Did anyone notice that North Carolina is your 2018-19 ACC regular season co-champion along with Virginia? In fact, has anyone really noticed the Tar Heels all year?
It’s an interesting question to ask and then ponder, and for some of our latest podcast, Ted Sarandis gets into it. But after North Carolina completed a sweep of Duke with a 79-70 win to finish tied with Virginia atop the ACC, it merits being talked about more.
There probably isn’t a team in contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament that has been talked about less than the Tar Heels. It’s a curious reality when you consider they are one of the bluebloods of the sport, with an arena whose rafters are loaded with college basketball history in the former of jerseys, ACC and NCAA Final Four/National Championship banners. They have a very recent national championship banner hanging in those rafters from 2017.
But these days, Duke is the center of attention whether Zion Williamson is healthy or not, and Virginia’s recent history, including being the team on the wrong end of the first NCAA Tournament win by a No. 16 over a No. 1, has brought them a little more into focus. In addition, North Carolina hasn’t had the kind of recruiting classes they have often had over the years with guys sure to be instant stars – certainly not the way Duke and Kentucky have.
It means North Carolina has been talked about a lot less. In fact, it seems they barely get talked about at all. And while Roy Williams probably likes it that way, it’s simply an interesting phenomenon. It’s rare that a team that at least shares the regular season title in a conference like the ACC and is in contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament is as under the radar as this team.
To be sure, it’s not as if Williams – who should be the ACC Coach of the Year and a strong contender for the national honor – has won this year with a bunch of mid-major players. They have Luke Maye, who has averaged a double-double for the second year in a row. They have a solid first team All-ACC player in Cameron Johnson, who leads them in scoring and shoots almost 48 percent from long range. They have one of the best defenders in college basketball in Kenny Williams. They haven’t had Sterling Manley, a sophomore big man they were counting on becoming a key contributor, for half of the season due to injury.
Oh, and they have freshmen, too. There’s Nassir Little, the most heralded of them, and one whose reserve role has been the subject of questions for Williams, even as Little does fine in the role and seems fine with it. And there’s Coby White, who wasn’t as heralded but has been a flat-out stud, getting significantly better as the season has worn on and being a tough competitor every night out.
Even so, the Tar Heels don’t have the top three freshmen in the country according to scouting services like Duke has. They don’t walk out there with a starting lineup full of McDonald’s All-Americans and even bring a couple off the bench. While they were thought of as a solid team before the season, they weren’t being talked about as national title contenders, and haven’t been during the season.
North Carolina still tries to run, as Williams likes, and they play fast. They also move the ball well, at times putting on a ball movement clinic. Watch Saturday night’s game and you see so many elements of the Tar Heels’ success this season, from unselfishness to Maye’s basketball I.Q. to White’s toughness and Williams’ defense (as he got Duke star R.J. Barrett in foul trouble).
The Tar Heels will be the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament, as Virginia won the only meeting between the two this season. Still, they went 16-2 in ACC play, including a perfect 9-0 on the road, and have a number of quality wins that will put them very much in the conversation for a No. 1 seed.
All of this while seemingly no one was talking about them.
Side Dishes
First, the conference tournament roundup:
- The first team officially in the field is Murray State, who made all the plays down the stretch at both ends of the floor to close out Belmont 77-65 to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Ja Morant had 36 points to lead the way, with 22 coming in the second half, and now we wonder if Belmont – who was without OVC Freshman of the Year Nick Muszynski due to an ankle injury – has any chance at an at-large bid. Given the history of selections, the odds are surely stacked against them in favor of someone like Creighton, Indiana, TCU or Texas. Blah.
- The America East Tournament got underway with quarterfinal action, and all but one home team won on the day. No. 3 UMBC took out No. 6 Albany 62-54 to start, then J.R. Lynch (21 points, six assists) helped No. 4 Hartford take over in the second half to beat No. 5 UMass-Lowell 78-70. In the evening, No. 1 Vermont took care of No. 8 Maine 73-57, and the one upset of the day was No. 7 Binghamton going to No. 2 Stony Brook and making an 18-point halftime lead stand up as they held off the Seawolves 78-72.
- In the CAA Tournament, No. 8 James Madison got a late three-pointer from Matt Lewis to cap a 26-point night to edge No. 9 Towson 74-73, then No. 10 UNCW held off No. 7 Elon 93-86 behind five players who scored in double figures.
- The MAAC Tournament had its second set of quarterfinals in Albany, and it wasn’t a good night to be a higher seed. No. 6 Monmouth took out No. 3 Quinnipiac 98-92 despite 33 points from Cameron Young, then No. 5 Siena edged No. 4 Rider 87-81. Here’s your stat of the night from the MAAC: Rider head coach Kevin Baggett is now 0-7 in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
- The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament had its semifinals, and both were surprises. No. 5 Bradley edged No. 1 Loyola-Chicago 53-51, then No. 6 Northern Iowa edged No. 2 Drake by the same margin, 60-58.
- In the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament, No. 1 Wofford cruised past No. 8 VMI 99-72 and No. 4 East Tennessee State edged No. 5 Chattanooga 68-64 in the afternoon. In the evening, No. 2 UNC Greensboro rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit and got 31 points from Francis Alonso to beat No. 7 Samford 77-70 and No. 3 Furman pulled away from No. 6 Mercer 85-74.
- The Summit League Tournament was where the stunner of the day came. In the first quarterfinal, No. 8 Western Illinois built a ten-point halftime lead, got it up to 14 points less than five minutes into the second half and made it stand up as they held off No. 1 South Dakota State 79-76. It is the first time a No. 8 seed has knocked off a No. 1 in the league’s history, and it means the Jackrabbits will be in the NIT. In the second quarterfinal, No. 2 Omaha held off No. 7 North Dakota 81-76.
- In the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament, No. 8 Pepperdine pulled away from No. 4 San Francisco 89-72, the fourth straight loss for the Dons after a very promising non-conference and early WCC run, and No. 7 San Diego dominated No. 3 BYU 80-57 behind a big night from Isaiah Pineiro (27 points, 12 rebounds).
As noted earlier, North Carolina shares the ACC regular season title with Virginia, who pulled out a 73-68 win over Louisville to clinch the top seed before Duke and North Carolina took the floor in Chapel Hill. The one other ACC result that was noteworthy came early on as Clemson took care of Syracuse 67-55, a key win for the Tigers and their NCAA Tournament hopes.
Things are all settled in the Ivy League at last. Harvard edged Columbia 83-81 in overtime, their second such game against the Lions after the teams needed three extra sessions in Cambridge just a few weeks ago, and Yale blew out Princeton 81-59, so they share the regular season title. Harvard will be the top seed in the tournament next weekend as they won both head-to-head meetings. Princeton will still be the No. 3 seed, and the fourth team in is defending champion Penn, who beat Brown 58-51 in Philadelphia.
Villanova had a chance to win an outright Big East regular season title as they entered the day with a one-game lead on Marquette. They visited Seton Hall and had chances late, but the Pirates executed better with a lot of little things adding up to pull out a 79-75 win. Then Georgetown went to Marquette and edged the Golden Eagles 86-84, giving Villanova the outright title after all. Marquette will enter the Big East Tournament in a few days with four straight losses and attempt to stop the bleeding ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
The Big 12 regular season title is shared between Texas Tech, who won 80-73 at Iowa State, and Kansas State, who took care of Oklahoma at home by a 68-53 count. Both finish 14-4, two games ahead of Kansas, who beat Baylor 78-70 to send the Bears into the Big 12 Tournament with three straight losses.
The Big Ten also has two teams sharing its regular season title. Purdue beat Northwestern 70-57 to finish at 16-4, and Michigan State capped off the night by using a big second half to beat Michigan 75-63 to join them at that mark.
Fittingly, the close of the regular season also brings us another reminder that the Pac-12 has had a really bad year. While Arizona State beat Arizona 72-64 to take care of business, Washington couldn’t do the same, ending the night with a 55-47 home loss to Oregon that puts on more dent on their NCAA Tournament resume should they not win the Pac-12 Tournament next weekend.
The Big Sky ended up with an outright regular season champion, and that is Montana, who went to Sacramento State and pulled away from the Hornets 86-68, while Northern Colorado lost at Northern Arizona 89-78 in overtime.
A day after LSU suspended head coach Will Wade indefinitely, the school announced that Javonte Smart, who featured prominently in phone calls intercepted by FBI wiretaps involving Wade, would sit out Saturday’s regular season finale against Vanderbilt. The school said the move was made out “of an abundance of caution” and said nothing about future games. While it’s understandable given the timing, the fact that they sat him for a home game against a winless Vanderbilt team is convenient. We’ll see if he sits any other games, though it is also worth noting that thus far, there is no evidence he has received improper benefits. LSU handled Vanderbilt 80-59 on Saturday night to claim the outright SEC regular season title with a 16-2 mark, a game ahead of Tennessee (84-80 losers at Auburn) and Kentucky (66-57 winners over Florida).
Tonight’s Menu
It’s the final day with any regular season games, but conference tournament action is paramount, especially with three more automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament going out.
- In the Big South championship game, No. 2 Radford hosts No. 4 Gardner-Webb (1 p.m.)
- The Missouri Valley Conference championship game features the unlikely matchup of No. 5 Bradley and No. 6 Northern Iowa (2:05 p.m.)
- The Atlantic Sun championship game should be a good one as No. 1 Lipscomb hosts No. 2 Liberty in a battle of teams who won on each other’s home floor during the regular season (3 p.m.)
- Quarterfinal action is on tap in the CAA Tournament, starting with No. 1 Hofstra taking on No. 8 James Madison (noon) followed by No. 4 William & Mary taking on No. 5 Delaware (2:30 p.m.) to close out the afternoon session. The evening session starts with No. 2 Northeastern taking on No. 10 UNCW (6 p.m.) and closes with No. 3 College of Charleston battling No. 6 Drexel (8:30 p.m.)
- In the MAAC Tournament, semifinal action is set in Albany with No. 1 Iona taking on No. 5 Siena (6 p.m.) and No. 2 Canisius taking on No. 6 Monmouth (8:30 p.m.)
- The Patriot League Tournament has its semifinals, with No. 1 Colgate hosting No. 5 Navy (noon) and No. 2 Bucknell hosting No. 3 Lehigh (2 p.m.)
- The semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament begin with No. 4 East Tennessee State taking on No. 1 Wofford (4 p.m.) and end with No. 3 Furman battling No. 2 UNC Greensboro (6:30 p.m.)
- In the Summit League Tournament, the second set of quarterfinal games features North Dakota State battling Oral Roberts (7 p.m.) followed by Purdue Fort Wayne taking on South Dakota (9:30 p.m.)
- The slate of games outside of tournament play is highlighted by the showdown in the American Athletic Conference as Cincinnati hosts Houston (noon), Iowa trying to stop some bleeding as they visit Nebraska (2 p.m.) and Ohio State trying to get one more quality win as they host Wisconsin (4:30 p.m.)
