Defending champ Heels booted by Texas A&M

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — No one is safe in this NCAA Tournament, not the No. 1 overall seed, not the favorites and not even the defending national champions on their home turf.

No. 7 seed Texas A&M added another log to the bracket fire with an 86-65 drubbing of No. 2 seed North Carolina on Sunday afternoon in the second round. The 2017 champs are going home, a little sooner than expected, and after their first loss in a tournament game played in this state since 1979. The Tar Heels (26-11) had won 30 straight NCAA games in the state — and had a 17-0 mark under coach Roy Williams — since an infamous loss to Pennsylvania on “Black Sunday” in Raleigh in 1979. UNC had never lost a tournament game (12-0) in Charlotte before Sunday.

Two days after No. 1-seeded Virginia lost in the same building, shocked by 16th-seeded MarylandBaltimore County, the Heels were knocked out, too. Texas A&M forward Tyler Davis made sure of that and so did an ill-timed poor shooting performance from the 3-point line by UNC.

Davis, a 6-foot-10, 264-pound Mack truck disguised as a college basketball player, scored 18 points and helped the Aggies (22-12) take control of the game midway through the first half. UNC’s undersized lineup, which it rode to get to this point, had no answer for Davis inside.

When the Heels did collapse, it left A&M’s shooters open. Wing D.J. Hogg and point guard T.J. Starks took advantage of the open looks to help the Aggies make 10 3-pointers. Senior guard Joel Berry (21 points) led UNC but he was just 2 of 10 from 3 and Luke Maye (13 points) was the only other UNC player to score in double-figures. The Heels finished just 6-31 from the 3-point line.