Throughout the final 10 minutes of an NCAA Tournament West Regional semifinal here on Thursday night, North Carolina and Alabama put on the kind of show befitting of this moment and this stage, and provided the kind of finish that only this tournament can. It was a finish worthy of the urgency of March;
the intensity and the drama of this month and time. And for the Tar Heels, it was heartbreak and the sudden, crushing feeling of the end of a trip. Theirs finished here just past midnight East Coast time, with an 89-87 defeat against the Crimson Tide. It was, for UNC, a painful loss; one in which it came undone, offensively, during the first 10 minutes of the second half, and one defined by late-game, last-second breakdowns in execution. The Tar Heels led by three with a minute and a half to play.
They could not hold on, amid a final and frantic stretch of time that had it all. It had the Tar Heels on the ropes, in the final minutes, trailing by five points, their season on the brink along with those national championship dreams that have fueled them throughout this long season. And then in the blink of an eye, UNC came alive with an 8-0 run that gave it that three-point lead with a minute and a half to play. The clock ticked away and the fans rose, in this city of the Showtime Lakers and this building of so many highlights and memories and star-making moments. And all those Lakers title banners up high, and the names: Kobe and Wilt and Jerry West and all the others. And here were the Tar Heels and Crimson Tide, wanting their own time.
Seeking their own moment, and a victory that was a matter of life. soon UNC’s late lead was down to one and soon it was gone, after Grant Nelson’s tough basket in the lane, while he was fouled. He hit the free throw to give Alabama an 87-85 lead with 38 seconds to play and UNC called timeout with 35. The arena speakers blared dance. No one sat down. Someone behind the Alabama bench spoke for everyone when he said: “This is ridiculous.” That it was. North Carolina’s R.J. Davis (4) drives to the basket between Alabama’s Mohamed Wague (11) and Mouhamed Dioubate (10) in the first half in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen on Thursday, March 28, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. Robert Willett rwillett@newsobserver.
com The timeout finished and UNC in-bounded to RJ Davis, the ACC Player of the Year, who drove the lane and threw up a wild shot that Nelson rejected out of bounds, spiking it like a volleyball. It was Davis again, moments later, running out of room and time, throwing up another ill-fated attempt that didn’t come close,
with eight seconds left. Nelson, who led Alabama with 24 points and 12 rebounds and proved to be an unbeatable force especially in the second half, made two more free throws and that was just about it
. Nineteen of Nelson’s 24 points came in the second half, with the Crimson Tide most in need of what he gave, and with UNC missing the same kind of reliable go-to production. Alabama’s Grant Nelson (2) reacts after sinking a basket to take an 86-85 lead over North Carolina with 38.6 second to play, securing their win in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen on Thursday, March 28, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. Robert Willett rwillett@newsobserver.com The Tar Heels, who couldn’t miss for stretches in the first half, made 10 of their 40 tries in the second. They went cold at the worst possible time, with their season on the line; with their dreams dwindling if not their effort. The intensity stayed. The work. But not the performance. Davis made but four of his 20 attempts and ended with 16 points.
Armando Bacot, the fifth-year senior forward, led UNC with 19 points and 12 boards and ended his college career with a fitting line, with yet another double-double. But it was the hardly the finish he’d so often spoke about, of celebrating on a confetti-covered floor on the final Monday night of the season, in Phoenix. Instead it ended here, in a city that has crushed far more dreams than it has ever achieved, or will. UNC’s joined the ever-growing pile of all the broken ones; those dreams and hopes that flame out, regardless of the promise they once held. The Tar Heels left crushed, heads hanging, and surely this was a defeat that will haunt. And now there was nowhere to go but back home.