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By Megan Armstrong
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No. 11 VCU's upset of No. 6 North Carolina in the first round of the men's NCAA Tournament was a popular pick. The Tar Heels lost Caleb Wilson for the season after the star freshman broke his right thumb in practice on March 5.
It would have been understandable if UNC was simply undermanned and put up a lifeless performance against a streaking VCU Rams squad.
That was not the script on Thursday night.
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North Carolina was in control. The Tar Heels led 39-28 at the half and opened up a 19-point lead midway through the second half. Then, the bottom fell out. The Rams charged back to come within two with just under four to play, and VCU's Terrence Hill Jr. made a driving layup to knot the game at 75 with 11 seconds left in regulation.
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The score remained 75-75 for the first three minutes of overtime, and it was Hill Jr. again who delivered the dagger — a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in OT. The ultimate death knell was UNC's Henri Veesaar missing his first free throw, then illegally missing his second by not hitting the rim.
According to Isaac Schade, the Heels' loss is just the second time in program history that they lost an NCAA Tournament game in which they led by double digits.
By the time the score was final, UNC fans had been venting about UNC head coach Hubert Davis for a while on X (formerly Twitter).
"I’m not sure I can do another year of Hubert Davis coaching Carolina," wrote Taylor Vippolis, a former UNC wide receiver and producer at Meadowlark Media.
A fan named Tre wrote, "Hubert Davis is the king of blowing 20-point leads in big games," and another fan account joked, "Hubert Davis might get the Lane Kiffin tarmac treatment if UNC loses this." Several fans employed the enraged and cursing emojis to illustrate their moods while watching Davis' game management.
More bluntly, loads of fans called for Davis' immediate firing, as seen here. One fan is very committed to the cause, writing, "If this is what FINALLY gets Hubert Davis fired, I will get the game score tattooed on me."
The Heels' loss to VCU marked their second consecutive first-round NCAA Tournament exit, which has never happened before in UNC men's basketball history, according to their Sports Reference page. Last year, UNC lost as a 11-seed to No. 6 Ole Miss.
Hubert took over upon Roy Williams' retirement in April 2021. In Hubert's first season as head coach, the Tar Heels lost to Kansas in the national championship. Fittingly, the Tar Heels also squandered a 15-point lead then, and Kansas' comeback victory was the largest comeback in NCAA Tournament title game history (via NPR).
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