Despite leading 56-37 in the second half, UNC fell 82-78 to No. 11 seed VCU in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday in Greenville. Carolina’s season is over.
UNC had led for more than 34 minutes of game action, taking control after the Rams led 18-17 midway through the first half. Thanks to three-pointers from Derek Dixon and Henri Veesaar, Carolina closed the half on a 22-10 run, leading 39-28 at halftime. The Tar Heels carried that momentum into the second half, opening on a 9-2 run to expand the advantage to 18 points at 48-30. That lead eventually grew to as large as 56-47 with 14:58 remaining after a fast-break layup from Seth Trimble.
VCU hung around thanks to consecutive threes from big man Lazar Djokovic, which helped whittle the UNC lead to 12 points with 10 minutes to go. Jarin Stevenson appeared to swing momentum back in Carolina’s favor with a three at the 7:11 mark to push the Tar Heel lead back to 70-56, but it could not stop the VCU avalanche.
The Rams promptly scored 12 consecutive points, with a three from Terrence Hill, Jr. bringing VCU within two points at 70-68 with 3:56 to go.
“They played their heart out,” Veesaar said of VCU. “But we didn’t execute when it mattered the most.”
A frenzied finish saw Carolina regain a foothold with a five-point edge at the 1:59 mark. But another jumper from Hill, a free throw from Nyk Lewis and a layup from Hill in the final 61 seconds tied the game at 75-75 and sent it to overtime. The Rams took advantage of several UNC miscues, including a five-second violation on an inbound play after missing the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity at the free throw line.
“The last 15 minutes, they got the looks they wanted,” said Trimble. “They just executed a lot better.”
In the overtime period, neither team scored for the first 2:52. VCU finally nosed in front on a Lewis layup, but Carolina took a slim lead in the final minute after Trimble made three free throws. With the clock dwindling toward 15 seconds, Hill delivered the dagger with a dramatic, stepback three over a lunging Jarin Stevenson, slingshotting the Rams in front for good. UNC almost stole the game back on its next possession as Veesaar very nearly converted an and-1 layup, but his shot rimmed out. At the line for two shots in an 8-78 game, Veesaar missed the first free throw and then intentionally missed the second in an attempt for Carolina to tip the carom in. The ball went back to the Rams, and Lewis made two free throws to seal the win.
Carolina missed its final nine shots of the game between the second half and overtime. Dixon, Trimble and Veesaar each played more than 40 minutes, while reserves Kyan Evans, Zayden High and Jaydon Young each played fewer than seven.
“When you play a lot, you’re gonna get tired,” Trimble said. “It’s gonna be hard to play. But everybody gets fatigued.”
Carolina’s 19-point blown lead is the largest in the history of the NCAA Tournament’s first round. Thursday also marked first time UNC has lost consecutive games in the tournament’s first round. The Tar Heels had only lost three previous such games in program history.
UNC ends the season 24-9 overall after dropping its final three games.
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.
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