There will be a new men’s NCAA Basketball National Champion in 2022.
Defending champion No. 1 Baylor became the first top seed to lose this year’s tournament as the Bears fell to No. 8 North Carolina 93-86. in overtime in Saturday’s second round tilt.
It was a monumental victory for the Tar Heels in Year 1 under Hubert Davis, but it was not easy and was certainly not without controversy.
North Carolina built a big lead in this game behind hot shots from guard RJ Davis and striker Brady Manek, who scored 30 and 26 points, respectively. By ESPNDavis became the second player in school history to score 30 points in a game against No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since the seed began in 1979. The only other Tar Heel to achieve that feat was Al Wood in the Final Four against Virginia in 1981.
Baylor had no answer for Davis and Manek for a majority of the competition, behind as many as 25 points on the No. 8 Som Tar Heels. With 10:08 left in the second half, the game was defeated.
Manek fought for a rebound under the basket and had his elbow clip Bears forward Jeremy Sochan. After a video review, officials charged Manek with a flagrant 2 foul, removing him from the contest.
That’s when Baylor made his run.
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Carolina had a variety of issues that broke the Bears’ full-court defense, and had many 50-50 calls against it in the final 10 minutes of the game.
In addition, the Tar Heels were without their second leading candidate in the game at Manek, and the combo guard Caleb Love, who fouled shortly after the Manek outing.
The combination of themes for North Carolina has led to a historic collapse, as Baylor is unlikely to fall back into a game that looks good in the hand.
After scoring just 42 points in the first 30 minutes of regulation, Baylor closed with 38 points in the final 10 minutes to tie the game at 80 and send it into extra time.
However, in the extra frame, the Tar Heels used timely defense and rebounding to suffocate Baylor and bring the Bears out 13-6 in overtime to avoid an epic collapse in the unexpected thriller.
North Carolina now plays in Sweet 16 on Thursday and awaits the winners of the matchup between 5th Saint Mary’s and 4th UCLA.
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