By R.L. Bynum
LOS ANGELES — Two late shots that didn’t fall will be painful memories that will gnaw on North Carolina for years to come. They’ll make the Tar Heels wonder if they could have avoided the cruelty of March had one of them fallen.
Armando Bacot and Jae’Lyn Withers expressed only emotional regrets and painful reflections after Carolina’s season-ending 89–87 loss Thursday to Alabama in a West Regional semifinal at Crypto.com Arena.
Bacot missed a dunk attempt with 6:41 left that would have given UNC a five-point lead. Withers missed a 3-point attempt early in the shot clock with 1:01 left that could have given Carolina a two-point lead.
If either had fallen, the Tar Heels could be talking about nearing a Final Four rather than facing the tough aftermath.
“Sorry for my efforts to not only the seniors but the coaches and the fans that were tuned in and showed up to the game,” said Withers, who scored four points and was 4 of 20 from 3-point range this season. “The shot I took was a crucial shot. I work on it day in and day out, but there was time to score. I could have just gotten to the free throw line or to the basket.”
Withers usually has a strong voice befitting a baritone announcer with a commanding voice. After the game, the words came slowly and with a wavering voice. He said the shot felt good. It just didn’t fall.
“A couple of my teammates told me, ‘you’re good; we still have time.’ We’ve got a little bit more time with a stop and a bucket, we’ll be good. That was what was told to me in the huddle,” Withers said. “That gave me a next-play mentality. I was not really thinking about the missed shot.”
After winning only four games the previous season at Louisville, Withers was a key player off the bench and one reason the Tar Heels were so successful.
“I think that this was a special group for us to get this far … means a lot,” Withers said, trailing off with emotion.
After the last reporter left the area of his locker, Withers put his jersey over his face to hide his tears. He tried to process the heartbreak he and his teammates had endured.
Bacot had missed a few dunk attempts in recent games. He quickly shook the others off and moved on. It was evident that this one rocked him emotionally. The look on his face told the story of what was going through his head at that moment.
“I mean, look at the score,” Bacot said. “I make that dunk, it might be a different set of plays.”
Bacot bemoaned not boxing out well enough and giving up too many long rebounds, but that one miss stuck out.
“I’ve got to be better. I missed a wide-open dunk,” Bacot said. “That was tough and a huge momentum-changer, I think, for me personally. It just sucks to go out like that.”
Fellow graduate Cormac Ryan saw Bacot’s reaction and gave him words of encouragement and a few pats on the back side at the other end of the court. Harrison Ingram also tried to pick him back up.
“It’s so crucial just in the time and everything that was going on at that point,” Bacot said. “Definitely hurt me going into that next play. But after that, I mean I just washed it away and was just trying to move on to the next one. But it was definitely tough.”
Bacot and his teammates had their sights set on a national championship. Sitting in a quiet locker room that the Los Angeles Lakers usually use, he wasn’t in any hurry to take off his uniform for the last time.
“It just sucks knowing I won’t be able to wear this uniform again,’ Bacot said. “It’s just tough knowing I won’t be able to play here again, and be in front of these fans.”
Bacot won’t leave the program with a national championship, but he’s proud of how he’s elevated the program.
“To leave the school and this place in a better place? I think just what me and RJ and everybody’s done this year has definitely done that. And like it was a successful year for the most part,” Bacot said.
Bacot finished the season averaging 14.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, the third consecutive season he’s averaged a double-double. Bacot and Billy Cunningham are the only Tar Heels to average double-doubles over three seasons.
There are plenty of good memories. But the big misses will stick with Withers and Bacot.
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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