UNC upsets No. 1 seed Baylor in OT, advances to Sweet 16

UNC upsets No. 1 seed Baylor in OT, advances to Sweet 16 By Lauren Brownlow, WRALSportsFan columnist/reporter UNC (26-9) isn't the prototypical Cinderella, but the 8th-seeded Tar Heels are happy to play the role as they hung up to upset top-seeded Baylor in Fort Worth in overtime, 93-86. Head coach Hubert Davis might be in his first NCAA Tournament appearance, but he has now been a part of a team that knocked off the No. 1 seed as an 8-seed as both a player (in 1990 when the Tar Heels beat Oklahoma) and a coach. UNC led Baylor (27-7) by 25 points with 10:47 to go and were rolling. They led by 13 at the half and it just kept growing, and Brady Manek fired off 13 points in less than 3 minutes to get the Tar Heels to their biggest lead of the game. But less than a minute later, Manek was ejected after being whistled for a Flagrant 2 foul for an elbow to Baylor's Jeremy Sochan. Baylor rattled off an 11-0 run as UNC was clearly shaken up, and Caleb Love fouled out with 6:15 remaining followed immediately by Baylor cutting UNC's lead to single digits with 5:22 to go. Baylor kept hanging around and UNC kept extending its lead, but Baylor cut it to 3 with 1:48 to go after an and-1. Armando Bacot was able to score and draw a foul to put UNC back up by 5 with 1:37 to go, and he added a free throw to put the Tar Heels up by six. Baylor couldn't score, but UNC wasn't able to add to the lead as Bacot made 1 of 2 free throws with 38 seconds left to put UNC up six, then Sochan hit a 3 to cut it to 3. Bacot missed two free throws on the ensuing possession, and Akinjo drew yet another and-1 and tied it with 16.7 seconds left. R.J. Davis got a shot off before overtime but it didn't go. UNC was in overtime without Manek and Love, and Baylor lost Flo Thamba and Matthew Mayer to fouls early in overtime as well. But the shorhanded, clearly rattled Tar Heels scored the first four points of overtime to settle things down. Baylor tied it on a layup by Sochan with 3:02 to go in overtime, but Armando Bacot made two free throws to put UNC up two. Akinjo hit one of two free throws to put UNC up 1 with 2:07 to go, then Leaky Black hit a layup off a Bacot assist to put UNC up 88-85 with 1:55 to go. Akinjo missed a 3-pointer, then R.J. Davis drove to the basket and hit a layup while being fouled hard with 1:18 to go, putting UNC by 91-85. Neither team scored until Sochan hit one of two free throws with 21 seconds left. Baylor got the offensive rebound, but Sochan couldn't hit the 3-pointer. Baylor couldn't hit the follow and UNC got the ball with 4.8 seconds left, and that was that. UNC shot 49.1% for the game and made 11 of 25 3-pointers. R.J. Davis led all scorers with 30 points, including arguably the game-deciding 3-point play with 1:18 to go. Manek had 26 points before his ejection on 8 of 13 shooting. Bacot had 15 points and 16 rebounds. Baylor shot 34.6% and 9 of 37 (24.3%) from 3, but went 21 of 27 from the foul line. Adam Flagler led the Bears with 27 points on 10 of 25 shooting, while Akinjo added 20 and Sochan had 15. Carolina had 21 turnovers, 16 of which came in the second half and overtime, against the Baylor press, but they had to navigate the final six minutes of regulation and five minutes of overtime without their point guard. UNC won the battle of the boards, 47-38. The Tar Heels will face the winner of Saint Mary's and UCLA next week in Philadelphia.