North Carolina puts dud behind it to conquer Spartans again
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hubert Davis was disgusted by what he saw.
His No. 1-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels, one of the deepest, most athletic and talented teams in the country with size, was being manhandled by Michigan State in the early part of their NCAA Tournament second-round game Saturday night at the Spectrum Center.
The Spartans, a No. 9 seed and a four-point underdog, took early leads of 12-5 and 17-7 and 25-14, and with 8:09 remaining in the first half, they were leading 28-17 and having their way with the top seed in the bracket, outshooting, outrebounding and out-hustling the Tar Heels.
“They punched first,’’ Davis, the North Carolina coach said. “Their physicality, their will, their want-to in the first 10 minutes of the game overwhelmed us. They were just better than us.’’
That’s when Davis delivered this message to his players during a timeout: “We can’t even talk about any basketball until we join the fight.’’
His North Carolina players took the message to heart and obliged, overcoming Michigan State, 85-69, to advance to its 36th Sweet 16, this one next week in Los Angeles as one of four teams that’ll play in the West Region.
The Tar Heels (29-7) will play the winner of Saturday’s late game between Tennessee and Texas. And they’ll do it in large part because the large heart of RJ Davis, their 6-foot senior guard out of White Plains via Archbishop Stepinac High. Davis led the Tar Heels with 20 points and is the engine that makes them go.
“We ask a lot out of him,’’ Davis the coach said of Davis his player. “We ask him to handle the basketball, distribute, score, defend, rebound, lead our team. There’s a lot on his plate, and he never whines, he never complains.
“What a great example to the younger players, to see someone at the highest level and see what goes into it. We’re going to ride his back the remainder of the season. I wouldn’t want to ride anybody’s back other than RJ.’’
Hubert Davis played the guard position at the highest level, both at North Carolina and in the NBA, and he has an acute appreciation for what he sees in Davis.
Patrick Massaroni, Davis’ coach at Archbishop Stepinac, knows that appreciation Hubert Davis has for his former player, because he’s felt that same appreciation.
“Even going into his senior year, he was still doubted by so many people,’’ Massaroni told The Post over the phone from back home in New York on Saturday. “For a guy at 6-foot and overlooked to do what he’s doing night in and night out on the biggest stage is truly remarkable. And through all of this, he’s continued to be humble.’’
As Michigan State got off to a dream start, not only Hubert Davis was a big part of settling the Tar Heels down, RJ Davis was a big part of that, too.
North Carolina turned that 28-17 deficit into a 40-31 halftime lead, thanks to a furious 23-3 run to close out the half in the final 8:09.
“I feel bad,’’ Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said after falling to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time without a victory. “We played so well for the first 12 minutes and then I don’t know … the ball just stuck … we didn’t move it as well.