UNC gets a No. 8 seed, will face Wisconsin in first round of the NCAA tournament
North Carolina’s loss to Marquette raised the legitimate question of whether it deserved a spot in the NCAA tournament. After the Tar Heels’ play in the ACC tournament, though, it’s not out of the question to believe they can make a run.
Carolina (18-10) drew an eight seed in the South region and will face No. 9 seed Wisconsin (17-12) in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday at 7:10 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS live from Mackey Arena on the campus of Purdue. The winner would potentially face No. 1 seed Baylor, which faces No. 16 Hartford in the first round.
“There were a couple of times during the season when we were wondering whether or not we would make the field, but our team kept getting a little bit better and better,” UNC coach Roy Williams said in a released statement. “So I’m just ecstatic for these kids, who have endured so much due to Covid and have an opportunity to continue their season.”
The Badgers would have faced a very different version of the Tar Heels just two weeks ago. Carolina played with inconsistent effort from game-to-game throughout the month of February. It generally followed its big wins with disappointing efforts the next time out.
The Heels went from beating Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Feb. 6 to scoring a season-low 48 points in a loss at Virginia. (Not to mention the celebration from the Duke win caused their home game with Miami to be canceled due to coronavirus concerns.) They followed up the 45-point blowout of Louisville with the dud against Marquette on Feb. 24. The crazy comeback win over Florida State was followed with a loss at Syracuse.
They’ve looked a lot better since stomping rival Duke in the regular-season finale on March 6. That served as a springboard into the ACC tournament, where the Heels pounded Notre Dame by 42 points on Wednesday and earned a tough win over Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Even in a 69-66 loss to Florida State with a spot in the tournament final at stake, the Heels have emerged more confident and believe they have what it takes for an extended stay in Indianapolis.
In the NCAA tournament, sometimes that’s all you need. Carolina reached the Final Four as a No. 8 seed in 2000, which was played in Indianapolis.
“This will be an unusual tournament to say the least, but particularly for our coaches, because we have so many young players who will be playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time,” Williams said. “Wisconsin will be a big-time challenge, but we played our way into our seed and we will have to play very well to advance.”
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For a team that made just 30.9 percent of its 3s in the regular season, the Tar Heels were much more formidable for three games in Greensboro. They shot 36.5 percent from behind the arc in three games. If that’s the version that turns up in Indiana, the entire outlook for Carolina changes.
Kerwin Walton carried them through the regular season from deep accounting for 43% of the team’s made 3-pointers in ACC play.
But in the conference tournament, Walton was the third-best shooter on the roster from 3. R.J. Davis shot 40% to lead the team for those who had more than five attempts. Caleb Love led the team with seven made 3s, while shooting 38.9% from 3. Walton had five makes and shot 35.7%.
Even reserve Anthony Harris, who had only two 3s all season, went 2-for-4 during the ACC tournament.
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The Heels totaled 80 turnovers in their last four regular-season games. That’s not the way to win in March. They appeared to get that under control during the ACC tournament, in which they had 11, 11 and 12, respectively.
One of the oddest stats for Carolina this season is its 4-1 record in games when it had 20 or more turnovers. It’s not like wins over Stanford and Miami were high-possession games where the turnover mark would be a low percentage of possessions. If they turn the ball over at a high rate against Wisconsin, it will ensure the Heels are on the quickest flight back to Chapel Hill.
Freshman point guard Love is somewhat of a barometer for their chances of winning. When he has two or fewer turnovers, UNC is 8-2. Love has committed three or more turnovers in eight losses.
Getting to know Wisconsin
Coach: Greg Gard, sixth season at Wisconsin (Record: 125-74 overall, 4-3 NCAA)
Most important player: Fifth-year senior D’Mitrik Trice leads the team in scoring (13.7) and assists (4.0) and in 3-point shooting (both makes and percentage for those with more than 50 attempts.) His brother, Travis, was a starter on Michigan State’s 2015 Final Four team.
Best wins: Loyola-Chicago, Maryland, Indiana, Louisville
Worst losses: Marquette, Penn State
NET ranking: 26
Reason to fear the Badgers: Wisconsin embodies the favorite coaches’ adage “get old and stay old.” The Badgers start four seniors and tap two more as reserves in their eight-man rotation. Along with experience, their pace of play could be a problem. They’ve been successful slowing their opponents down. Only Penn State has scored 80 points on the Badgers all season.
Reason to be chesty: Wisconsin is not a great rebounding team, to put it politely. The Badgers rank 240th nationally with a minus-1.7 rebounding margin. Carolina is No. 1 in rebounding margin, averaging nearly 11 more boards than its opponents. The Heels are also No. 1 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, grabbing 41.3% of their misses. So their rebounding could help offset a potential off-shooting game against the Badgers.
Potential second-round opponents
No. 1 seed Baylor (22-2)
Coach: Scott Drew, 18th season at Baylor (366-215 overall, 11-8 NCAA)
Most important player: Junior guard Jared Butler is a national player of the year candidate after averaging 17.1 points and shooting 42% from 3-point range. He’s also second on the team with 4.7 assists per game.
Best wins: Illinois, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma State
Worst losses: None.
NET ranking: 2
No. 16 seed Hartford (15-8)
Coach: John Gallagher, 11th season at Hartford (Record: 157-186 overall, 0-0 NCAA)
Most important player: Redshirt senior guard Austin Williams, who was named the Most Outstanding Player in the America East tournament, leads the Hawks with 13.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Best wins: Vermont, UMBC
Worst losses: NJIT, New Hampshire (twice)
NET ranking: 161
Carolina teams in the tournament
Game times and locations to be announced
No. 16 Appalachian State vs. No. 16 Norfolk State, Thursday
No. 8 North Carolina vs. No. 9 Wisconsin, Friday
No. 7 Clemson vs. No. 10 Rutgers, Friday
No. 12 Winthrop vs. No. 5 Villanova, Friday
No. 13 UNC Greensboro vs. No. 4 Florida State, Saturday
This story was originally published March 14, 2021 at 6:20 PM.