Tar Heels apologize for COVID-19 violation
Players partied without masks after beating Duke
North Carolina players apologized Tuesday for not following school and athletic department COVID-19 guidelines during a celebratory gathering after a win at rival Duke.
“Our intention was to celebrate privately within our group,” the players and managers said in a statement released by the school. “Unfortunately, we allowed several friends who are not members of the team to join the gathering. We were inside and not wearing masks, which were mistakes.”
The statement was released a day after North Carolina’s home game against Miami was postponed about two hours before tipoff. That followed the emergence of social media video, first reported by The Daily Tar Heel, showing players Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe mingling with multiple other people celebrating Saturday night’s win and no one wearing a mask.
The statement notes “a number” of players and managers attended and “not just the ones shown on the video.” It includes an apology to coach Roy Williams and the coaching staff “for not stepping forward when he first addressed it with us on Sunday.”
Williams said Tuesday he appreciated the apology and that the team had previously “been fantastic” in dealing with coronavirus protocols.
“But they realize they did make a mistake, for which they are paying a very significant price,” Williams said.
The Atlantic Coast Conference said the postponement came after the schools “mutually concluded the game could not move forward,” and it didn’t offer a reschedule date. In a later interview with The Miami Herald, Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga referenced the video as a concern and said the team didn’t “want to put ourselves in position” for potential exposure.
The Tar Heels (12-6, 7-4 ACC), who have won seven of nine, are scheduled to visit ninth-ranked Virginia on Saturday.
“We have worked too hard for eight months doing the right things to make those kinds of mistakes at this point in the season,” the players and managers said. “We are hopeful we will be able to play again soon and wish to remind everyone to stay safe so this pandemic will be over as soon as possible.”
BAYLOR: Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Adam Flagler got to watch Baylor win a lot of games from the bench last season, and now are among six former redshirts playing every game for the undefeated, second-ranked Bears.
Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague, two of the league’s best shooters, were part of a Big 12-record, 23-game winning streak last season in their debuts as Baylor starters. That was after those former transfers also went through a redshirt season together.
“If you have two guys going through it at the same time, it makes it a lot easier. If you’ve got other guys on the team that have gone through, it makes it a lot easier,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said of redshirts. “The guys that are sitting out, they’re in large part a big reason why our teams have been successful, because you practice more than you play games.”
In an era of one-and-done players, Baylor has become consistently one of the Big 12’s top teams with rosters full of experience. The Bears (17-0) matched the best start in school history with a win at Texas last week before COVID-19 issues forced the postponement of five games that will keep them from playing again until at least Feb. 20.
Tuesday’s men’s games
NO. 14 WEST VIRGINIA 82, NO. 7 TEXAS TECH 71: In Lubbock, Texas, Sean McNeil scored a career-high 26 points and the Mountaineers finished a regular-season sweep of the Red Raiders.
The Mountaineers (14-5, 7-3 Big 12) won their third consecutive game and ended a four-game skid in Lubbock 15 days after a thrilling 88-87 win at home when Miles McBride hit the go-ahead jumper in the final seconds.
McNeil, a late addition to the starting lineup after Taz Sherman injured a groin the day before the game, was 5 of 7 from 3-point range, including one with the shot clock about to expire late in the second half. Mac McClung scored 17 points before fouling out for the Red Raiders (14-6, 6-5), who saw a three-game winning streak end a day after reaching their highest ranking of the season.
NO. 11 ALABAMA 81, SOUTH CAROLINA 78: In Columbia, S.C., John Petty Jr. scored 20 points and the Crimson Tide held off the Gamecocks to bounce back from its first Southeastern Conference loss of the season.
Alabama (16-5, 11-1 SEC) was off to its best league start in 65 years before falling to 10th-ranked Missouri this past Saturday.
Justin Minaya cut South Carolina’s deficit to 79-78 with 2 seconds left, but James Rojas was quickly fouled and made both free throws to seal the victory.
AJ Lawson led the Gamecocks (5-8, 3-6) with 21 points, making five 3-pointers.
NO. 13 TEXAS 80, KANSAS STATE 77: In Manhattan, Kan., Andrew Jones scored 24 points and the Longhorns held off the Wildcats.
Greg Brown added 17 points and Courtney Ramey had 14 for the Longhorns (12-5, 6-4 Big 12), who snapped a three-game skid.
Mike McGuirl missed a 3-point attempt from half court in the waning seconds for the Wildcats (5-16, 1-11), who have lost 11 straight.
Nijel Pack scored 22 points and McGuirl had 18 for the Wildcats.
NO. 19 CREIGHTON 63, GEORGETOWN 48: In Washington, Christian Bishop scored 17 points and the Bluejays capitalized on the Hoyas’ worst shooting performance in a decade.
Creighton (15-5, 11-4 Big East) avenged an 86-79 home loss to the Hoyas (5-10, 3-7) last Wednesday.