Lucas: Spoiled

By Adam Lucas

CHARLOTTE—It isn't supposed to be this "easy."

And yes, the word has to be in quotation marks. Carolina earned a 90-62 win over Wagner on Thursday, a 28-point victory that will look more like a blowout in the box score than perhaps it looked on the court.

The game was mostly about personnel—the Tar Heels were, as a certain head coach used to say, more gifted and talented than the Seahawks—and that advantage eventually determined Carolina's superiority. Credit to the coaches for coming up with the gameplan and to the players for executing it, but this was a case where if everyone did all of the above, the Tar Heels had a very good chance of winning.

Armando Bacot had a double-double, with 20 points and 15 rebounds, his sixth straight NCAA Tournament game of at least 15 boards. Wagner countered with Melvin Council and his 18 points, but here's the difference: Carolina also brought Jae'Lyn Withers off the bench for another double-double, as the Charlotte native contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds. Oh, and the Heels also got 22 points from ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis. Winning the game is a little easier when you have Bacot, Withers and Davis.

But the story of today isn't just about winning this game. This victory meant the Tar Heels have won at least one game in 37 of their last 39 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Think about that for a second. Just one of those victories would be an all-time program highlight for other teams, including some in the ACC. Virginia Tech has eight NCAA Tournament wins in the entire history of the program. Virginia has 35. Those 37 opening round wins for Carolina in the last 39 appearances equal the entire NCAA Tournament victory total for NC State.

Saturday will be different, because Saturday will be an intense matchup against a marquee opponent. On Thursday, though, your blood pressure probably didn't even go up. After all, you've seen it so many times before.

You've seen the Heels win blowouts, like today's 28-point win. You've seen them win close ones, like a 67-65 win over Harvard in 2015 or a two-point win over Providence the previous season.

Sure, this was a 1 vs 16 matchup, but ask Purdue and Virginia if it's possible to lose one of these. It's true that those 37 wins have been as the team with the better seed, but the whole magic of this event is supposed to be that the better seeded team doesn't always win. And it's not all a one seed beating a 16. The Tar Heels have also won these opening games as an eight, six, four, three and two (the losses, because you're wondering, came as a three to Harold Freaking Arceneaux and an eight to Wisconsin in the weird Covid season).

They've won blowouts, like today's 28-point win. They've won close ones, like a 67-65 victory over Harvard in 2015 or 79-77 over Providence the year before.

We are inarguably spoiled. We fill out our brackets and never give a thought to penciling the Tar Heels into that second round slot. Everyone else paints their faces and grits their teeth. We...don't. You know why? An amazing 30 of those 37 wins have been by double figures. In this round, for Carolina, a loss isn't an upset. A close game is an upset. This is one of the hardest events in sports, and Carolina annually starts it with a breeze.

At least, that's how it looks from the outside. The players and coaches know it's much tougher to win these games than the fan base probably believes. It's also true that the 37 out of 39 statistic is probably the ultimate reward for the incredible regular seasons that have preceded those tournament performances. When you play very well over the course of six months, you get the advantage of a favorable seed and a location close to home. Both were advantageous on Thursday, as the personnel advantage paid dividends and so did the Spectrum Center location.

Even with a vocal Queen City crowd on hand, you could tell they were still holding a little back. Tickets weren't nearly as hot on Thursday as they will be on Saturday. The sendoff at the team hotel was loud, but not as rowdy as it will be in 48 hours (Saturday's game time will be announced by late on Thursday night).

For most Tar Heel fans, the tournament really begins in the second round. That's a luxury this program has given us over the last four decades.

As Hubert Davis said, "The second round has always been real." And at Carolina, there's a pretty good chance that if you're in the Tournament, you'll get to see that second round.

That's when it becomes much less about gaudy statistics or program history. Even Withers, who played in his first career NCAA Tournament game on Thursday, knows the only thing that matters now that the opening round warmup is finished. None of this history, no matter how impressive it might be, will put any points on the scoreboard against Michigan State.

"At the end of the day," he said on the Tar Heel Sports Network, "all that matters going forward is winning."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

RJ Davis

Jae'Lyn Withers

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