HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS
Aggies eager to end reign of defending national champions
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A year ago, when then-freshman forward Robert Williams closed his eyes and mulled whether to stay at Texas A&M or leave for the NBA, he envisioned Sunday.
“This moment,” he said. “You couldn’t ask for a bigger blessing than to play the defending champs in the second game of the NCAA Tournament.”
The seventh-seeded Aggies take on second-seeded North Carolina on Sunday in the Spectrum Center with a berth in the Sweet 16 on the line.
“Back then, I envisioned a sold-out crowd, all lights and cameras on us,” Williams said. “Now, we’re playing North Carolina in North Carolina.”
Williams, who’s expected to be a first-round selection in this summer’s NBA draft, missed out on the NCAA Tournament last year with an A&M team that barely finished above .500. This year, the Aggies rose to as high as fifth nationally before dropping off and then rebounding to ease into the postseason.
They defeated 10th-seeded Providence on Friday and the Tar Heels whipped 15th-seeded Lipscomb to set up A&M and North Carolina’s first meeting in the postseason since 1980. That March day in Denton, the Aggies beat the Tar Heels in double overtime to advance to the Sweet 16.
North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who has won three national titles with the Tar Heels, was a part-time assistant on the losing squad.
“We had the last shot to win the game in regulation,” Williams recalled Saturday. “We missed it, and they beat us by 17.”
In a sad side note to that game, A&M’s point guard on the 1980 squad, Dave Goff, died of cancer Saturday. Goff made two free throws with one second left in an opening-round, two-point win over Bradley in the 1980 NCAA Tournament. He was the first four-year starter in A&M annals. Expecting hostile crowd
The Aggies (21-12) are again trying to make school history against the Tar Heels (26-10) — they’ve made the Sweet 16 only three times and never advanced past it — and believe their schedule has set them up for success Sunday.
A&M won at then-No. 8 Auburn on Feb. 7 and lost by a point at perennial power Kentucky on Jan. 9, both before hostile crowds. They’ll face another Sunday considering the Tar Heels, who own a national following anyway, are playing a two-hour drive from Chapel Hill, N.C.
“We’ve seen it all year,” A&M’s Tyler Davis said. “(On Sunday), it will just be us out there.”
A&M has never sniffed a Final Four, while North Carolina owns six national titles. The Tar Heels are favored Sunday, but the Aggies appear undaunted. Freshman point guard T.J. Starks said he can’t wait to take on what he dubbed college basketball’s “franchise team” in its backyard.
“We can’t worry about the name on the front of their jersey,” Starks said. “We have a name on the front of ours, too. We’re both here for a reason.”
While Davis earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors, the Tar Heels seem most bent on keeping the high-flying Williams in check. He earned their attention with a windmill dunk late in the Aggies’ victory over Providence.
“He’s a freak, he can jump out of the gym,” said North Carolina forward Theo Pinson, who will defend Williams. “At the end of (A&M’s) game, I was walking by the tunnel and he windmills … I said, ‘Oh my gosh.’ ”
Williams and Davis are each 6-10, and small forward D.J. Hogg checks in at 6-9, so the Aggies own a size advantage on the Tar Heels. North Carolina owns a shooting advantage, however, with players from one to five who can fill the basket.
“Williams is a rim protector, so we have to make sure we’re spacing out the court and driving the lane and getting him out of the paint, to where we can get to the rim,” North Carolina guard Joel Berry II said. “I think that will work for us. And how much can (Williams) stay in front of Theo, with Theo being the playmaker that he is?”
Fans will find out Sunday, as the Aggies try to make the Sweet 16 for a fourth time. At North Carolina, not making the Sweet 16 is considered a disappointing season. Hogg contended the Aggies don’t care about history.
“We can play with anybody in the country,” he said. “And they’ve got the targets on their backs.”