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David Hale
multiple authors
Greenville, SC – In the last four minutes of regulation, e.g. VCU Suddenly the Giants overcame a 19-point deficit to get back within reach. North CarolinaRams coach Phil Martelli Jr. told his team to maintain energy, saying the Tar Heels were tired.
It was obvious to VCU. However, on the UNC bench, it was apparently much less clear.
In a series of brief conversations with reporters after VCU 82-78 overtime winNorth Carolina coach Hubert Davis, who said he did not think his team was tired, appeared puzzled by questions about what went wrong and when asked pointedly why he went with a six-man rotation in those waning minutes, responded briefly: “Because it was my decision.”
The frustration for the Tar Heels was evident long before Davis took the stage for the post-game news conference.
henry vissar Had yelled at VCU players throughout the game, pointing to the “North Carolina” written on their jerseys in apparent response to comments made by Rams players the day before, suggesting that they were not intimidated by the Tar Heels’ “brand”.
But VCU’s lazar djokovicThe primary goal of Weiser’s bluff was connecting on back-to-back 3-pointers that started the Rams’ comeback, and by the overtime period, there was little fight left in the UNC big man, who missed a pair of free throws and two jumpers amid the Heels’ epic collapse.
“I kept talking to the big guys throughout the game,” Djokovic said. “It kind of drove me crazy. Hit those back-to-back 3s, and from then on, we started smelling blood. We see the expressions on their faces, and from then on, we just started running.”
That run came on the back of a poor shooting performance from the Heels, who made just 7 of 25 shots after blowing a lead of 19, missed eight free throws (including three in overtime) and missed one-on-one scoring chances, despite what Davis described as good looks at the basket.
So, was it all just fatigue?
“You get tired during the game, it’s a simple thing,” he said Seth TrimbleWho played 43 minutes and finished with 15 points, but did not hit a basket in the last 20 minutes of the game. “You get tired, but we’ve been in that situation many, many times this year. So, at first it was nothing.”
Instead, the slump feels surprising and all too familiar to a frustrated UNC fan base.
According to ESPN Insights, the 19-point deficit was the largest collapse in the NCAA Tournament since 2018, and equaled the largest collapse in the round of 64 since the tournament’s expansion in 1985.
North Carolina missed its final nine shots.
The Heels finished within a berth in the tournament for the second consecutive year, something the program had not done since expansion.
If this was the nadir, Davis was not concerned about the bigger picture of its immediate aftermath.
When Davis was asked if Carolina needed to make significant changes to meet expectations, he said, “That’s a big thinking question.” “I’m sorry, I’m not there right now. Really sad that we’re not continuing to play and moving forward because I’ve loved this team and enjoyed it. I enjoy and love all of them, but I’ve really enjoyed coaching this team. I really wanted this group and these kids to experience more.”
