NCAA Archives - WPTF-AM

March Madness selection panel will have to juggle thanks to SEC overload in bracket

The NCAA selection committee will have some juggling to do before the bracket comes out Sunday to keep March Madness from looking like an extension of the Southeastern Conference’s regular season. With the league in line to place between 12 and 14 teams in the tournament, some long-held guidelines drawn to help set the matchups will have to give way. Conference rivals could face each other as early as the second round or the Sweet 16. The SEC has been led by Auburn, with Alabama, Tennessee and Florida close behind. The newly expanded conference, along with the Big Ten and Big 12, will gobble up nearly half of this year’s 68 spots in the tournament.… Continue Reading

Withers had 16 points, 11 rebounds in North Carolina’s 81-66 win over Virginia

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Jae’Lyn Withers scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Ian Jackson also scored 16 points and North Carolina defeated Virginia 81-66 on Saturday. Withers was 4 of 6 on 3-pointers in posting his second double-double this season and Jackson added three more 3s. Ven-Allen Lubin scored 14 points, RJ Davis 12 and Drake Powell 11 for the Tar Heels (17-11, 10-6 ACC), who made 9 of 16 from the arc and outrebounded the Cavaliers 35-21. Isaac McKneely scored 17 points and became the 52nd Cavalier to reach 1,000 career points. Dai Dai Ames added 12 for Virginia (13-14, 6-10).… Continue Reading

RJ Davis scores 18, hits go-ahead jumper and North Carolina hangs on to defeat Pittsburgh 67-66

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — RJ Davis scored 18 points, Ven-Allen Lubin added 17, and North Carolina defeated Pittsburgh 67-66 in a back-and-forth battle. Davis hit a jumper to give North Carolina a 67-66 lead with 52 seconds left. His shot marked the 12th lead change of the second half. Pitt’s Jaland Lowe missed a jumper with 27 seconds remaining, got his own rebound and missed on the follow. Lubin got the rebound of the second shot, was fouled and missed the front end of the one-and-one. Seth Trimble got the offensive rebound for the Tar Heels, was fouled and missed the front end himself. After Pitt’s Ishmael Leggett grabbed the rebound, the Panthers called timeout with 13 seconds left. Leggett’s jumper was off the mark as time ran out.… Continue Reading

Bill Belichick and North Carolina have a signed contract for his hiring as football coach

North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick and school officials have signed his official employment contract. That formalized last month’s hiring after speculation that the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach might opt instead for a return to the NFL. The school released the contract Thursday, a day after Belichick had signed the deal. It includes $10 million per year in base and supplemental salary. Only the first three years of the five-year deal are guaranteed. There’s also another $3.5 million in available bonuses. Belichick would owe a $10 million buyout if he leaves before June, then $1 million afterward.… Continue Reading

Hildreth scores 20 to help Wake Forest beat UNC 67-66, win 6th in a row

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Cameron Hildreth scored 20 points, Hunter Sallis added 14 and nine rebounds and Wake Forest beat North Carolina 67-66. Tre’Von Spillers and Efton Reid II each scored 10 second-half points and finished with 12. Spillers added nine rebounds, four offensive, and four blocks. RJ Davis scored 21 points and Elliot Cadeau added 14 with a career-high 13 assists for North Carolina (12-8, 5-3 ACC). Spillers made back-to-back baskets to spark a 12-2 run, capped by his three-point play that made it 65-56 with 1:17 to play. Wake Forest (15-4, 7-1) has won six games in a row. Davis hit three 3-pointers to extend his program record to 315 in his career and moved past Duke’s Jason Williams (313) into 11th in the ACC history.… Continue Reading

Jaylen Blakes hits short jumper with 1.5 seconds left, Stanford tops North Carolina 72-71

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Duke graduate transfer Jaylen Blakes hit a short jumper with 1.5 seconds left to lift Stanford to a 72-71 win over North Carolina on Saturday, the first meeting as Atlantic Coast Conference rivals and the first Cardinal win over the Tar Heels in 15 meetings. Blakes took the inbounds pass in the backcourt after Seth Trimble hit two free throws for North Carolina with 7.7 seconds to play and worked his way up the left side. He bumped a defender on the left side of the lane, stepped back and swished the winner. The game had 12 ties and 14 lead changes with the biggest lead seven points. Maxime Raynaud had 24 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks for the Cardinal and Blakes had 20 points with seven assists. RJ Davis scored 19 to lead the Tar Heels.… Continue Reading

RJ Davis rallies North Carolina past No. 18 UCLA 76-74 in CBS Sports Classic

NEW YORK (AP) — RJ Davis made the tying and go-ahead free throws with 13 seconds left, and North Carolina erased a 16-point deficit for a 76-74 victory over No. 18 UCLA on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden. Davis scored 17 points and gave the Tar Heels (7-5) their first lead since the opening minutes. Ian Jackson scored a career-high 24 points. Seth Trimble added 12 and forced a UCLA turnover that set up the free throws by Davis as North Carolina outscored UCLA 33-15 over the final 12-plus minutes and shot 46.8%. Tyler Bilodeau tied a career high with 26 points but the Bruins (10-2) had a nine-game winning streak stopped.… Continue Reading

Elliot Cadeau, UNC ponder emotional loss to No. 7 Florida after comeback falls short

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina guard Elliot Cadeau couldn’t hold back the tears as he walked off the floor at the Spectrum Center following the Tar Heels’ 90-84 loss to No. 7 Florida. The Tar Heels again suffered through a lackluster first half against a big-time opponent, only to awaken in the second half and turn a 17-point deficit into the 4-point lead. But the Tar Heels faltered down the stretch, the victim of poor rebounding and untimely mistakes. One of those belonged to Cadeau, who dribbled the ball off his leg and out of bounds along the baseline with 1:26 left in the game with the score tied at 84. North Carolina wouldn’t score again.… Continue Reading

North Carolina’s brutal schedule continues with games against No. 7 Florida, No. 18 UCLA up next

North Carolina continues one of the most daunting schedules in Division I basketball this week. The Tar Heels face No. 7 Florida in Charlotte in the Jumpman Invitational on Tuesday night, then head to Madison Square Garden on Saturday to face No. 18 UCLA, which is riding an eight-game winning streak. North Carolina already has lost to eighth-ranked Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse, No. 2 Auburn and No. 20 Michigan State in Maui and No. 6 Alabama at home, and earned what has turned out to be a marquee victory over No. 21 Dayton, which just entered the AP poll this week.… Continue Reading

Olivia Thomas scores on a free kick to secure UNC’s first women’s soccer championship since 2012

CARY, N.C. (AP) — Olivia Thomas scored on a free kick in the 62nd minute for her fourth goal of the NCAA Tournament and North Carolina beat Wake Forest 1-0 on Monday night for the program’s first national championship since 2012. North Carolina (22-5-0) has won 22 of the 43 NCAA women’s soccer titles. The Tar Heels also won the 1981 AIAW title to total 23 national championships. No other women’s soccer team owns more than four. Wake Forest (16-4-4) was playing in the championship game for the first time in program history. The Demon Deacons were seeking just the 11th national championship in school history. UNC has 51 NCAA team championships across eight different sports.… Continue Reading