UNC men's basketball falls to NCSU in ACC tournament championship

WASHINGTON — At the beginning of the summer, RJ Davis sat down and wrote out a list of goals for the season in his journal.

What was written on the page were no easy feats. ACC regular season championship. Check. ACC player of the year. Check. ACC tournament championship. 

That box will be left blank.

On Saturday night, No. 1-seeded UNC men’s basketball fell to No. 10-seeded N.C. State, 84-76, in an unprecedented victory from the unranked Wolfpack in the title game of the ACC tournament. Despite having multiple chances in the final minutes of regulation, North Carolina was ultimately unable to muster a comeback, and left the tournament empty-handed. 

“They played harder,” Davis said. “We couldn’t get stops, and [we couldn’t] execute.”

This was especially apparent in the last 10 minutes of the game. After leading by one at halftime, UNC fell backward and found itself trailing N.C. State by three. The team looked discombobulated. They had gotten it together in the first half, but now they were getting killed. 

The Tar Heels knew what was going wrong — they weren’t playing hard enough — but still, they were unable to find an answer. Assistant coach Sean May tried to generate energy in the huddle, yelling “We have to put our foot on the gas right now!”

No good.

The UNC bench got on their feet, clapping and screaming “Go white!” in an attempt to rev up their teammates. No good. Davis took the game into his own hands, trying to create opportunities to score. But again, no good. 

The minutes were slipping away, and the deficit only continued to grow. 

“Today we weren’t playing hard on the defensive end, and we weren’t making shots on the offensive end,” junior wing Harrison Ingram said, “And that’s just the recipe for defeat.” 

Again and again, the Wolfpack simply outplayed the Tar Heels. Despite it being their fifth game in five days, N.C. State brought more intensity, was more coordinated and just wanted the win a little bit more. 

With five minutes left on the clock, desperation began to set in for UNC. N.C. State had extended its lead to eight, and Davis’ father sat behind the bench, shaking his head while pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Head coach Hubert Davis continued to yell at the team to “bring more energy” but there just wasn’t anymore left to give. 

The clock kept running. 

UNC couldn't hit a shot. Despite multiple wide-open looks, the ball kept bouncing off the rim and into the hands of N.C. State. It wasn't pretty.

“We got some good looks on the offensive end, some great shots, [but they] just didn’t go our way,” Davis said.

The only shots they could seem to count on were free throws. So, they went to the line. Still, it wasn’t enough. 

Two minutes left on the clock. Davis got in an altercation with a N.C. State player after a missed jumper and ensuing held ball. He jumped up to his feet, pushing and shoving and yelling. It was out of character for Davis, who prefers to remain silent and let his game do the talking. 

It was apparent he was frustrated, but that frustration didn't translate to a comeback. 

“We just got to do a better job of just understanding what’s at stake,” Davis said, “and just coming out with a fiery attitude.” 

One minute. The deficit was 10 points. UNC resorted to sending N.C. State to the line in an attempt to stop the clock. It didn't work. The seconds winded down, and the hopes of a comeback were dwindling. 

“They played better basketball than us,” sophomore guard Seth Trimble said. “They played harder than us.” 

The Tar Heels' faces were grim. They knew it was over before the final buzzer sounded.

There will be no check next to the ACC tournament championship in Davis’ notebook. However, there’s still one goal left in that journal that remains up for grabs — the Big Dance itself. And with UNC a likely No. 1 seed going into March Madness, there’s still a clear path to that goal. 

They just have to play that little bit harder.

@peacegwen 

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