Carolina has split 14 NCAA tournament games in Texas.

Between a devastating loss to Texas A&M in Denton in 1980 and a heartbreaker to Villanova in Houston 36 years later, the Tar Heels have gone 7-5 in post-season games in Texas.

The 1980 game was a strange 17-point defeat in two overtimes to the Aggies the year freshman star James Worthy missed most of the season with a broken ankle. How do you lose by 17 in overtime? By getting outscored, 25-8, in the second five-minute period.

In 1981, the first of two straight Final Four teams began NCAA play against Pitt in El Paso, routing the Panthers, 74-57.

Five years later, when the Smith Center opened, Carolina was ranked No. 1 in the country in late February before losing star guard Steve Hale to a collapsed lung and four of five games to drop to No. 8 in the polls. That season ended in Houston with a 15-point Sweet 16 loss to eventual national champion Louisville.

In 1990, unranked UNC won two NCAA games in Austin, the second on Rick Fox’s dramatic baseline bank shot to stun No. 1 Oklahoma. A week later, the season ended with a blowout loss to Final Four-bound Arkansas in Dallas.

Remember Bill Guthridge’s two Final Fours in 1998 and 2000? The first ended with a tough loss to Utah in San Antonio, the second included wins over No. 11 Tennessee and No. 18 Tulsa in Austin.

In 2008, Roy Williams’ Tar Heels made it to his second Final Four at UNC but fell way behind Kansas before losing by 16 points in San Antonio. Six years later, they were back in the Alamo City and beat Providence before losing to Iowa State.

And who can forget that great 2016 NCAA Final Four march to Houston where Carolina demolished Syracuse in the national semifinals and then lost on that buzzer beater by Villanova’s Kris Jenkins in the championship game?

UNC men’s basketball walks off the court after Villanova’s Kris Jenkins sinks a shot to win the 2016 NCAA title in Houston, Texas. (Photo via Todd Melet.)

Hubert Davis’ first Tar Heel team opens against Marquette in Fort Worth, hoping to improve UNC’s 7-7 NCAA record in the Longhorn State, and then face top-seeded Baylor from Waco.

 

Photo via Todd Melet.

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