The replay: A great week for UNC, NC State, Duke teams at the NCAA tournament
The week that was in Triangle sports was dominated by, of course, the NCAA basketball tournaments. Duke and UNC’s men, and N.C. State and UNC’s women all survived and advanced into the Sweet 16 this week.
Here’s a brief recap of each team’s success:
NC State women
The Wolfpack made a statement in its last game of the season at Reynolds Coliseum. N.C. State beat Kansas State, 89-57, to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in a row.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these young ladies,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “Every challenge that’s been put before them, they’ve just stepped up ... unbelievable. On the court, off the court, every day I’m just blessed to be around them.”
Despite an early start, Reynolds was as loud as it had been all season, and the Pack gave the capacity crowd plenty to cheer for. Despite a slow start, N.C. State built a double-digit lead in the second quarter, sparked by a 12-0 run. The Wolfpack led by 16 at the break, even though star Elissa Cunane played just four minutes after picking up two early fouls.
The game was billed as a colossal showdown between Cunane and Ayoka Lee, Kansas State’s 6-6 center. With Cunane forced to watch, junior Camille Hobby logged 17 minutes in the first half. She and Cunane, who checked back in for a full shift in the second half, limited Lee to 12 points.
“Coach Moore always talks about being ready,” Hobby said. “I was ready for that moment. At practice this is what we do every single day, so when the moment presented itself I felt like I was prepared enough to take on that responsibility.”
UNC women
Not that they were excited to face No. 1-overall seed South Carolina in the Sweet 16 but … OK, UNC was thrilled with the opportunity.
No. 5-seeded UNC defeated Arizona, 63-45, in the Wildcats’ backyard Monday night to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2015.
The Gamecocks were the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and the favorites to cut down the nets in April. UNC was been one of the hottest teams through the first weekend of March Madness, catching fire at just the right time.
“To say I’m really proud to be bringing a team to the Sweet 16 would be an understatement,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “And it’s so hard to win in March and this group has not won not one, but two on the road.”
UNC men
They weren’t supposed to be here, either. The ACC was “down,” experts said.
And yet, all UNC did on the first weekend of the tournament was hold serve emphatically against a Big 10 foe, followed by taking out defending champion and No. 1 seed Baylor.
In that game, North Carolina went from cruising into the Sweet 16, to looking like it’d suffer the biggest collapse in program history, to finally winning in overtime with a lineup it hadn’t played with all season.
UNC forward Armando Bacot was trying to think if he’s ever played in a game with a bigger momentum swing. He said it was one of the top three craziest games he’s played in this season.
The Tar Heels led 67-42 with 10:08 to play in regulation when the game changed on one foul. UNC forward Brady Manek, who scored 26 points and had four 3-pointers, was ejected from the game after getting a flagrant-2 foul called on him.
Baylor immediately went on an 11-0 run, and Carolina’s collapse continued when Caleb Love fouled out with 6:15 left.
But the plucky Tar Heels held on, forced OT, and then dominated the extra session to move on.
Duke men
In a pair of games in which the Blue Devils could easily have folded — much like they did earlier in the regular season — they didn’t. Somehow, some way, this Duke team kept alive coach Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching career for another weekend, first overcoming Michigan State in a battle royale in South Carolina, and then holding off Texas Tech in a gritty win in San Francisco.
In the latter, the Blue Devils didn’t miss a shot from the field over the game’s final 8 minutes and 19 seconds, allowing them to break away from a nip-and-tuck game and beat Texas Tech, 78-73.
“God bless them,” Krzyzewski said. “What a great group, these kids. They’ve grown up so much in the last 12 days. It’s such a joy. It’s an amazing thing.”
Paolo Banchero scored 22 points to lead Duke, which hit its final eight shots from the field to shoot 70.4% (17 of 24) in the second half. No team had shot better in a half this season against defensively tough Texas Tech, which had limited its opponents to 38.2% shooting this season.
Against Michigan State, three key defensive plays in the final three minutes helped erase Michigan State’s two-point lead and the Blue Devils scored eight consecutive points and beat the Spartans.
The win was No. 1,200 in Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s career.
Banchero scored 19 points to lead Duke, which shot 57.1% from the field. Mark Williams, Wendell Moore and Jeremy Roach each scored 15 points while Trevor Keels added 12 off the bench.
Steve Wiseman, C.L. Brown and Jonas Pope IV contributed to this story.
