After nine months of waiting, the North Carolina Tar Heels get their long-awaited crack at revenge against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Wednesday night.
UNC (4-3) and Alabama (6-2) will face off as part of their new, highly-anticipated ACC-SEC Challenge clash. North Carolina spent Thanksgiving Week in Hawaii, where it beat Dayton before losing to Auburn and Michigan State, while the Crimson Tide lost to Oregon in the Players Era Festival title game.
Back in March, way before the UNC-Alabama ACC-SEC Challenge battle was scheduled, both teams faced off in the Sweet 16.
The top-seeded Tar Heels returned to the Big Dance behind an experienced squad, led by ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis and center Armando Bacot, while the Crimson Tide carried a deep, ultra-talented lineup led by Mark Sears and Grant Nelson.
Unfortunately for North Carolina, March’s Sweet 16 matchup ended in a disappointing, 89-87 loss.
UNC showed a troubling trend in that clash that I’ve witnessed several times recently: entering halftime with a lead, then enduring a cold spell that cost it the game. The Tar Heels were up 54-46 against Alabama, just like against Kansas in the 2022 National Title Game, then the Crimson Tide used a 43-33 second half to advance in the Big Dance.
North Carolina struggled to shoot the ball as a team against Alabama in the Sweet 16, making just 30-of-78 shots for a 38.5 percent mark.
RJ Davis struggled in particular, draining just 4-of-20 attempts – and failing to make a 3-pointer for the first time all season. UNC enjoyed an 85-84 lead with a minute left, then Jae’Lyn Withers took an ill-advised 3-point attempt the Crimson Tide rebounded – and scored on 23 seconds later.
If you’re looking at the Sweet 16 battle from an Alabama fan perspective, it was known as the Grant Nelson game. Nelson shot 6-of-9 from the field, including a 2-for-2 mark from downtown, while he made 10-of-13 free throws.
RJ and Withers are back, as is Nelson. Wednesday night in Chapel Hill is about to be a movie.
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