North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said his latest group of Tar Heels was the “quietest team” he’s ever been around.
Davis made that statement Sunday, shortly after his team made national headlines. The NCAA selection committee unexpectedly awarded UNC a bid into the NCAA Tournament, the last school to secure an at-large invite.
The choice by the selection committee brought controversy as the national voices around the UNC selection grew louder.
On Tuesday night, the 11th-seeded Tar Heels drowned out that noise and sent an ever-more-intense message with a 95-68 drubbing of San Diego State at the First Four in Dayton.
Fifth-year guard RJ Davis obviously heard the noise and responded.
Davis drained six of UNC’s 14 threes, finishing with a game-high 26 points.
“One thing about us, yes, we hear the noise, but ignored it. We stayed within ourselves,” Davis said afterward.
Tuesday, Carolina took care of business early, leading by 24 at halftime and as many as 40 in the second half.
With the win, UNC (23-13) advances to play No. 6 seed Ole Miss (22-11) in the South Region on Friday in Milwaukee.
UNC performance brings back bad memories
Carolina, diced by the national media, responded by delivering an absolute beatdown on SDSU.
Watching the game Tuesday caused me to flashback to Virginia’s embarrassing loss last season to Colorado State 67-42 on the same floor in a 2024 First Four game.
The national narrative before the game was that Virginia shouldn’t have been in Dayton.
Similar to the narrative regarding UNC this year.
The difference?
Virginia proved the national narrative as correct.
The Cavaliers missed 19 straight shots across the first and second half.
UVA made a debacle of their selection.
It turned out to be Tony Bennett’s final game as head coach of the program, his 500th.
Speaking of Virginia
It’s been almost a week since the news that interim coach Ron Sanchez would not be retained as the head coach for the men’s basketball program.
Since that announcement, one major coaching job, Indiana, has been filled, while another, Villanova, became available on Saturday.
The Hoosiers hired West Virginia’s Darian DeVries after he had spent just one season as head coach at WVU.
Villanova fired Kyle Neptune after a three-year run, where he succeeded Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright.
Four of Virginia’s top five candidates have qualified for the NCAA Tourney, but that doesn’t mean the search process has paused.
It’s just the opposite.
The leading candidate to watch is still Ryan Odom of VCU.
The Rams are the No. 11 seed in the East Region and will face No. 6 BYU on Thursday afternoon in Denver.
That’s going to be a tough test for the Rams.
The Cougars are talented, and the games are being played in the mile-high city. Something BYU is very comfortable with.
Until Saturday, it appeared Odom to Charlottesville was a lock, but we can keep our fingers crossed with that Villanova spot opening over the weekend.
I reached out to a friend close to the coaching search and asked if this was something to be concerned about, and his response was this.
“It’s about resources, how a school can meet necessities like funding and staff structure; Villanova can go with just about anyone.”
If Virginia wants Odom, they might have to fight off some mean Wildcats first.
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