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CHAPEL HILL — Once West Virginia ace Derek Clark was done, so were the Mountaineers, another victim of Bosh Magic. Junior center fielder Vance Honeycutt finished them off with a game-ending two-run home run to left field with two outs as No. 4-seed North Carolina rallied for an 8–6 victory in the opener of the Chapel Hill Super Regional on Friday night before a packed Boshamer Stadium.
CHAPEL HILL — The two starting pitchers in the Chapel Hill Super Regional opener are like mirror images, other than one being much taller than the other. UNC’s 6–3 junior left-hander Shea Sprague (3–1, 3.76 ERA) immediately noticed it when he watched a video of 5–7 West Virginia senior left-hander Derek Clark (8–2, 2.82 ERA), calling it “pretty uncanny.”
CHAPEL HILL — For No. 7-ranked North Carolina, the path to the College World Series goes through Boshamer Stadium, where the Tar Heels are 32–2 this season.
With the NCAA set to reveal the baseball tournament field Monday, No. 7 North Carolina continues to be projected as a high national seed.
LOS ANGELES — I’ve seen some craziness while covering NCAA tournament games over the years, but nothing like what I saw and heard on Thursday night. Carolina fans undoubtedly heard about the sign-stealing shenanigans involving a Michigan football staffer last season. Alabama coach Nate Oats employs his brand of that, and it’s not against the rules.
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.
LOS ANGELES — March sometimes produces unexpected outcomes and always leads to tears. RJ Davis produced both Thursday night.
LOS ANGELES — UNC coach Hubert Davis, Armando Bacot, Cormac Ryan and RJ Davis met with the media after the Tar Heels’ season-ending loss to Alabama.
LOS ANGELES — Another NCAA tournament game, another prolific scorer to stop. Against Michigan State, Tyson Walker’s point output was limited by Carolina guards Seth Trimble and RJ Davis over large stretches. The target for Thursday night’s 9:39 regional semifinal (CBS) in Crypto.com Arena will be 6–1 Alabama senior guard Mark Sears.
LOS ANGELES — Here is the video and the transcript from No. 5-ranked North Carolina’s press conference on Wednesday at … More
After North Carolina’s amazing NCAA tournament run, the Tar Heels soared to No. 2 in the final Top 25 coaches poll. The Tar Heels (29–10) lost 72–69 Monday night in the NCAA championship game to Kansas (34–6), which is No. 1 in the final coaches poll.
NEW ORLEANS — Two months after a rare taste of the NCAA bubble, North Carolina came so close to completing an unprecedented run to a national title. Carolina, who went from midseason struggles to playing like one of the best teams in the country, dominated Kansas in the first half but the No. 3-ranked Jayhawks stormed back to win 72–69 on Monday night in the Superdome.
NEW ORLEANS — The tensions, the heart palpitations and anxiety just kept pulsating through fans during the last thrilling final minutes of North Carolina’s historic 81–77 victory over No. 9 Duke on Saturday night at the Superdome at the Final Four in the second national semifinal. In some of the most scintillating final minutes of a game in Carolina basketball history, the lead changed six times in the last 4:36 and the Tar Heels ended the coaching career of Mike Krzyzewski. Read and watch how the final tense minutes played out after the last television timeout.
NEW ORLEANS — To say that Brady Manek’s one-year Carolina basketball experience has wildly exceeded his expectations would be like saying his hair flows a little bit. In four seasons at Oklahoma, he never made it to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. Manek had an overwhelming desire to do that and finally avoid the dreaded No. 8 vs. No. 9 first-round game that ended multiple seasons. The latter didn’t happen. But he’s helped the Tar Heels shoot past the former with a run to the Final Four and Monday night’s 9:20 matchup with a former Big 12 adversary, No. 3-ranked Kansas, in his final college game (TBS).
NEW ORLEANS — In the most historic battle in the history of sports’ greatest rivalry, North Carolina beat Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s last Duke team the way his Blue Devils won so many nights — with lethal outside shooting. With that, the Tar Heels (29-9) and Coach Hubert Davis ushered in a new era in the rivalry. Davis showed that his new brand of Carolina basketball could be a national force for years after the Tar Heels made him only the fifth first-year coach to make the NCAA tournament championship game.
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