UNC basketball holds on in OT to upset top-seeded Baylor Bears, advance to Sweet 16
North Carolina went from cruising into Philadelphia and 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.
The No. 8 seed Tar Heels defeated No. 1 seed and defending national champion Baylor 93-86 in perhaps the wildest game of the NCAA Tournament so far.
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.
Here’s the thing, it’s not two or three.
Carolina entered the game 44-0 in the NCAA Tournament when leading by double digits at halftime. It led the Bears by 13 at half, and ballooned its advantage up to 25 midway through the second half. They’d need every point of that cushion. Had the Heels lost, it would have been the biggest lead they’ve ever lost in program history. But they found their fight in overtime.
“All year we’ve just been hearing different things about us, how we’re a soft team, how we don’t like to fight,” said Bacot, who had 15 points and 16 rebounds. “And today, I think we really showed that we can fight. And to persevere in a moment like that and just come together, I’m just so proud and glad we won.”
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.
Manek’s elbow went high while trying to block out Baylor forward Jeremy Sochan on a rebound and sent him to the ground.
Baylor immediately went on an 11-0 run to get back within striking distance with eight minutes to play.
Carolina’s collapse continued when Caleb Love fouled out with 6:15 left, taking yet another of its scorers and ball handlers out of the lineup.
UNC coach Hubert Davis hadn’t used his bench much all season, but was now forced to go with a combination of freshmen Dontrez Styles, junior Justin McKoy and sophomore Puff Johnson to close out the game.
As the lead kept crumbling and the Bears used their full court pressure to inch closer, Carolina got a play here and there to keep them at bay. R.J. Davis was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three free throws. Bacot had a 3-point play when Baylor clearly fouled him — and it wasn’t called — before he ever got the shot off.
Baylor pulled within 80-77 when Sochan banked in a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left. Up by three with 25 seconds left, Bacot missed a pair of free throws, which allowed James Akinjo to complete the rally on a three-point play when he was fouled by Davis with 15 seconds left.
Davis had a final shot to try and win the game in regulation, but his 3-point attempt fell short.
Working overtime
Styles began overtime with a 3-pointer that seemed to give Carolina a collective sigh of relief that things would be okay. To put that in perspective, the 6-foot-6 Kinston native hadn’t attempted a 3 since the Tar Heels’ home win over Louisville on Feb. 21, and he only had only made two the entire season.
“I put in a lot of work after practice, before practice, and just trusted that,” said Styles, who had a season-high nine points while playing a season-high 25 minutes. “I think coach Davis was trusting me to go out there and perform.”
Baylor coach Scott Drew said it was one of the biggest plays in the game.
“Styles’ three was really big, late in the shot clock, someone who was 2-for-12 on the year,” Drew said. “So he made a big 3. Then they get a foul. I believe, go up four and it’s hard to play from behind in overtime. It would have been nice to get the lead.”
Baylor expended all of its energy to tie the game, but had nothing left in overtime. Carolina held them to 1-for-11 shooting in the extra period and never trailed. Free throws helped the Bears keep it a one possession game.
Until Davis’ three-point play with 1:18 left put the Heels up 91-85 and ultimately sealed the game as the Bears never scored another basket.
“We wanted to get to the next round, so at that point, I wasn’t even tired,” Davis said. “I had a mindset of just gathering my teammates together and regrouping and telling them to contain our composure and let’s get this win.”
Here’s what else we learned from Carolina’s win:
Final Four team?
Okay, it’s generally absurd to throw around hypothetical situations, but for this exercise let’s stop the game at Manek’s ejection. At that point, with a 25 lead on a No. 1 seed, and coming off the largest margin of victory in tournament history in an 8-9 game with its 95-63 win over Marquette, it’s not a stretch to say Carolina looks like a Final Four team and a national title contender.
The Heels look dominant. In their first and second round games, they only trailed a combined 3:49 minutes of play out of 85 total minutes.
When at full strength Carolina is a team that, without question, is peaking at the right time. They’ll likely be favored against their next opponent — either No. 4 seed UCLA or No. 5 seed St. Mary’s. And with No. 2 seed Kentucky already eliminated, a rematch with No. 3 seed Purdue is the lowest seed it would potentially have to face.
At one point earlier in the season, it would have been unrealistic to mention Carolina making it to New Orleans and the Final Four. It doesn’t seem to be a stretch at all now.
Pressed into action
As Carolina tried to close out the game without Love and Manek, Baylor’s full court pressure cause all sorts of problems. The Heels obviously missed Love as a primary ball handler, but it also hurt to put Styles and McKoy in a position they’d never really faced all season.
The ensuing confusion with spacing and execution resulted in Carolina committing a combined 13 turnovers from the time Manek was ejected with 10 minutes left and the five minutes of overtime.
“Up to probably the ten-minute mark, we did a really good job of taking care of the basketball,” Hubert Davis said. “But I also felt, at times in pressure situations, we lost our composure. And so in certain situations, I feel like we helped them.”
The Heels, who only had five turnovers in the first half, finished with a season-high 21. Baylor scored 25 points off turnovers — only Miami’s 30 points was more by an opponent this season.
3-point shooting
Seems like Carolina left its poor shooting behind in Brooklyn after going 3-for-26 in its loss to Virginia Tech. In its two NCAA Tournament games, the Heels have been hot from behind the arc.
The Bears entered the game allowing opponents to shoot only 29.7 percent from 3-point range. But Carolina got open looks early and made 6 of its 13 attempts in the first half. It finished tying a season-high for a Baylor opponent with 11 3s on 44 percent shooting.
They also buried Marquette with 13 makes — including six from Love — while shooting 37 percent.
R.J. Davis set the tone against the Bears with five 3s a game after shooting just 1-for-10 from the field against Marquette. The sophomore guard showed no signs of having an off night against Baylor.
“R.J. had a lot to do with that and credit him, he made shots in the beginning and then got them rolling,” Drew said. “And then after that, Manek was — I mean, he really shot it well.”
Davis was 5-for-7 from the field and scored 17 of his career-high 30 points in the first half. By the time he knocked in his fourth 3-pointer in front of the Baylor bench and made “3-goggles” with his fingers over his eyes, Carolina took a 42-29 lead into halftime.
“I know they like to switch on ball screens, I was able to get in rhythm the first half and that carried along throughout the whole game,” Davis said. “I just took what the defense gave me and I was able to make big-time shots.”
What’s with the technicals?
Seeing blue has apparently brought out the rage in Carolina’s opponents. Or maybe its because Hubert Davis has preached bringing the fight to them. Either way, the Heels have frustrated both Marquette and Baylor.
The Golden Eagles had three technical fouls called against them in the first round. That included one on guard Darryl Morsell for grabbing Caleb Love by the neck while scrambling for a loose ball. The two had exchanged words prior to the mixup.
Against Baylor, it was forward Jeremy Sochan who was acting up. Sochan showed he wasn’t trying to be friendly when he was on the ground and didn’t accept Brady Manek’s extended hand to help him up.
On the ensuing possession, Sochan was given a technical foul after getting tangled up with Armando Bacot. Sochan was on the floor and squeezed his legs together to not allow Bacot to get his foot free.
Bacot earned one himself too, when he was again tangled with Sochan on the floor. Officials issued a double foul before reviewing the monitor and giving Bacot a technical for tripping Sochan.
This story was originally published March 19, 2022 at 3:04 PM.