UNC didn’t look like a bubble team in the First Four. (Photo by Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
UNC, the team that many people believed didn’t belong in the NCAA tournament, has advanced to the next round of the NCAA tournament. Convincingly.
All the complaints about the Tar Heels’ 1-12 record against Quad 1 teams and their athletic director’s presence on the tournament committee didn’t mean much on Tuesday, or at least didn’t predict much. UNC steamrolled fellow No. 11 seed San Diego State 95-68 in the First Four, and will now face No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the first round.
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Does UNC’s dominant form invalidate all the criticisms of their résumé? Of course not. Many of the most notable snubs are still right to feel aggrieved, though maybe not to the point of federal legal action. The committee makes an odd decision or two every year and this one was especially curious.
All of that was moot, however, once UNC took the floor.
For a few minutes, it looked like the Tar Heels were going to validate their critics. They committed turnovers on four of their first six possessions against a San Diego State defense ranked 13th in the country on KenPom. UNC’s offense should have been good enough to hang with that unit, but it was a bad beginning.
And then UNC went on a 20-2 run to take a stranglehold of the game and never let go. The offense arrived in the form of red-hot shooting — UNC made its first five 3-pointers and was 12-of-18 from deep until it pulled starters — but the real difference was the defense.
The Tar Heels defended angry and an underpowered Aztecs offense had no idea how to respond. They were aggressive at the point of attack and made every paint touch feel like an achievement. San Diego State ended up shooting 23-of-58 from the field and 8-of-27 on 3-pointers. Half of those made 3s came in the final three minutes.
By halftime, it was 47-23 North Carolina. Leading scorer R.J. Davis posted 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting (a perfect 6-of-6 on 3-pointers) and was out of the game with seven minutes left. UNC led by as many as 40 points.
North Carolina was so dominant, the only battle left after halftime was over What This Means™.
UNC’s supporters get to brag about how this shows the Tar Heels were always tourney-worthy. Their critics get to note that’s not how this works and West Virginia et al. were still victims of larceny. A North Carolina loss, or fluky win, would have fit nicely into the conversation, but a complete and utter destruction of SDSU? That means having some conflicting thoughts in our heads for at least a couple days.
The only concrete meaning that Tuesday’s game holds is UNC will face Ole Miss on Thursday. Mississippi will be a stiffer test, but the form UNC just showed will be a tough out for any team in the field. Of course, the season-long issue for this Tar Heels team has been figuring out exactly which team will show up.
