UNC squanders big lead, falls to VCU 82-78 in overtime in NCAA tournament opener
GREENVILLE, S.C. (WTVD) -- No. 6 seed North Carolina squandered a big lead melt against No. 11 seed VCU before being ousted in overtime 82-78 on Thursday in an NCAA tournament opener.
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The Tar Heels held a 56-37 lead in the second half before the Rams mounted a huge comeback and tied the game at 75 on a driving layup by Terrence Hill Jr., who finished with 34 points off the bench.
Hill finished 7 for 10 from 3-point range and scored 20 of his points after halftime as VCU (28-7) won its first NCAA tournament game since 2016.
"I know my team needs me down the stretch," Hill said. "Going into the second half, I wanted to be as aggressive as possible. When the plays were there for me to make them, I was going to make them. And if my teammates were open, I was going to hit them."
After the Tar Heels called a timeout, Veesaar lost the ball out of bounds in the frontcourt with 2.4 seconds left, giving VCU a chance to win. Trimble stole the inbounds pass and had a chance to flip the script, but missed a running 3-point try at the buzzer, sending the game into OT.
Veesaar had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels (25-8), who went 0-3 after star Caleb Wilson was ruled out for the season with an injury.
For the third time in the last four seasons, the Tar Heels failed to reach the Round of 32 under coach Hubert Davis.
"We had open looks. We had shots at the basket. We had executed plays," Davis said. "And we missed eight free throws. Sometimes the ball doesn't go in."
In overtime, Seth Trimble made 1 of 2 free throws with 35 seconds left to put the Tar Heels up 78-77.
But Hill made his crucial 3-pointer from beyond the top of the key to give VCU an 80-78 lead.
Veesar was fouled with 4.2 seconds left, but missed the first of two free throws. He was forced to try to throw the ball off the rim with the second shot, but missed, and VCU got the ball underneath the North Carolina basket.
Lewis was fouled and hit two free throws to ice the game.
"This game was the perfect microcosm of who this group has been," VCU coach Phil Martelli Jr. said. "They've been resilient as much as any group I've ever been around. We've done it all year."
VCU shot 62% from the field in the second half and was 7 of 10 from beyond the arc in the second half to force overtime.
VCU had no answer early on for the 7-foot Veesaar in the pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop. The Estonian had 13 points and five rebounds in the first half as the Tar Heels built a 15-point lead.
When Veesaar wasn't scoring while rolling to the basket, he was making open 3s from the top of the key.
But the big man seemed to tire as the game went on, and mistakes followed. He finished with three turnovers.
"We weren't playing as loose as we did the whole game," Trimble said of his team's play down the stretch.
Davis went to a six-man rotation in the second half, and Martelli sensed the Tar Heels were starting to tire in the final four minutes.
"I did notice that," Martelli said. "... A couple of shots that went short, I said, 'we've got them right here.' If we can just make a couple more shots, we're going to have a shot."
Nyk Lewis added 16 points, including two clutch free throws, to seal the game for the Rams, who'll face the winner of No. 14 Penn and No. 3 Illinois in the second round on Saturday.
"I've been talking to the big fella the whole game," VCU center Lazar Djokovic said of Veesaar. "It kind of got me mad. I hit those back-to-back 3s, and from then on, we smelled the blood. We see the look in their faces, and from then on, we just went on a run."
It was an epic collapse for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels are now 48-2 all-time in the tournament when leading by double digits at the half. The only other loss came in the 2022 championship against Kansas, when they led 40-25 but lost 72-69
- The Associated Press contributed
