Welter: Opportunity knocks for UNC after upsetting Baylor

By Pat Welter

Sometimes opportunity knocks, other times it smashes through the door like a battering ram.

R.J. Davis didn't score much in North Carolina's 95-63 win over Marquette in the round of 64. He didn't need to, but he did his job. His 12 assists went unnoticed by most, but contributed to the largest margin of victory in an 8-9 game in NCAA Tournament history.  In the round of 32, UNC was well on their way to another historic margin against No. 1 seed and defending champion Baylor. Then March Madness happened.

Baylor opened the game with swarming defense. Davis missed Carolina's first shot of the game, then Caleb Love turned it over and Baylor went the other way for a dunk. It was just 4-0 Baylor a minute into the game, but if you've watched Carolina all season you were holding your breath.

"This is going to be one of their bad games," I started thinking. A reasonable assumption after they nearly set Dickies Arena on fire with their hot shooting in the round of 64.  How could they possibly keep that up??? Was my thought.  But bad games for Carolina have become increasingly rare.  Tested by tough gut checking losses to teams like Wake Forest, Miami and Pitt and validated by clutch wins against Syracuse, Clemson, Louisville and Duke....this Carolina team has stared defeat in the eyes and survived before.

Davis and the Tar Heels responded to Baylor's pressure with shot making and defense. 17 first half points from Davis gave UNC a 42-29 halftime lead. UNC had never lost a NCAA Tournament game with a double digit halftime lead before, and this had zero signs of being the first. Brady Manek hit a three with just under 11:00 minutes remaining in the game to give UNC a 25 point lead.

Book it. Let's look up flights to Philadelphia for the Sweet 16. That's what I was thinking. The very large Baylor crowd was checking traffic on the drive back to Waco. But then the flagrant 2 happened. Manek got ejected for throwing an elbow on a box out shortly after hitting that three. Then with 6:15 left in the game Caleb Love fouled out. "Ummmm what is happening," I thought.

It's still hard for me to believe UNC actually won this game. I guess it would be equally hard for me to believe if they had lost it. What transpired from that point forward was nothing short of heroic, at least in the sports sense. The game devolved into a gladiator match. A battle of survival so epic that Russell Crowe's Maximus would have had to tip his cap.

"I always say that you will always get an opportunity with me, the thing that I can't guarantee is where, when, or how and the manner in which it will come," Hubert Davis said after the game. "The only thing that you are required is that when that opportunity comes is to be ready."

Hubert Davis has said that quote maybe a dozen times this season. He should hang it over the Tar Heels locker room door after this. RJ Davis was ready for his moment. With Love out of the game, Davis had to take over all of the ball handling duties for the remainder.  With Manek ejected he had to continue to score. With Armando Bacot in foul trouble.....did I say I can't believe UNC actually won this game yet???

After Love fouled out Baylor went on a 22-9 run to force overtime. Dickies Arena in Fort Worth had transformed from a NCAA Tournament site to a Baylor home game. "B-U" chants and "Sic Em" screams filled the air.

"There was no time to be tired," R.J. Davis said. "It was going into overtime I knew what was at stake and we all wanted to win."

Davis had to shepherd a lineup in the final minutes that featured true freshman Dontrez Styles, and the rarely used Justin McKoy and Puff Johnson. Combined those three averaged 1.9 points and 7.7 minutes per game.

"Trust my work," Styles said. "I put in a lot of work. After practice, before practice I trusted that. I thank coach Davis for trusting me to go out there and perform."

R.J. Davis was the hero. He scored a career high 30 points and played every single minute of regulation and overtime, but Carolina doesn't win without that supporting cast. Styles finished with 9 points including a three to start overtime. McKoy was instrumental in breaking the press and hit two free throws to seal it. Puff Johnson was the first to score after Bacot had to exit with his fourth foul. There are so many little plays to point to it's hard to count.

"The thing that I've desperately wanted for all of these guys the entire season is for them to have their own stories and testimonies and memories of playing in big time games and coming up big in that Carolina uniform," Hubert Davis said. "They just continue to have those stories and to see their smiles and how happy they are and the enjoyment they are having being together brings me great joy as the coach."

R.J. Davis yelled "let's go man" as he ran into the locker room after the game. The team was all smiles on the podium, but they didn't look or sound like a group whose story is close to being finished yet.

"I don't know that's a good question," Armando Bacot said after being asked where this game ranks among crazy games the team has played in. "I don't know we've had some crazy...." Bacot started but Hubert Davis cut in.

"Louisville, Duke, Clemson, Syracuse," Hubert Davis laughed.

"Top three for sure," Bacot finished.

In an NCAA Tournament with no clear favorite and marginal differences between seeds, it's not going to be the "best" team that wins, it's going to be one that plays together, one that's been tested. In 2000 Carolina made the Final Four as an 8 seed. They just survived a game in which they were missing two of their top three scorers for the final six minutes of regulation plus OT. They look like as good a bet as any to make it to the Final Four as an 8 seed again. Opportunity doesn't knock it rings at the Sweet 16 in Philadelphia. 

Carolina is ready to go put another crack in the Liberty Bell.