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If Carolina moves on from Hubert Davis, they’ll seek an established head coach, and it will be a pricey transition. After consecutive first-round exits in the NCAA tournament, the financial implications for an athletics department that threw an incredible amount of money at Coach Bill Belichick and his football staff are coming into sharper focus.
Elliot Cadeau, Ian Jackson and Teonni Key are headed to the Sweet 16 to face familiar foes they’ve never beaten. Meanwhile, the college careers of Ven-Allen Lubin, Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington came to heartbreaking ends in the NCAA tournament.
Less than three short weeks ago, North Carolina’s men’s basketball team and its fans were celebrating their first best-ever home season — 18 contests without defeat — after closing out a tight, tense win over Clemson. Many observers were crediting Coach Hubert Davis, his staff, and his team with the resilience shown in winning five of six games without injured Caleb Wilson.
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Seth Trimble sat on one end of a somber dressing room, emotional and struggling to process the end of his Carolina career. The senior guard, who tied his career high by playing 43 minutes, tried to explain what he couldn’t understand himself: how the No. 21 Tar Heels let a 19‑point second‑half lead slip away in an 82–78 overtime loss to VCU on Thursday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The collapse and heartbreak for No. 21 North Carolina came after it looked like the Tar Heels were about to ease into the second round. VCU erased a 19‑point second‑half lead from a UNC team that insisted afterward it was not worn down, pulling out an 82–78 overtime victory Thursday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Here is the video and complete transcript from VCU’s press conference with Coach Phil Martelli Jr. and players Terrence Hill Jr., Jordan Tillery, Lazar Djokovic and Brandon Jennings ahead of the Rams’ first-round NCAA tournament game against North Carolina.
GREENVILLE, S.C. — As Seth Trimble comes to grips with the reality that he is a loss away from seeing his college career end, North Carolina’s ACC tournament loss led to plenty of frustration.
Four Marches after teaming up on a run to the Final Four for UNC, RJ Davis and Caleb Love battled for two games in the G League, with Love putting on an overtime show on Tuesday.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said Tuesday that the Tar Heels have spent the days since the ACC tournament sharpening their mindset with some chippiness, embracing the competitive edge they will need when they open the NCAA tournament Thursday night against VCU. He said that No. 21 UNC recalibrated after the frustrating effort in the loss to Clemson in practice heading into Thursday’s 6:50 p.m. NCAA tournament first-round game (TNT) against VCU in Greenville, S.C.
In a season defined by precocious brilliance and cruel twists of fate, North Carolina freshman Caleb Wilson has earned a permanent place in Tar Heel lore.
Coming off the sting of the poor performance for most of No. 21 North Carolina’s loss to Clemson in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, Coach Hubert Davis said that the team has been spirited ahead of Thursday’s ACC tournament opener. After a team dinner at his house Sunday to watch the bracket revealed, the mood quickly shifted from celebration to motivation, he said Monday night on the “Hubert Davis Live” radio show.
Here’s a look at Thursday’s NCAA tournament first-round game between VCU and North Carolina.
Ian Jackson was the only former UNC player of four to win in conference championship games this weekend, but he had the smallest role. Elliot Cadeau’s No. 3 Michigan team, despite his double-double in the Big Ten tournament championship game, and No. 22 Vanderbilt, with Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington, both came up short in title games on Sunday. Michigan, Vanderbilt, St. John’s, Ven-Allen Lubin’s N.C. State team and Puff Johnson’s Ohio State team will all play in the NCAA tournament.
No. 21 North Carolina is headed to Greenville, S.C., for the first two rounds of the NCAA men’s tournament as a No. 6 seed. The Tar Heels (24–8) are in the South Regional, which has Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Houston. UNC faces VCU (27–7) on Thursday in the first round. A win would advance the Tar Heels to a second-round game Saturday against the winner of Thursday’s game in Greenville between No. 3 Illinois (24–8) and No. 14 Penn (18–11).
North Carolina appears destined for a No. 6 seed when the NCAA tournament committee reveals the bracket at 6 p.m. Sunday night. The consensus of 120 projections listed Sunday on Bracket Matrix has No. 19 Tar Heels as the second-highest No. 6 seed, with 12 seeing the Tar Heels as a No. 5 seed and two having Carolina as a No. 7 seed. UNC has a NET ranking of 24 and a WAB ranking of 21.
