Tag: North Carolina Basketball

Alabama vs. UNC is the best matchup of SEC-ACC Challenge

In the 2024 SEC-ACC Challenge, Nate Oats and Alabama take on the UNC Tar Heels.

The matchups and dates for the 2024 SEC-ACC men’s basketball challenge have been revealed. The Alabama Crimson Tide will take on the North Carolina Tar Heels on Dec. 4 at Chapel Hill.

Andy Patton of the College Sports Wire recently ranked all of the matchups from the least interesting to the most. Tide vs. Tar Heels takes the top spot as the most interesting game with ease.

“A rematch of the Elite Eight, both North Carolina and Alabama bring back their star point guards – RJ Davis and Mark Sears – which adds even more excitement to this matchup. Can Hubert Davis and Carolina exact revenge at home in Chapel Hill? Or will Nate Oats and ‘Bama establish themselves as a true hoops powerhouse with a massive non-con victory?”

Alabama returns most of its top talent from last season, which guided the team to a Final Four appearance in March Madness, the first in program history.

North Carolina has been able to put up some quality fights against the Crimson Tide, but it is Nate Oats and Alabama that has been able to get the best of the Tar Heels recently. This regular-season matchup will serve as a must-see test for both programs that would hopefully have been able to find their identity and groove in the early parts of the season.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama basketball news as the 2024 offseason progresses.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM. 

Alabama Basketball to travel to Chapel Hill to play North Carolina in SEC/ACC Challenge

On Wednesday, it was made official that Alabama would take on North Carolina as a part of the SEC/ACC Challenge.

The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball team found out who its opponent would be for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Wednesday. The Crimson Tide will travel to Chapel Hill on December 4 to take on North Carolina.

Alabama defeated North Carolina in the Elite Eight this past season. The Crimson Tide defeated the No. 1-seeded Tar Heels to advance to its first Final Four appearance in program history.

This season’s game between the two blue-blood programs will be surrounded with a lot of buzz as well. Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels are eager for an opportunity to take down the Crimson Tide after their season was cut short a season ago.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest regarding the Alabama men’s basketball program.

Armando Bacot looks back on his UNC basketball career in new video

The UNC basketball program released a video of Armando Bacot reflecting back on his career with the program.

There’s no denying that Armando Bacot has cemented himself as a North Carolina legend, spending five years with the program before it came to an end in 2024.

During his time with the program, Bacot managed to set the all-time UNC rebounding record and finish second in total points. He helped lead UNC to a national championship appearance in 2022, doing so on a bum ankle.

As Bacot’s time is now over, the center who committed to UNC as a four-star prospect, is looking forward to life after basketball. But before that, he looked back on his UNC basketball career and the memories it gave him in a special video on the team’s official X (formerly Twitter) account:

Bacot didn’t meet the criteria for having his jersey up in the Dean Dome rafters but with the career he had, he deserves to be up there. Bacot provided several memorable moments in his career, giving UNC fans a lot to cheer about.

Let’s hope somehow he can get his jersey in the rafters, so when he’s back in the Dean Dome he can see that jersey up there.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Alabama basketball’s Grant Nelson made basketball history against North Carolina in Sweet 16

Alabama basketball star Grant Nelson’s performance in the Sweet 16 was not just impressive, it was generational. A March Madness legend has been formed.

Alabama basketball standout Grant Nelson is only in his first year with the Crimson Tide after transferring in from North Dakota State. After an impressive March Madness performance in the Sweet 16 win over North Carolina, Nelson has become a household name and a tournament hero.

While records are broken all the time and history is constantly being made, what Nelson did against the Tarheels is unprecedented in the last 25 years. Not just in college basketball. In every major league (NBA, WNBA, Division I college basketball men and women).

In a post to social media by OptaSTATS, Nelson is the only basketball player to have recorded over 20 points, over 10 rebounds, over five blocks, over 10 made free throws, a field goal percentage of over 60% and a three-point percentage of 100%.

Nelson’s performance against the Tar Heels was not just impressive, it was generational and deserves to be remembered for years to come.

Nelson and the Crimson Tide will now look to build off of this win as the team takes on Clemson on Saturday in the Elite Eight, where the winner, no matter which team it is, will be advancing to its first-ever Final Four.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM. 

Photos tell the story of Alabama’s upset win over North Carolina in the Sweet 16

Check out the top photos from Alabama basketball’s win over North Carolina in the Sweet 16 of March Madness.

Alabama basketball stays alive and advances to the second Elite Eight in program history after defeating the West Region’s No. 1 seed, North Carolina, with a final score of 89-87. The Crimson Tide’s March Madness run will now collide with Clemson‘s.

Grant Nelson was a force to be reckoned with in the SEC vs. ACC matchup. The North Dakota State transfer put his name on the map and raised some eyebrows with a performance that lifted the Tide over the Tar Heels.

On both ends of the court, Nelson was dominant. He put up 24 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks.

While Nate Oats and Alabama must now quickly prepare to take on Clemson on Saturday evening, relive the excitement from the upset win that sent North Carolina home and the Tide to the Elite Eight.

A classy Cormac Ryan stood up for teammate RJ Davis after a brutal Sweet 16 loss for North Carolina

UNC’s Cormac Ryan showed outstanding maturity following March Madness.

Despite a devastating loss, North Carolina Tar Heels senior Cormac Ryan showed outstanding maturity following the Sweet 16.

Although they were a No. 1 regional seed in the West, the Tar Heels were eliminated by Alabama in March Madness on Thursday night in Los Angeles. North Carolina lost, 89-87, in a close match against the Crimson Tide.

Following the game, UNC’s RJ Davis was asked about his performance on the court. Davis had 16 points but struggled with his efficiency, shooting 4-of-20 from the field and 0-for-9 on his 3-pointers.

Ryan noticed that Davis was having a difficult time answering the question, so he helped him out. It showed an incredible amount of thoughtfulness.

Here is what Ryan told reporters:

“I gotta chime in here. You guys can write whatever you want about tonight’s game. You can talk about RJ. You can talk about the stats. You can talk about whatever. But we would not be in this position today without RJ Davis and Armando Bacot. Carolina wouldn’t be in this position today without these two guys and so say what you want. There’s just not a true fiber in your being that could actually believe that anything that happened tonight could be the result of something RJ did wrong because RJ’s done something incredible for this team. He’s done stuff that’s never been done before. He’s one of the greatest Tar Heels of all time. For anybody to come and say anything negative about RJ is unacceptable.”

Those are incredibly strong words from Ryan and likely meant a lot to Davis.

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Alabama vs. UNC in Sweet 16 could be highest-scoring March Madness game

Two electric teams that can put up points? Sign us up! See why some experts believe Alabama and North Carolina could combine for a March Madness game to remember.

In a Sweet 16 matchup that many expect to be electric, No. 4 seed Alabama takes on No. 1 seed North Carolina. March Madness games are always very unpredictable, though some will still try to come up with some bold projections.

One prediction that is making the rounds now has to do with the scoring ability of both teams. Could it be possible that this game sets a new all-time March Madness record for the most points scored in a single game? Let’s break it all down.

USA TODAY college basketball experts Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith and Eddie Timanus go as far as saying this contest “will require a second official scorer,” because of how many points there could be.

“OK, this may be a bit of exaggeration. But given the pace that the Crimson Tide love to play at and the ability of the Tar Heels to thrive in an open-court environment, we could be looking at one of the highest-scoring games of the tournament Thursday. Alabama has scored at least 90 points in eight games since the start of February. It has allowed at least 88 nine times in the same span. Don’t expect Alabama coach Nate Oats to go conservative now that the stakes of the tournament have gotten higher. Just sit back and watch the wildness unfold.”

The highest-scoring game in March Madness history was a 1990 round of 32 upset when No. 11 seed Loyola Marymount defeated No. 3 seed Michigan with a final score of 149-115, for a combined total of 264 points. It has the lead by a comfortable margin, with the second-highest-scoring game only having a total of 234 points.

Alabama’s first-round win over Charleston had enough total points to make it the thirteenth-highest-scoring game in March Madness history with a total of over 205.

Let’s face it, the Crimson Tide’s biggest weakness all season has been a lack of defense. In the team’s first two games, Alabama has played spectacular defense, but will that last? If not, it opens the door for the Tar Heels to put up some serious points.

This Sweet 16 contest features the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation (Alabama) and the No. 20 scoring offense (UNC), while also featuring two defenses that aren’t necessarily the strongest.

North Carolina has allowed an average of 70 points per game, which has the Tar Heels ranked No. 70 in the nation. Compared to the Crimson Tide’s rank of No. 345, North Carolina might as well be a brick wall in front of the hoop. Alabama has allowed a whopping 80.9 points per game this season.

Is it likely that a new record is set? Far from it. However, there’s a great chance we see the highest-scoring game of this year’s tournament and possibly have a new entry in the top 10 highest-scoring March Madness games of all time.

Neither team will have this in mind. All that matters is scoring more points than the other team, staying alive, and moving on to the Elite Eight.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM. 

How to buy Sweet 16 and Elite 8 tickets in Los Angeles for 2024 NCAA Tournament West Regional

Want to watch March Madness and the Sweet 16/Elite 8 live in Los Angeles this weekend? Tickets are still available for as little as $113.

Only 16 teams remain in the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tournament, and four of them will be playing in Los Angeles this weekend.

This year, March Madness returns to L.A. as the Crypto.com Arena is set to host a weekend of Sweet 16 and Elite matchups that will eventually send one team onto Phoenix and the Final Four.

SHOP: L.A. Regional Sweet 16 tickets

Tickets to Los Angeles’ Sweet 16 action give access to both games and as of publication are still available for as little as $113.

No. 2 Arizona kicks off the Sweet 16 on Thursday when they take on No. 6 Clemson at 7:09 p.m. EDT.

That game will be immediately followed by No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 Alabama.

SHOP: UNC vs. Alabama and Arizona vs. Clemson tickets

If you want to catch all the action, weekend passes are still available for as little as $185.

The weekend passes include access to both of Thursday’s Sweet 16 games and Saturday’s Elite Eight showdown between the winners of Thursday night’s games.

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[afflinkbutton text=”Shop NCAA Tournament L.A. Sweet 16 tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/Rlye14d”]

How to buy Sweet 16 and Elite 8 tickets in Los Angeles for 2024 NCAA Tournament West Regional

Want to watch March Madness and the Sweet 16/Elite 8 live in Los Angeles this weekend? Tickets are still available for as little as $113.

Only 16 teams remain in the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tournament, and four of them will be playing in Los Angeles this weekend.

This year, March Madness returns to L.A. as the Crypto.com Arena is set to host a weekend of Sweet 16 and Elite matchups that will eventually send one team onto Phoenix and the Final Four.

SHOP: L.A. Regional Sweet 16 tickets

Tickets to Los Angeles’ Sweet 16 action give access to both games and as of publication are still available for as little as $113.

No. 2 Arizona kicks off the Sweet 16 on Thursday when they take on No. 6 Clemson at 7:09 p.m. EDT.

That game will be immediately followed by No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 Alabama.

SHOP: UNC vs. Alabama and Arizona vs. Clemson tickets

If you want to catch all the action, weekend passes are still available for as little as $185.

The weekend passes include access to both of Thursday’s Sweet 16 games and Saturday’s Elite Eight showdown between the winners of Thursday night’s games.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop NCAA Tournament L.A. weekend passes” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/YLv5XQ2″]

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop NCAA Tournament L.A. Sweet 16 tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/Rlye14d”]

How to buy Sweet 16 and Elite 8 tickets in Los Angeles for 2024 NCAA Tournament West Regional

Want to watch March Madness and the Sweet 16/Elite 8 live in Los Angeles this weekend? Tickets are still available for as little as $113.

Only 16 teams remain in the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tournament, and four of them will be playing in Los Angeles this weekend.

This year, March Madness returns to L.A. as the Crypto.com Arena is set to host a weekend of Sweet 16 and Elite matchups that will eventually send one team onto Phoenix and the Final Four.

SHOP: L.A. Regional Sweet 16 tickets

Tickets to Los Angeles’ Sweet 16 action give access to both games and as of publication are still available for as little as $113.

No. 2 Arizona kicks off the Sweet 16 on Thursday when they take on No. 6 Clemson at 7:09 p.m. EDT.

That game will be immediately followed by No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 Alabama.

SHOP: UNC vs. Alabama and Arizona vs. Clemson tickets

If you want to catch all the action, weekend passes are still available for as little as $185.

The weekend passes include access to both of Thursday’s Sweet 16 games and Saturday’s Elite Eight showdown between the winners of Thursday night’s games.

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop NCAA Tournament L.A. weekend passes” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/YLv5XQ2″]

[afflinkbutton text=”Shop NCAA Tournament L.A. Sweet 16 tickets” link=”https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/Rlye14d”]