CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)– T.J. Starks scored 21 points and Texas A&M overpowered North Carolina inside, upsetting the reigning national champions 86-65 Sunday in the NCAA Tournament to mark the second straight year a title holder missed the Sweet 16.
The seventh-seeded Aggies (22-12) did everything they had to do to hand the Tar Heels a rare loss in a home-state NCAA game. They dominated the glass. They used their size to control the paint and block shots. And they pounced when UNC’s small-ball lineup couldn’t make an outside shot.
Robert Williams finished with 13 rebounds, helping the Aggies take a 50-36 edge while shooting 52 percent — including 10 of 24 from 3-point range.
Joel Berry II scored 21 points in his final game for the second-seeded Tar Heels (26-11), who were trying to reach their third straight Final Four. But they ended up falling to 34-2 in NCAA games in their home state, the only other loss coming in 1979.
The Tar Heels shot just 33 percent, including 6 of 31 (.194) on 3-pointers after entering the game shooting nearly 37 percent from behind the arc.
It came on the same court where, two nights earlier, UMBC made history by becoming the first 16-seed to beat a 1 when the Retrievers upset top overall seed Virginia. And as with that game, the upstart dispatched the favorite with surprising ease.
And, yet again, the reigning champs lost in the second round. Last year, Villanova was bounced by Wisconsin. Meanwhile, the Aggies — who peaked at No. 5 in the AP Top 25 in December — is moving on to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons.
The Tar Heels were a very different team than last year’s title winner, namely in the way they leaned on a small-ball lineup. But expectations grew that they could make a third straight Final Four run as UNC found a final-month groove, including two wins against Duke and a trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game.
Instead — after a heartbreaking title-game loss to Villanova in 2016 followed by last year’s title win against Gonzaga — the Tar Heels found themselves eliminated on the tournament’s opening weekend for the first time since 2014.
The Tar Heels led 20-13 early only to see the Aggies go on 15-0 run to change the entire dynamic of the game. Tyler Davis (18 points, nine rebounds) got loose for three baskets inside as the Aggies asserted themselves in the paint, while UNC started missing shot after shot.
By halftime, the Aggies had pushed to a 42-28 lead, then got 3-pointers from Admon Gilder and D.J. Hogg to open the second half and push the margin to a stunning 20 points.
Amazingly enough, the Tar Heels got no closer than 17 again to stun a crowd that was wearing a lot of blue and expecting the Tar Heels to advance.
UNC had won 12 of 13 NCAA Tournament games dating to its 2016 finals run before Sunday.
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RECORDS / SERIES NOTES
? No. 7 seed Texas A&M improved to 22-12 this season and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2018 NCAA Tournament on Sunday with an 86-65 victory over No. 2 seed North Carolina … the 2018 appearance marks the fifth Sweet 16 for the Maroon & White (Sixth trip to the Round of 16).
? The Aggies improved to 2-2 all-time against North Carolina, defeating the Tar Heels in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time … the Aggies topped the Heels 78-61 in double overtime during the 1980 tournament at The Super Pit in Denton, Texas.
? The defeat was just the second North Carolina has suffered in the state of North Carolina in NCAA Tournament play (34-2).
TEXAS A&M IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
? With the win, the Aggies are 13-14 all-time in 14 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
? The 21-point win was the second largest margin of victory for Texas A&M in NCAA Tournament play, edged out only by the 27-point win over Green Bay in the 2016 First Round.
? A&M head coach Billy Kennedy is 5-3 as a head coach during four appearances the NCAA Tournament … Kennedy’s four victories in the NCAA Tournament at Texas A&M are the most by an Aggie head coach, passing former A&M coaches Shelby Metcalf, Billy Gillispie and Mark Turgeon (3).
TEAM NOTES
? Texas A&M overwhelmed North Carolina with a shooting barrage on the night, the Aggies connected on 10-of-24 3-pointers and were an impressive 31-for-60 from the floor … the 10 made 3’s and 31 made field goals were the second most the Aggies have connected on in an NCAA Tournament game.
? The Aggies equaled their eight-block performance from Friday afternoon against Providence, matching the program record in March Madness.
? Texas A&M controlled the glass throughout the game, outrebounding the Tar Heels 50-36 on the game … coming into the game the Tar Heels owned the nation’s second-best rebounding margin (10.2) in the NCAA while Texas A&M ranked 19th (6.3).
? Four Aggies scored in double figures on the night, the second straight game with a quartet of Aggies scoring more than 10 points.
? The Aggies took a 42-28 lead into the locker room … the Maroon & White tied the most points they have ever scored in the first half of an NCAA tournament game … the Aggies have scored 42 points in the opening half against Memphis in 2007, BYU in 2009, Trinity in 1969 and Utah State in 2010.
? Texas A&M shot a blistering 50 percent from the floor (17-for-34) in the first 20 minutes, including a 5-for-11 mark from beyond the 3-point line.
? In a matchup of two of the best rebounding teams in the NCAA, the Aggies owned a decided 25-18 advantage on the glass in the first half.
? A&M used the starting lineup combination of TJ Starks, Admon Gilder, DJ Hogg, Robert Williams and Tyler Davis for the 13th time this season (8-5).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
? Freshman TJ Starks led Texas A&M in scoring for the first time in the NCAA Tournament, finishing with 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting … additionally, the rookieguard paced the Aggies in assists for the second straight game, finishing with five dimes on the night … Starks’ 13 assists in the 2018 NCAA Tournament match David Goff’s (1980) Texas A&M record for assists in a tournament.
? Junior Tyler Davis dominated the paint scoring 18 points and corralling nine rebounds against the Tar Heels … Davis moved past Jeff Overhouse (739, 1970-73) for 11th on the all-time rebounding list with 745 boards in his three seasons in Aggieland … after registering three blocks against the Tar Heels, Davis joins Brian Davis (no relation) as the only other Aggies to register three or more blocks in multiple tournament games.
? Junior DJ Hogg put on a display from beyond the 3-point arc in tobacco country, the sharpshooter finished 3-for-7 from deep finishing with his NCAA Tournament best 14 points on the night … Hogg also pitched in eight rebounds as he flirted with a double-double, the eight boards are the most he has pulled down in an NCAA Tournament game
? Sophomore Robert Williams pulled down 13 rebounds against North Carolina … the sophomore has hauled in 524 in his two seasons in the Maroon & White, good for 22nd on the all-time Texas A&M list.
? Aggie head coach Billy Kennedy improved to 137-97 during his seven-year tenure at Texas A&M and 348-276 in 20 seasons as a head coach.
UP NEXT
? The Aggies advanced to the West Regional in Los Angles to take on No. 3 seed Michigan on Thursday in the Sweet 16.
SUNDAY, MARCH 18 | TEXAS A&M INTERVIEW QUOTES
HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening statement
“Great win, great team win. I thought we got a performance from everybody. I thought once we slowed them up in transition and our zone gave them some problems. Unfortunately, they missed some shots and I thought that we did a good job rebounding the ball and taking care of the ball, especially in the first half.”
On the team’s overall performance
“We shared the ball. We talked about making one more pass and our goal was to defend the 3-point line and make them take tough twos. And when you block eight shots, that means there is a ton of tough twos. Our game plan worked. They didn’t shoot the ball well and we took them out of transition.”
CENTER TONNY TROCHA-MORELOS
On making the Sweet 16 for the second time in his career
“It means a lot because this is my senior year and I wanted to do something like this for our younger guys. I wanted them to experience this. I got to experience it as a sophomore and it was a great feeling. I told our freshmen — ‘there’s nothing better than winning a game in the NCAA Tournament.’ It’s an absolutely great feeling to keep dancing.”
CENTER TYLER DAVIS
On the A&M presence on the inside against Carolina
“We just stuck to our game plan and played to our strengths. We know we have the advantage on the inside against most teams. So we just did what we do every day — go to war on the inside and eat glass… we have great size and we do have great length. I knew this game I was going to have to work hard to keep their bigs off the glass.”
On what the Aggies had that helped them prevail other than skills and statistics
“We had a certain togetherness today. Right from the jump even though we didn’t have the fastest start, but we were together the whole time. There was never a minute out there we weren’t together. Sticking together is what got us the dub.”
On the way A&M could control their perimeter game
“We knew we would get open looks just by the way they play defense. We took advantage of our opportunities and we did a great job moving the ball and playing inside out. We got great open looks and just plain knocked them down.”
GUARD ADMON GILDER
On holding Carolina scoreless for a key stretch in the first half
“Coach [Isaac] Chew and Coach [Billy] Kennedy preach defense. They talked about going into this game that the only team that could beat us is ourselves. As you saw, we played our brand of basketball that we do on an everyday basis. We force teams to take tough shots. Give North Carolina credit; they’re a great team but they just came out missing shots.”
GUARD T.J. STARKS
On being the second team in Charlotte to make history, referring to the fact that North Carolina had never lost in Charlotte before
“We came ready to play. We’ve been talking about this our whole season, so we were ready for the moment. North Carolina is a great team and they play together well. They have great offensive and defensive threats. We just came together to get the win. Everyone keeps saying it, but really, just playing together is what it was.”
FORWARD ROBERT WILLIAMS
On what gave them the belief
“Just a lot of reassurance, letting each other know what we had within the coaching staff and the players. We’ve been seeing all of the upsets, so we figured we could do it.”
On putting the game away with 5 minutes left
“It was just a blessing. Seeing the reactions from my teammates and fans, honestly, that’s what made my day.”
On going into the crowd after the game to celebrate
“Seeing my dad, just hugging him and my stepmom. My dad, he’s been with through this whole situation. He’s been pushing me forward, sticking by my side so it felt good to hug him and celebrate.”
On being written off earlier in the season
“I feel like we’re a team that doesn’t give up, no matter what people say. We believe in ourselves. We honestly have, you can say we’re cocky at sometimes individually but I feel like we’ve been backing it up lately. I feel like we’re doing a great job.”
On how they kept the momentum
“We just tried to play like it was 0-0, like it was the first half and keep it up the whole game.”
On whether they were excited to play UNC or just the opportunity to play
“Honestly it was just an opportunity to get to the Sweet Sixteen. Obviously, playing North Carolina basically at home was a big opportunity for us but we just came and attacked it like it was any other game.”
GUARD JAY JAY CHANDLER
On being part of this team
“It’s a blessing. Since the summer, we’ve been working to get all the way to the championship. Now we’re living the dream. We’ve just got to keep pushing forward.”
On what went into the 18-2 run
“Rebounding, being on the defensive end and just grabbing the rebound, getting stops. Then coming down on the offensive end and just playing our game.”
On whether it sunk in that they knocked off the defending champs:
“No, it hasn’t sunk in yet. We always talk about we deserve to be here, so they’re a good team over there but we came in with the right mindset and just trying to just keep moving forward.”
On the confidence heading into the game
“They’re a good team; we’re a good team. There’s really no difference. We just went in there, we knew what we could do we knew what they could do. The coaches came with a good game plan. We just went out there and executed.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics