CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Reigning national champion North Carolina sputtered to the worst NCAA Tournament loss of Roy Williams’ career on Sunday night, overpowered in its home state by Texas A&M.
It’s the second straight year the titleholder has been bounced from March Madness before the Sweet 16.
T.J. Starks scored 21 points and the No. 7 seed Aggies (22-12) manhandled the second-seeded Tar Heels, 86-65. They dominated the glass. They used their size to control the paint and block shots. And they pounced when UNC’s small-ball lineup couldn’t make an outside shot.
Robert Williams finished with 13 rebounds, helping the Aggies take a 50-36 edge while shooting 52 percent – including 10 of 24 from 3-point range.
Joel Berry II scored 21 points in his final game for the second-seeded Tar Heels (26-11), who were trying to reach their third straight Final Four. But they ended up falling to 34-2 in NCAA games in their home state, the only other loss coming in 1979.
The Tar Heels shot just 33 percent, including 6 of 31 (.194) on 3-pointers after entering the game shooting nearly 37 percent from behind the arc.
It came on the same court where, two nights earlier, UMBC made history by becoming the first 16-seed to beat a 1 when the Retrievers upset top overall seed Virginia. And as with that game, the upstart dispatched the favorite with surprising ease.
And, yet again, the reigning champs lost in the second round. Last year, Villanova was bounced by Wisconsin. Meanwhile, the Aggies – who peaked at No. 5 in the AP Top 25 in December – are moving on to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons.
The Tar Heels were a very different team than last year’s title winner, namely in the way they leaned on a small-ball lineup. But expectations grew that they could make a third straight Final Four run as UNC found a final-month groove, including two wins against Duke and a trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game.
Instead – after a heartbreaking title-game loss to Villanova in 2016 followed by last year’s title win against Gonzaga – the Tar Heels found themselves eliminated on the tournament’s opening weekend for the first time since 2014.
The Tar Heels led 20-13 early only to see the Aggies go on 15-0 run to change the entire dynamic of the game. Tyler Davis (18 points, nine rebounds) got loose for three baskets inside as the Aggies asserted themselves in the paint, while UNC started missing shot after shot.
By halftime, the Aggies had pushed to a 42-28 lead, then got 3-pointers from Admon Gilder and D.J. Hogg to open the second half and push the margin to a stunning 20 points.
Amazingly enough, the Tar Heels got no closer than 17 again to stun a crowd that was wearing a lot of blue and expecting the Tar Heels to advance.
UNC had won 12 of 13 NCAA Tournament games dating to its 2016 finals run before Sunday.
(7) Nevada 75, (2) Cincinnati 73
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Josh Hall converted an offensive rebound for the tiebreaking basket with 9.1 seconds left as Nevada erased a 22-point deficit in the final 11 minutes of a stunning victory over Cincinnati in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
Nevada’s stirring comeback – the second-largest in tournament history – came just two days after the seventh-seeded Wolf Pack rallied from 14 points down to beat Texas, 87-83, for its first NCAA victory since 2007.
The Wolf Pack (28-7) move on to an all-upstart South Region semifinal matchup with 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago (30-5) on Thursday night.
“Nothing feels better than this,” Nevada coach Eric Musselman said. “Nothing. Sweet 16!”
Cincinnati, the No. 2 seed, never trailed until Hall’s tiebreaking basket but watched its lead disintegrate as it failed to make a basket in the final 5:45.
With the game tied in the closing seconds, Hall got a rebound off a missed shot by Cody Martin. Hall made a move in the paint and then hit the winning basket.
Cincinnati (31-5) never got off a shot before the buzzer. Cane Broome briefly lost control of the ball and then passed to the area of Gary Clark as the final seconds ticked away.
As the horn sounded, a stunned Clark lay on his back under the basket while Nevada’s Jordan Caroline slid toward midcourt as part of a wild celebration.
Cody Martin had 25 points, seven assists, six rebounds and no turnovers to lead five Nevada players in double figures. Evans had 19 and Jarron Cumberland had 17 for Cincinnati.
(11) Syracuse 55, (3) Michigan State 53
DETROIT – The last team selected for the field of 68 is going to the round of 16.
Tyus Battle had 17 points and Oshae Brissett scored 15, lifting 11th-seeded Syracuse to a win over third-seeded Michigan State on Sunday and into the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.
Cassius Winston missed an opportunity to win the game for the Spartans with a shot from about 45 feet just before the buzzer. The Spartans, flummoxed by Syracuse’s 2-3 zone, didn’t make a basket in the last 5:41.
The Orange (23-13) forced the Spartans (30-5) to settle for 3-pointers all afternoon and it worked brilliantly for Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim against Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo.
The Spartans took a school record 37 shots beyond the arc, making just eight of them.
Syracuse has won three straight since being sent to Dayton for the First Four as what the selection committee chairman acknowledged was the final team to receive an at-large bid.
Miles Bridges missed a 3 with a chance to tie with 11 seconds left and teammate Joshua Langford missed a putback, but Syracuse turned the ball over with 7.9 seconds left.
The Orange fouled intentionally to avoid giving up a game-tying 3 twice in the closing seconds and the Spartans made two pairs of free throws to pull within a point both times.
Paschal Chukwu connected on one free throw with 2.4 seconds left and the miss gave Michigan State a chance to win in dramatic fashion, but Winston couldn’t make a long shot to be hailed in his hometown.
Syracuse took the lead with 4:22 left for the first time since it was ahead 14-12. The Orange held onto slim leads because they forced the Spartans to miss their last 13 shots.
Bridges’ college career likely is ending with a performance he would like to forget. The sophomore star, who turned down a chance to go pro last year, was held scoreless for much of the first half and finished with 11 points on 4 of 18 shooting, making just 3 of 12 shots.
Winston scored 15 points and Nick Ward added 10 for the Spartans, who combined to make just 26 percent of their shots.