Tar Heels, Tigers aim to continue ACC’S run
Conference has four teams still in tourney
LOS ANGELES — Armando Bacot and his North Carolina teammates heard the bashing about the Atlantic Coast Conference’s quality this season. They’ve added it as a chip on their shoulders.
Ever since Zion Williamson left Duke for the NBA in 2019 after one season, “I feel like the respect for the ACC just in general kind of went down,” Bacot said.
Yet, the league is having the last laugh in the NCAA Tournament so far.
Besides the top-seeded Tar Heels and sixth-seeded Clemson in the West Regional, No. 4 seed Duke and No. 11 seed North Carolina State remain in the South bracket. It’s the 13th time the league has had at least four teams in the Sweet 16.
“Most ACC programs are playing a high-level non-conference schedule, too, so I think that really plays a factor,” Bacot said. “I feel like other conferences might not be as strong or they’re kind of manipulating it in a way. Hopefully everyone sees after this year how competitive ACC basketball is and how good the teams are.”
The Tar Heels (29-7) will try to prove it against fourth-seeded Alabama (2311) on Thursday in the Sweet 16.
ACC teams went 8-1 during the first week of the NCAA Tournament, with the victories coming by an average of 18.4 points per game. The league received five bids, with only Virginia losing in the First Four to Colorado State.
Coach Hubert Davis is taking a page from his predecessors Dean Smith and Roy Williams in breaking the NCAA Tournament into mini-tourneys. The Tar Heels won two games in Charlotte to advance to what Davis calls the “Los Angeles Invitational.”
“They’re always ready for the moment. At Carolina, there’s very few programs that are at our level, and the spotlight is bright playing at North Carolina,” said Davis.
Thursday’s first game pits second-seeded Arizona (27-8) against
No. 6 seed Clemson (23-11). Clemson played Sunday night in Memphis, Tennessee, and got back to campus at 3:30 a.m. Monday before starting its journey to the West Coast about 12 hours later.
“Yesterday was a little challenging. We practiced, but it wasn’t easy,” Brownell said. “Just trying to get our legs back, just get used to the time change and all of that. It’s been a quick turnaround, that’s for sure.”
The Wildcats played their first two games in Salt Lake City and then made the short trip from Tucson to Los Angeles, where they are 6-3 alltime in tournament games.
“But just because you had an extra day or a few extra hours doesn’t mean you have a significant advantage this time of year because the other team’s really good,” Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd said. “They’re playing for something as well.”