Tar Heels slide from preseason No. 1 to NCAA tourney bubble

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Roughly 20 minutes had handed since his North Carolina staff had misplaced a grind-it-out battle in opposition to rival Duke, and Armando Bacot had taken his customary seat behind a small desk together with his again to a wall-mounted tv.

The questions began coming from a reporters surrounding him, probing what had gone incorrect. However they weren’t nearly one recreation. They had been about a complete season, one which has seen an skilled staff open with a No. 1 rating after a magical trip to the national-title recreation solely to shut the common season in precarious at finest standing for a return to the NCAA Match.

“Might you’ve gotten ever thought that you simply’d be on this place?” one reporter requested.

“No,” Bacot mentioned, “however I’m right here.”

The Tar Heels (19-12) are flirting with changing into the primary staff to open at No. 1 within the preseason Related Press ballot and miss the NCAA Match since its growth to 64 groups in 1985. They’ve struggled to make exterior pictures or win shut video games, constructing a postseason resume stuffed with much more missed alternatives than high-end wins.

And that has them headed to this week’s Atlantic Coast Convention Match doubtless needing a number of victories — and perhaps nothing wanting the title — to make sure they hear their title known as on Choice Sunday.

They open play Wednesday as a No. 7 seed in a second-round recreation in opposition to the Louisville-Boston School winner.

There are a number of solutions for what has gone incorrect.

Second-year coach Hubert Davis has talked about his staff trying weighed down by a few of the excessive expectations to repeat final yr’s run, which included spoiling retiring Corridor of Famer Mike Krzyzewski’s remaining dwelling recreation at Duke after which handing him the ultimate lack of his profession within the Last 4 throughout an epic first-ever within the NCAA Match between the storied rivals.

“We knew because the begin of the season,” beginning guard R.J. Davis mentioned. “Simply the expectations that had been being upholded, simply on the market within the media, simply the noise. … Typically you place an excessive amount of stress on your self and also you attempt to meet these expectations (as an alternative of) simply going on the market and simply play freely.”

Some issues are apparent, comparable to flirting with setting a program file for the worst 3-point taking pictures (.309) in a season — which has made it tough to house the ground for driving lanes or Bacot inside in contrast to final yr’s late run.

But there have additionally been bother with particulars and shutting out video games, a shock for a staff that returned 4 starters.

Take Saturday’s 62-57 loss to the Blue Devils. UNC missed a number of pictures for the lead or to tie late, the final being Caleb Love’s leaning 3-pointer down 60-57 with 8 seconds left. But each Hubert Davis and first-year Duke coach Jon Scheyer talked about one other telling sequence after UNC had hit back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 49-45 lead.

First UNC defender Puff Johnson allowed left-handed Duke wing Mark Mitchell drive to his sturdy hand and rating on a layup.

Then Duke re-inserted Dereck Energetic II, a defensive-minded large man who scores by means of motion and exercise moreso than back-to-the-basket strikes. Virtually instantly, Duke level guard Tyrese Proctor noticed Energetic pick-and-rolling freely to the basket for a lob and tying dunk that erased momentum.

“That was the second for us,” Scheyer mentioned, “and that was the second to dig down.”

“I’ve talked to you guys all yr and to the staff in regards to the significance of self-discipline and particulars,” Hubert Davis mentioned. “That’s an ideal instance of self-discipline and particulars from a defensive standpoint. These are issues which have been advised and taught. These are the kind of belongings you simply can’t do down the stretch.”

Now the Tar Heels can solely stay up for what’s left.

They stood at 1-9 in Quadrant 1 video games atop the resume, the lone win coming final week in opposition to No. 13 Virginia at dwelling. The losses included a four-overtime setback in opposition to now-No. 2 Alabama in November.

Of the 38 groups to be AP preseason No. 1 since 1985, practically half (18) have at the very least reached the Last 4. Six groups gained the championship — most just lately, the Tar Heels in 2008-09 — and 7 others reached the title recreation.

And of that group, nary a one has missed the sphere completely.

“Sure, we all know we’re in a troublesome spot,” R.J. Davis mentioned. “however we’ve simply acquired to go on the market and simply hoop.”

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Observe Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap

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AP faculty basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25