Entering their Friday, March 14 ACC Tournament Semifinals matchup with archrival Duke, the North Carolina Tar Heels were a “Last Four In” team for the NCAA Tournament.
When the final buzzer sounded, UNC suffered a heart-breaking, 74-71 loss that lessened its likelihood of making the Big Dance.
North Carolina (22-13, 13-7) got some help from fellow bubble teams, most notably Boise State, which got walloped by Colorado State in the Mountain West Championship. The Tar Heels’ glaring issue, though: a 1-12 record in Quad 1 games.
As of Saturday, March 15 at 8:28 p.m., Joe Lunardi moved UNC to one of his “First Four Out.” Joining North Carolina in this close-but-no-cigar group is Boise State, Texas and Ohio State.
As mentioned earlier, Boise State (24-10, 14-6) got walloped earlier Saturday in its conference championship game. Texas (19-15, 6-12 SEC) lost to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament, while Ohio State (17-15, 9-11) lost its Big 10 Tournament opener to Iowa.
Beating the Blue Devils was a tall task for the Tar Heels entering Friday night, but certainly a doable one. UNC overcame a double-digit, first-half deficit and led by seven in Chapel Hill on Senior Night, then nearly erased a 20-point deficit Friday. A missed free throw and unfortunate lane violation later, Duke iced the game on a pair of Kon Knueppel free throws.
North Carolina had plenty other opportunities to pick up quad one victories. The Tar Heels should’ve beaten Michigan State in the Maui Invitational. Kansas was within UNC’s reach. Yet North Carolina, as talented a team it is, struggled down the stretch so many times.
As we prepare to all nervously sweat during Selection Sunday, all the Tar Heels can do is hope the Selection Committee sees them worthy of a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Joe Lunardi moves UNC to “First Four Out” in latest bracketology
