Tag: UNC Basketball

Former players react to UNC’s win and Sweet 16 bid

Former UNC basketball players, staff and fans react to the team’s win over Baylor to advance to the Sweet 16.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are off to the Sweet 16 after a big 93-86 OT win over No. 1 Baylor to shake up the East Region even more on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, UNC is off to their 30th Sweet 16 and do so in impressive fashion for the most part. They jumped out to a 25-point lead in the second half but had to hold on in Overtime to survive and get the win. But atlas, UNC has gone from a bubble team to one of the 16 left standing in the big dance.

Following the win, thousands took to Twitter to celebrate the win and it felt like the entire country had criticism of the refs. But we are here to celebrate the positives and so did a few former players.

Let’s take a look at some of the former and even current players who celebrated with posts on Twitter following UNC’s big win on Saturday.

Tar Heels punch ticket to Sweet 16 after blowing big lead

The UNC basketball program punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 by upsetting No. 1 Baylor in the East Region.

Whew.

Everyone take a deep breath. Relax. The North Carolina Tar Heels are going to the Sweet 16 following a dramatic win over Baylor on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Tar Heels built up a 25-point lead in the second half of Saturday’s win and watched it all come crashing down as the Bears rallied to tie the game and send it to overtime. After Brady Manek was ejected for an elbow and Caleb Love fouled out, UNC was down to freshman Dontrez Styles and transfer Justin McKoy to play key minutes down the stretch.

UNC blew that 25-point lead thanks to a combo of an offensive onslaught by the Bears plus some poor decision-making by the Tar Heels including struggling to get the ball inbounds. All the momentum was with Baylor and after Armando Bacot missed two free throws late, the Bears tied it with a three.

But in overtime, the Tar Heels held control.

Styles buried a three on the first possession and after Baylor tied it shortly after, Bacot and R.J. Davis went to work. The Tar Heels pulled off the upset beating Baylor 93-86.

Davis finished with a career-high 30 points to help pace the Tar Heels while Manek had 27 before being ejected with 10 minutes left in the second half.

UNC is going to their 30th Sweet 16, the most in NCAA Tournament history.

Former five-star UNC basketball recruiting target decommits from NC State

A former five-star UNC basketball recruiting target has decommitted from NC State just months after committing.

A former UNC basketball recruiting target is back on the market.

Five-star guard Robert Dillingham revealed on his Instagram page that he is decommitting from NC State just a few months after pledging his commitment to Kevin Keatts’ program. Dillingham will still consider the Wolfpack but is reopening his recruitment moving forward.

The 6-foot-2, 165-pound Dillingham is a Charlotte native that moved out to California to play for the new Donda Academy created by Kanye West. He’s ranked as a top 10 player in the 2023 class and the No. 1 point guard in the country per 247Sports.

Dillingham has a total of 21 offers and received his offer from Roy Williams and UNC back on Christmas in 2020. The Tar Heels made a strong push but as soon as Hubert Davis was hired, they appeared to back off a bit.

The recruit eventually committed to NC State over Memphis, Kentucky, and other programs.

It’s hard to tell if UNC will go back into this recruitment and be a contender but it’s certainly something to monitor moving forward.

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Former Tar Heel standout Garrison Brooks in attendance for round of 32 game

Former UNC Basketball standout Garrison Brooks is in attendance for Saturday’s round of 32 against Baylor.

As No. 8 North Carolina battles No. 1 Baylor in the East Region for a spot in the Sweet 16, they are doing so in front of a primarily big Bears crowd. The Bears are playing in their home state of Texas and the trip isn’t tough for their fans to make.

But that didn’t stop UNC fans, former players and even Roy Williams from attending.

Among those sitting in the UNC section is a familiar face. Former center Garrison Brooks, who transferred to Mississippi State for his final year, is sitting near his former head coach Williams for the game. Brooks made the trip to Fort Worth to watch his former team and teammates:

There are other former players in attendance as we spotted Raymond Felton for the first-round game against Marquette on Thursday.

While Brooks moved on and did what was best for him for his final season, he will always be a Tar Heel.

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North Carolina vs. Baylor basketball: Stream, lineups and broadcast info for first round

What you need to know for UNC basketball’s matchup with Baylor in the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

The North Carolina Tar Heels (25-9)Ā  return to action on Saturday with a date against the No. 1 Baylor Bears (27-6) in the East Region and a trip to the Sweet 16 trip on the line.Ā  UNC is coming off a 32-point win over No. 9 Marquette on Thursday while Baylor beat No. 16 Norfolk State by 36.

This will be a tougher test for both teams on Saturday and if UNC plays like they did against Duke and Marquette, they should give Baylor some fits.

For the Bears, they are going to have to get physical and make UNC work extra hard to get shots. When teams try to be physical with UNC that’s when they usually find success. The perimeter defense will also be key for both teams.

With the No. 2 seed in the East Region already falling in Kentucky losing to St. Peters, the Tar Heels have aĀ  chance to do some more damage in this region and open things up. But they are going to have to bring their A-game if they want to do just that.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of Saturday’s first-round game against Baylor.

Tar Heels mum on question about Dawson Garcia

The UNC basketball program remained mum on a question about Dawson Garcia after they faced his former team.

The UNC basketball program is fresh off a win over Marquette to open up their 2022 NCAA Tournament. UNC used a big first half to jump out to a double-digit lead and never really looked back.

The battle between the Tar Heels and Golden Eagles was the second in the past two seasons but there was a lot of turnover on the Marquette roster from their stunning upset in Chapel Hill in 2021. One player on that team, Dawson Garcia, transferred to UNC this offseason and played in a total of 16 games before stepping away. Dawson cited family medical issues as the reason why he left the program and returned home to Minnesota.

Following Thursday’s win, the Tar Heels met the media on Friday ahead of the Baylor game and the question of Garcia talking to the team was brought up. The answer?

I don’t know the details behind this and will respect Garcia’s decision to step away for family reasons. It does appear unlikely he returns to the program for another year, however.

Baylor will be without leading scorer for matchup with UNC

The Baylor Bears wont have their leading scorer, LJ Cryer, when they face off against the UNC basketball program on Saturday.

North Carolina’s win over Marquette gave them a shot at taking down the No. 1 team in the East Region as they now have a date with Baylor on Saturday in Fort Worth.

Before UNC took care of business against Marquette, Baylor hammered Norfolk State on the same court. The Bears entered this tournament at 26-6 and won the Big 12 regular season crown along with Kansas. However, they were upset in the Big 12 tournament falling to bubble team Oklahoma who eventually missed out on the tournament.

The Baylors are a really good team, averaging 76.8 points per game this season but for the first two games of this tournament, they will be without their leading scorer.

Guard LJ Cryer is averaging 13.5 points per game this season while shooting 47.6% from the floor. Cryer is dealing with a foot injury and hasn’t played since February 16th as he’s dealing with that injury. That could be key for Baylor as the guard play could be key for this matchup.

Baylor does still have players that can fill up the stat sheet including guards Adam Flager and James Akinjo, both who are averaging 13.3 points per game this season. It will be up to UNC guards Caleb Love, Leaky Black, and R.J. Davis to get it done.

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UNC, Baylor set for early tip off on Saturday

We have the tip time and broadcast info for Saturday’s matchup between the UNC basketball program and Baylor.

When UNC and Baylor take the court in Forth Worth on Saturday for their round of 32 game, it will be a stand-alone slot on CBS. The Tar Heels and Bears will be the first game of the day on Saturday and the only game airing at that time, getting things started for another big day of hoops action.

This is a big opportunity for both teams to show what they got in hopes of punching their ticket to the Sweet 16 round.

With the game being broadcasted on CBS, the crew of Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, and Allie LaForce will have the call. Here is a look at the full schedule with times, network, and broadcast crew:

The Tar Heels will have the chance to shake up the East Region even more on Saturday after No. 2 Kentucky was bounced in the first round by St. Peter’s on Thursday night. Taking out the No. 1 seed would really open things up in that region depending on what happens with No. 3 Purdue and even No. 4 UCLA as well.

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Leaky Black once again proves to be an elite defender

UNC basketball guard Leaky Black turned in another impressive defensive performance in the Tar Heels win over Marquette.

The UNC basketball program blitzed Marquette in the first half, jumping out to a 53-25 lead at halftime and coasting the rest of the way to a 30-plus point win over the Golden Eagles.

While the focus was on UNC’s offense, led by Brady Manek’s 28 points and Caleb Love’s 23 points, there was one player that didn’t stuff the stat sheet but proved his value on the defensive end of the floor, once again. And that player is Leaky Black.

The senior guard was tasked with guarding freshman guard Justin Lewis, Marquette’s leading scorer at 17.1 points per game. But on Thursday, Black put the clamps down on Lewis and held him to six points on 2 of 15 shooting in the game.

His defensive presence is being noticed more and more too, starting with his performance on Duke’s A.J. Griffin a few weeks back.

While Leaky has struggled to have an offensive identity in his time at North Carolina, he’s turned into not only the team’s best defender but one of the best in the ACC and potentially the country too.

He has another tough task ahead on Saturday against Baylor but if UNC gets this performance, they have the chance to pull off an upset.

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UNC basketball sets record in NCAA Tournament win over Marquette

The UNC basketball program set a new record in their NCAA Tournament win over Marquette on Thursday afternoon.

The first few minutes were back and forth but after the first media timeout, the UNC basketball program really turned it on in their win over Marquette on Thursday. The Tar Heels went on a 20-2 run after that timeout to grab a double-digit lead over the Golden Eagles and they never looked back, advancing to the round of 32 against Baylor.

UNC went up big in the first half, grabbing a 53-25 lead at halftime and control of the game.

That effort was backed by 21 first-half points from Caleb Love including all of his made field goals from the three-point line as he tied a UNC record for most made three-pointers (six) in an NCAA Tournament game. Love finished the game with 23 points but the Tar Heels really didn’t need much from him in the second half.

Brady Manek added five three-pointers of his own in the game while the Tar Heels finished with 13, marking a new program record in an NCAA Tournament game:

We’ve seen this before from UNC this season where they are red hot from the three-point line. And like Thursday, when that happens they are a very dangerous team.

Let’s hope the hot shooting continues on Saturday when they face No. 1 Baylor for a trip to the Sweet 16.

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