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Dontrez Styles, who still is deciding whether he’ll return to Carolina next season, said Tuesday that Coach Hubert Davis told the team after the NCAA selection show that the Tar Heels wouldn’t accept an NIT invitation. “It was the coach’s decision,” Styles said during his weekly “Tuesdays with Trez” segment on “The Bryan Hanks Show” on WRNS 960 AM in Kinston.
The shuffling of the Carolina men’s basketball roster is under way. With several reserves getting little playing time, some of them figured to move on. That started Monday when Tyler Nickel and Justin McKoy entered the transfer portal. Nickel has three years of eligibility left, and McKoy would play a fifth season as a graduate transfer.
CHAPEL HILL — The NCAA women’s basketball tournament selection committee egregiously underseeded North Carolina for the second consecutive season, but it’s just the latest of a few curious decisions the program has endured in the last 20 years.
CHAPEL HILL — A year after the NCAA selection committee denied North Carolina’s women a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and the perk of hosting most thought was deserved, the Tar Heels were again underseeded. Most projections had the Tar Heels a No. 4 seed, but they will be a No. 6 and play first-round games in Columbus, Ohio, with a trip to Seattle following that if they get two wins in Columbus.
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 released Sunday.
Dawson Garcia had a few big games in a challenging first season at Minnesota and enjoyed one last one at the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago. In the first round Wednesday, Garcia put up his third double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds in addition to six assists as the No. 14-seed Gophers beat No. 11-seed Nebraska 78–75.
CHAPEL HILL — With one spectacular, unconventional play, right fielder Casey Cook swiped the momentum No. 14 North Carolina needed to hand No. 17 Virginia its first loss of the season. After Cook stole a home run from Virginia’s Kyle Teel in the fifth inning, the Tar Heels quickly took the lead and rolled to a 6–0 victory. That earned a doubleheader split to salvage a game from their three-game series to open ACC play.
During a rough week for Cameron Johnson, at least he helped Brooklyn get a hard-fought overtime victory on Friday. After he missed the Nets’ Thursday’s 118–113 at Milwaukee with right knee soreness, he was back in the starting lineup for Brooklyn’s 124–123 overtime victory Friday at Minnesota.
CHAPEL HILL — In Carolina’s first three losses this season, the bullpen wasted good starts. The script flipped for the No. 14 Tar Heels, with the relievers pitching well after a rough night from their starter. Leaving 11 runners on base snuffed UNC’s chances to rally as No. 17 Virginia became the only remaining unbeaten team in the country with a 7–3 victory Friday in the ACC opener for both teams to snap the Heels’ seven-game win streak. Alabama and N.C. State were also unbeaten before losing Friday.
The No. 19 North Carolina women will likely host first- and second-round NCAA tournament games next weekend. Only a big run by Oklahoma in this weekend’s Big 12 Tournament could have prevented that, but the Sooners lost in the semifinals Saturday. Charlie Creme, who projects brackets for ESPN, said in a media availability on Friday that he has the Tar Heels (21–10) as the No. 15 overall seed, giving them a bit of a buffer since the top 16 seeds host first- and second-round games. His No. 16 seed is Villanova (17–3).
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