By R.L. Bynum
No. 11-seed VCU (27–8) vs. No. 22-ranked and No. 6-seed North Carolina (24–8)
When: 6:50 p.m. Thursday
Where: Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. (UNC’s first game there since beating Texas Southern and Arkansas in the first two rounds on its way to the 2017 national championship)
What: First round of the NCAA South Regional; winner plays Saturday against the winner of the game between No. 3 Illinois and No. 14 Penn
TV: TNT: Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (affiliates list; streams on the Varsity Network app); Jones Angell play-by-play, Tyler Zeller analyst
Line: UNC -2½
Moneylines: VCU +120; UNC -144
Over/under: 153½
Coaches: Phil Martelli Jr. (70–43 in three seasons; 27–7 in first season at VCU) and Hubert Davis (125–53 in fifth season)
Series: First meeting (UNC’s last NCAA game against a first-time opponent was the 2024 first-round win over Wagner in Charlotte)
Common opponents:
— Both lost at N.C. State; VCU 85–79 on Nov. 17, UNC 82–58 on Feb. 17
— Both beat Virginia Tech; VCU 86–68 in Nassau, Bahamas, on Nov. 28, UNC 89–82 at home on Feb. 28
— Both beat St. Bonaventure: UNC 85–70 in Fort Myers, Fla., on Nov. 25; VCU 89–82 at home on Dec. 31
VCU resume
— 43 NET ranking, 38 WAB ranking
— 2–4 in Quad 1 games: wins over South Florida (neutral court) and vs. Dayton; losses to Vanderbilt (neutral court), at St. Louis, at N.C. State and vs. Utah State (neutral court)
— 5–3 in Quad 2 games: wins vs. Virginia Tech (neutral court), vs. Dayton (at home and on a neutral court), at Davidson and at Duquesne; losses vs. St. Louis, vs. New Mexico and at George Mason
— 9–0 in Quad 3 games and 1–0 in Quad 4 games.
Top VCU rotation players
No. 6 | G | Terrence Hill Jr. (top photo) | 6–3, 180 | sophomore
— Team-leading 14.4 points, 46.1 FG%, 35.5 3P%, 85.0 FT%, 2.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists
— VCU’s leading scorer has only started two of 34 games
— Atlantic 10 Tournament MVP, First-Team All-Atlantic 10, Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of Year and Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player
— Rugged combo guard with three-level scoring ability who is adept at creating drive-and-kick opportunities off the dribble.
— Scored career-high 24 points Jan. 30 against Loyola Chicago.
No. 17 | F | Lazar Djokovic (pronounced “Lah-Zar Jo-Ko-Vich”) | 6–11, 234 | junior | Charleston transfer
— 13.5 points, 51.4 FG%, 35.6 3P%, 78.2 FT%, 5.4 rebounds, 1.2 blocks
— First Team All-Atlantic 10
— From Gornji Milanovac, Serbia, he played his freshman season at Xavier and sophomore season at Charleston
— Skilled, athletic forward who excels in pick-and-roll situations and has shown the ability to step outside the paint and stretch the defense
—Scored career-high 26 points Feb. 11 against La Salle.
No. 2 | G | Jadrian Tracey | 6–6, 210 | redshirt senior | Oregon transfer
— 9.9 points, 42.6 FG%, 36.8 3P%, 69.7 FT%, 2.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists
— Played freshman season at Saint Joseph’s, sophomore season at Florida Southwestern Junior College and the previous two seasons at Oregon
— Scored career-highs of 26 points and six 3-pointers against Dayton on Feb. 6; had career-high seven assists at N.C. State on Nov. 17
No. 1 | G | Nyk Lewis | 6–1, 195 | freshman
— 8.7 points, 40.0 FG%, 36.8 3P%, 74.0 FT%, 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists
— Starting point guard is the Atlantic 10 Rookie of Year
— Excels in transition; comfortable attacking the rim with an arsenal of layups and floaters
— Scored career-high 19 points Nov. 7 against Utah State
No. 0 | G | Brandon Jennings | 6–4, 175 | sophomore
— 8.7 points, 44.1 FG%, 43.4 3P%, 85.5 FT%, 3.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists
— Left-handed point guard made Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team
— Scored career-high 20 points Dec. 31 against St. Bonaventure
— Scored career-high four 3-pointers Jan. 19 vs. Saint Joseph’s
No. 5 | F | Barry Evans | 6–8, 215 | senior | Bryant transfer
— 7.2 points, 44.5 FG%, 32.9 3P%, 54.3 FT%, 5.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists
— Played freshman and sophomore seasons at St. Bonaventure and last season at Bryant
— Fills passing lanes defensively and is a good passer
— Scored season-high 18 points on Nov. 17 at N.C. State
No. 8 | G/F | Michael Belle | 6–8, 220 | junior
— 7.5 points, 54.8 FG%, 50.0 3FG%, 50.8 FT%, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assist
— Versatile wing who can guard multiple positions
— Scored career-high 20 points Jan. 19 against Saint Joseph’s
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UNC’s keys to the game
Handle VCU’s ball pressure — The Rams’ trademark is physical, extended pressure. Whether it’s full-court heat or aggressive half-court switching, they force turnovers to create offense. UNC must get strong guard play and avoid the live-ball turnovers that fuel VCU’s transition game.
Dominate defensive rebounding — VCU typically generates second-chance points through relentless effort on the boards. The Tar Heels need to finish possessions with strong box-outs from all five positions and turn rebounds into runouts to keep VCU from setting its defense.
Make VCU pay for overhelping — VCU’s defensive style often sends multiple bodies at the ball. This opens opportunities for kick-out 3-pointers and baseline cuts. UNC needs stay patient and find the man instead of forcing contested drives and stretch VCU out with spacing and quick decision-making.
Hubert Davis on VCU
“They’ve got a lot of versatility, athleticism that allows them to play with tremendous pace and do a number of things on both ends of the floor. Defensively, they get steals and deflections. They’re not as big as us, but they’re athletic. They’re sound defensively. They protect the paint, and they do a really good job of getting steals and deflections, because they’re active. Offensively, they play fast. The length of possession is around 16 seconds, and so they want to play at a fast pace, which we love. From an offensive standpoint, they play a lot of five-out. They want to get to the paint. Their shot spectrum is layups, threes and free throws,” he said during the “Hubert Davis Live” radio show on Monday night.
“They led the Atlantic 10 in free-throw attempts. So, one of the emphases [Monday] in practice was defending, defending without fouling. Just can’t put them at the free-throw line. We have to do a good job, which we have this year, defending without fouling. But they can really shoot the three from all five spots, so they’ll spread us out. But we’ve played a number of teams at this style, and we’re excited about the challenge.”
Notes
— This is the 21st NCAA tournament appearance for VCU, which has made the field for the 12th time in the last 15 years. The Rams have won three of the past four Atlantic 10 tournaments under three coaches. It has won 16 of its last 17 games.
— First-year Rams coach Phil Martelli Jr, who was at Bryant the previous two seasons, rebuilt their rotation after losing all five starters from last season, bringing in nine newcomers.
— VCU is 57th nationally with 81.6 points per game after the program previously hadn’t averaged more than 80 points since the 1975–76 season. The Rams have recorded at least 70 possessions in 17 games.
— The Rams get to the free-throw line 25.4 times per game, which is 18th in the country, with 23% of their points coming from the line, which is 44th nationally.
— VCU hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since beating Oregon State 75–67 in the first round of the 2016 tournament.
— The Rams are 32–54 against the ACC, including 12–10 against Virginia Tech.
— Carolina, with the most NCAA tournament wins (134) and most Final Four appearances (21), is 33–3 in first-round games but 2–2 in its last four first-round games. The Tar Heels are 3–3 as a No. 6 seed, going 1–1 in Richmond in 1996, Denver in 2004 and San Antonio in 2014.
— Five Tar Heels have NCAA tournament experience. Jarin Stevenson played nine games the last two seasons for Alabama. Seth Trimble has logged five games, Henri Veesaar four games for Arizona, Kyan Evans four games for Colorado State and Zayden High two games.
— UNC is 5–3 without Caleb Wilson, averaging 73.4 points after averaging 81.9 points with him.
UNC season statistics
VCU season statistics
Statistical comparison
| Category | UNC | VCU |
| NET ranking | 24 | 43 |
| Points per game | 79.8 | 81.6 |
| Scoring defense | 71.3 | 71.5 |
| Scoring margin | +8.5 | +10.1 |
| FG% | 47.3 | 46.0 |
| 3P FG % | 34.5 | 36.7 |
| 3P per game | 8.6 | 9.3 |
| FT% | 68.4 | 73.9 |
| FG% defense | 41.8 | 43.1 |
| 3FG% defense | 34.5 | 33.1 |
| Opponent 3P/game | 8.0 | 6.8 |
| Rebounds per game | 38.0 | 36.7 |
| Offensive rebounds/game | 10.8 | 11.2 |
| Rebounding margin | +3.8 | +2.4 |
| Assists per game | 16.0 | 14.1 |
| Turnovers per game | 9.7 | 10.5 |
| Assist-to-turnover ratio | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| Turnovers forced/game | 9.4 | 11.9 |
KenPom comparison
| Category | UNC | VCU |
| Overall ranking | 29 | 45 |
| Offensive efficiency | 121.4 (32) | 119.9 (46) |
| Defensive efficiency | 100.5 (37) | 102.7 (60) |
| Possession length | 16.8 (82) | 16.0 (55) |
| Effective FG% | 54.6 (56) | 54.1 (67) |
| Turnover % | 14.0 (24) | 15.2 (74) |
| Offensive rebound % | 31.4 (150) | 32.3 (114) |
| FTA/FGA | 37.4 (121) | 43.7 (15) |
| 3FGA/FGA | 42.3 (131) | 43.8 (95) |
| Assist/FG% | 57.0 (71) | 52.7 (171) |
| Strength of schedule | 45 | 102 |
NCAA bracket
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 11 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 9 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | 6:50 p.m. | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | TNT |
| 21 | Saturday | TBA | (with Thursday win) Second round: vs. No. 13 Illinois or Penn | TBA |
| 26 | Thursday | Sweet 16 | Houston | |
| 28 | Saturday | Elite Eight | Houston | |
| April | ||||
| 4, 6 | Sat., Mon. | Final Four | Indianapolis | TBS |
Photo via vcuathletics.com
