PHILADELPHIA — Survive and advance.
It doesn’t get more cliché than that at this time of the year. But it’s exactly what fourth-seeded UCLA and eighth-seeded North Carolina did to get to Friday’s NCAA Tournament regional semifinal, better known as the Sweet 16.
The Bruins (27-7) and Tar Heels (26-9) will tip off at 6:40 p.m. PT at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on CBS.
Here are five things you need to know about North Carolina:
THE BASICS
North Carolina finished second place behind Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season with a 15-5 conference record. The Tar Heels had an underwhelming conference tournament, bowing out in the semifinal to Virginia Tech 72-59 on March 11.
Since the loss, coach Hubert Davis led his team to a 95-63 rout of ninth-seeded Marquette in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before taking down East Region No. 1 seed Baylor 93-88 in overtime after giving up a 25-point lead.
It’s the program’s 30th Sweet 16 appearance since 1975.
PLAYING THEIR BEST BALL
UCLA fans might be happy the Bruins aren’t playing top-seeded Baylor, but North Carolina could be more dangerous with its lower-seeded, upset-minded attitude.
The Tar Heels come into Friday’s game with 14 wins in their past 17 contests, including a victory over Duke in their regular-season-finale March 5 in Durham, N.C.
“This is a time of joy and celebration and confidence,” Davis said in a press conference this week. “This is not a time of being scared and nervous. I can’t tell you how together and healthy this team is right now. We don’t want this to end.”
UCLA coach Mick Cronin is making sure his Bruins are not underestimating their Sweet 16 opponent.
“I told the guys to make sure we erase the ‘8’ next to North Carolina and put a ‘1’,” Cronin said. “They won at Duke, they beat Marquette by 30 and had Baylor buried … they’re playing as good as anybody.”
CRONIN KNOWS RJ DAVIS
North Carolina point guard RJ Davis scored a career-high 30 points in the team’s win over Baylor, including five 3s and nine free throws on 10 attempts. He also tallied six rebounds and five assists. He does a little bit of everything, which is why he’s so dangerous.
Cronin recruited him hard when he was the coach at Cincinnati.
“I recruited him for two years. I lived with him,” Cronin said jokingly.
The sophomore averages 13.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 38.7% from beyond the arc.
SHOOTING THE 3
North Carolina’s men’s basketball program has won seven national titles, made 20 Final Fours and been to 52 NCAA Tournaments, but no Tar Heel team has done what Brady Manek, Caleb Love and RJ Davis did this year. The three each made more than 60 3-pointers, making it the first time three players have reached the mark in one season on the same team.
Davis has made 62. Love, a shooting guard, has knocked down 81. Manek – a 6-foot-9 forward – has made a team-high 82.
“Their starting five is as good as anyone’s in America,” Cronin said of North Carolina.
BLUEBLOOD HISTORY
North Carolina is 10-3 all-time against UCLA. The last time they played was Dec. 21, 2019, with North Carolina prevailing 74-64 in Las Vegas.
The teams were supposed to play each other Dec. 18 again in Las Vegas, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 within the Bruins’ program.
For all the tradition of their programs, the Bruins and Tar Heels have crossed paths in the NCAA Tournament just twice.
The first meeting took place in the 1968 national title game at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on March 23. Lew Alcindor (now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) scored 34 points and totaled 16 rebounds in UCLA’s 78-55 championship victory. It was coach John Wooden’s fourth of 10 NCAA championships.
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In 1989, No. 2 seed North Carolina took down No. 7 seed UCLA 88-81 in the second round in Atlanta. The Bruins led 52-44 at halftime, but the Tar Heels finished with five players scoring in double figures. A freshman guard came off the bench for the Tar Heels, played five minutes and missed two 3-pointers.
His name? Hubert Davis, who in his first year has North Carolina on the cusp of a regional final.
NCAA Tournament
Who: No. 4 seed UCLA vs. No. 8 seed North Carolina
What: East Regional semifinal
When: 6:40 p.m. Friday
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
TV/Radio: CBS/AM 1150