednesday	W, 88–79	Wake Forest	Home	10–5, 2–2 ACC
7	Saturday	W, 81–64	Notre Dame	Home	11–5, 3–2 ACC
10	Tuesday	L, 65–58	No. 14 Virginia	Charlottesville	11–6, 3–3 ACC
14	Saturday	W, 80–59	Louisville	Louisville, Ky.	12–6, 4–3 ACC
17	Tuesday	W, 72–64	Boston College	Home	13–6, 5–3 ACC
21	Saturday	W, 80–69	N.C. State	Home	14–6, 6–3 ACC
24	Tuesday	W, 72–68	Syracuse	Syracuse, N.Y.	15–6, 7–3 ACC
	February
1	Wednesday	L, 65–64	Pittsburgh	Home	15–7, 7–4 ACC
4	Saturday	L, 63–57	No. 12 Duke	Durham	15–8, 7–5 ACC
7	Tuesday	L, 92–85	Wake Forest	Winston-Salem	15–9, 7–6 ACC
11	Saturday	W, 91–71	Clemson	Home	16–9, 8–6 ACC
13	Monday	L, 80–72	No. 16 Miami	Home	16–10, 8–7 ACC
19	Sunday	L, 77–69	N.C. State	Raleigh	16–11, 8–8 ACC
22	Wednesday	W, 63–59	Notre Dame	South Bend, Ind.	17–11, 9–8 ACC
25	Saturday	W, 71–63	No. 14 Virginia	Home	18–11, 10–8 ACC
27	Monday	W, 77–66	Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	19–11, 11–8 ACC
	March
4	Saturday	L, 62–57	No. 12 Duke	Home	19–12, 11–9 ACC
			*ACC tournament*
8	Wednesday	W, 85–61	Boston College	Greensboro	20–12
9	Thursday	L, 68–59	No. 14 Virginia	Greensboro	20–13