University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Rundown: March 20
March 20, 2014 | General
Basketball
A click-bait ranking earlier this week placed Roy Williams 11th among this year's tournament coaches. The numbers show just how silly that ranking was...Looking back at the 2000 upset over top-seeded Stanford...Jawad Williams wrote a column with some first-hand tournament insight...Some key stats to watch as Carolina tries to rebound from the two-game losing streak...The UNC NCAA Tournament guide...
The Bryce Cotton-Marcus Paige matchup should be epic. That story also has the Providence perspective on several other items, including Carolina's big men...Not sure this is scientific, but we'll take the result: based on fan enthusiasm, Carolina will win the NCAA tournament...An on-site report from San Antonio after Carolina arrived last night...How a Virginia fan bluffed his way onto the court (and even into the handshake line with Coach K!) at the ACC tournament. What's really surprising about this is the ACC requires bench personnel to wear a lapel pin to identify themselves, which clearly this person didn't have. Guarantee this story results in tighter security, as it should.
Tar Heels in the NBA
Nine points and five rebounds off the bench for Marvin Williams...Tyler Hansbrough got a rare start for Toronto and helped the Raptors win with seven points and 13 rebounds (seven offensive)...11 points and six assists for Raymond Felton in a win over the Pacers...14 points for Vince Carter and seven for Brandan Wright...
This one would make Roy Williams smile: In addition to his 16 points last night against the Lakers, Danny Green is becoming an elite defender...Kendall Marshall had 10 points and three assists in that game.
Football
James Hurst sent a letter to the Tar Heel community...Marquise Williams is showing more leadership this spring...Looks like Eric Ebron was invited to New York for the NFL Draft:
I Couldn't Be More Excited To Accept My Invitation To The Big Apple. #GreenRoom #Blessed
— Eric Ebron (@Ebron85) March 19, 2014
Olympic sports
That hastily scheduled game against West Virginia turned out to be a tough one, as the Mountaineers beat the Diamond Heels at Boshamer...If you're a student, you can go watch Diamond DeShields and the women's basketball team in the NCAA tournament this weekend for free...The top-ranked women's lacrosse team is powered by an impressive freshman class...
Today's games
Lots of NCAA Championships competition today: wrestling in Oklahoma City, women's swimming and diving in Minneapolis and women's fencing in Columbus, Ohio. Meanwhile, softball travels to UNCG at 4 p.m.
Today in Tar Heel history
Happy 69th birthday to Bob Lewis, who is the answer to a great UNC hoops trivia question: Who holds the UNC single-game scoring record? It's Lewis, who put up 49 points against Florida State on Dec. 16, 1965.
And a bonus history lesson since it's that time of year: on this date in 2005, Iowa State proclaimed they were eager to run with the Tar Heels and had no intention of slowing the tempo. 92-65 later, that proved to be a very bad idea, as Carolina blitzed the Cyclones in Charlotte in the NCAA second round and went on to win the national title.
Long read
To get you ready for today, three minutes of awesome NCAA tournament buzzer beaters, including a Rick Fox sighting:
