Sorry Duke Blue Devils fans; the North Carolina Tar Heels are still alive in the 2024 NCAA Tournament after Hubert Davis steered North Carolina basketball to the third round of March Madness by taking down Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans on Sunday during the second round of the Big Dance.
But it's not just North Carolina basketball fans that the Tar Heels made happy with another win in the tournament. Tar Heels spread bettors also were left smiling in triumph, as their investment in North Carolina paid dividends once again.
Hubert Davis has been a gift that keeps on giving for March Madness bettors
With their win 85-69 win over Michigan State, the Tar Heels improved to 8-0 against the spread in March Madness games coached by Davis. North Carolina basketball entered the Spartans game as just a 3.5-point favorite. As it turned out, that was too low of a spread to make Tar Heels backers sweat, with North Carolina blowing Michigan State out of the water.
However, it was not smooth sailing for Davis and the Tar Heels in the second round. Michigan State had an eight-point lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the first half before a timeout huddle seemingly lit a fire under North Carolina, which went on to a 20-3 run to go to halftime with a nine-point lead.
“I was pretty fired up,” Davis said after the game about the message he sent his team during that timeout (h/t Ehsan Kassim USA TODAY NETWORK).
“I just didn't feel like the competitive fire to start the game. They were more physical than us. Their will and their want-to overpowered us. And I said ‘we can't even talk about basketball 'till we join the fight.' About the 10-minute mark of the first half, then they started competing. And everything turned for us,” Davis added.
North Carolina basketball inches closer to a national title
Reaching the third round is already quite an achievement for North Carolina, which is relishing the success it is having in the 2024 edition of March Madness after missing the Big Dance in 2023.
“I appreciate every moment. I appreciate the sunny days and the cloudy days. I've said this a number of times, there's a reason for all seasons, and He's the reason for all seasons, and I mean Jesus, and those reasons are good. Irregardless if it's a sunny or a cloudy day. All those reasons develop my character, refine my faith, and make me the person and the husband and the dad and the coach that I want to be. So I enjoy all the moments,” Davis said in the postgame press conference (via Evan Rogers of Inside Carolina).
RJ Davis led North Carolina basketball in the Spartans game with 20 points, while Armando Bacot had 18 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists plus a couple of blocks.
What's next for North Carolina after beating Michigan State?
North Carolina basketball has yet to ascertain which team it will face in the Sweet 16 round. But it is going to be the winner of Sunday's second-round matchup between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Grand Canyon Lopes. For what it is worth, the Tar Heels have won eight of 13 meetings against Alabama overall. Grand Canyon, on the other hand, has never shared the floor with North Carolina, so far in both programs' history.
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