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Reggie Bullock was feeling it from the perimeter on Sunday night and now his Dallas Mavericks appear to be in good position to have home-court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Bullock tied his season-high with 23 points and tied his career-high with seven 3-pointers as the Mavs earned a 114–100 home win over the Utah Jazz.
PHILADELPHIA — Moments after Hubert Davis greeted the last Saint Peter’s player in the handshake line, all that had transpired since he took over as Carolina’s head coach last spring brought a flood of emotions.
He tearfully broke down, overwhelmed that he had navigated the program through a historic transition from a Hall of Fame coach and that his first team had earned the program’s NCAA-record 21st Final Four berth.
Can anything in the best rivalry in sports top Carolina ruining Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final Duke home game? We may be about to find out when the rivalry heads to New Orleans for a national semifinal at the Final Four on Saturday at about 8:40 p.m. in a reality that is sending the stress levels up for both fanbases.
PHILADELPHIA — Through all of the struggles during an up-and-down season, Carolina’s players believed they could win a national title and now a college basketball world that was full of doubters has been proven wrong. The Tar Heels’ dreams live on after delivering a knockout blow in the first half to end the magical run of No. 15-seed St. Peter’s with a 69–49 victory Sunday night at Wells Fargo Center in the East Regional final.
In a battle of Tar Heels who have endured tough seasons with their teams, Harrison Barnes and Cole Anthony both played well. But while Barnes had a huge late play, Anthony made a costly mistake. Barnes’ corner 3-pointer with 12 seconds left in overtime lifted the Sacramento Kings to a 114–110 road victory over the Orlando Magic in his best game in the last 10.
PHILADELPHIA — At the start of the season, a photo of the Superdome was put on the locker of each Carolina player to remind them of the end goal — a trip to the Final Four. After two difficult seasons and a lot of frustrations, most college basketball observers saw that as an unrealistic, lofty goal at the time. Throughout the ups and downs when many fans and the media gave up on the Tar Heels, junior center Armando Bacot said that the team stayed focused and believed it was possible.
PHILADELPHIA — Carolina rode the full Caleb Love Experience into the Elite Eight. Love scored 12 consecutive UNC points in one second-half stretch and his back-to-back 3-pointers in the last 1:40 propelled the No. 8-seed Tar Heels to a 73–66 victory over No. 4-seed and 11th-ranked UCLA on Friday night in an East Regionals semifinal at the Wells Fargo Center.
GREENSBORO — North Carolina’s women’s basketball team invested so much into the season. For all the intangibles that so often worked out for the No. 5-seed and 17th-ranked Tar Heels, they could have used something else when reaching the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16.
A little more height.
After the Carolina women’s basketball program’s steady ascension under Coach Courtney Banghart in her first two seasons, the Tar Heels have rocketed toward the national spotlight this season. Banghart knew she had all of the elements for a special team before the season, even if most observers saw last season’s 13–11 finish and weren’t convinced. Only predicted to finish seventh in the ACC, the Tar Heels finished tied for third.
Cole Anthony has put together a run of good games of late, including his ninth double-double of the season. After scoring 14 points Tuesday in the Orlando Magic’s 94–90 home win over the Golden State Warriors, Anthony collected 17 points and tied his career-high with 11 assists in a 118–112 loss Wednesday at Oklahoma City.
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