CHARLOTTE — Seth Trimble rose from his chair, jersey untucked and shoes off, in the hallway of the Spectrum Center. He walked toward the UNC locker room. Over his shoulder, the junior guard yelled to the scrum of media.
“See y’all next week.”
To Trimble, North Carolina’s future is clear. But after No. 5 seed UNC’s 74-71 loss to top-seeded Duke on Friday night in the semifinals of the ACC tournament, the Tar Heels’ bid into the NCAA tournament is officially out of their hands.
Despite piecing together a second-half comeback to chip away at a once-24 point deficit, all momentum was lost after graduate forward Jae’Lyn Withers was called for a lane violation on a potential game-tying free throw opportunity with four seconds left. The Tar Heels will now await their fate on Selection Sunday.
Sitting at No. 35 in NET rankings, UNC is 1-12 in Quad 1 games, with eight of those losses against teams currently ranked in the top-10. The Tar Heels are 21-1 in Quad 2-4 games, with their only blemish being a Quad 3 loss to Stanford. According to the NCAA, the number of Quad 1 wins and Quad 3 and 4 losses are “incredibly important” for tournament selection and seeding.
As of Saturday morning, the Tar Heels are listed as the first team out by ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi.
“I would just show them the games,” sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau said. “We proved that even though we fell short in games against really good teams, we were still there with them.”
RJ Davis refused to get sentimental about his five-year UNC career after Friday’s loss. He didn’t reflect. He stated North Carolina’s season isn’t over.
The graduate guard believes the Tar Heels have done enough to clinch a bid.