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USA Today
16-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Legendary college basketball head coach criticial of Jae'Lyn Withers lane violation
Legendary college basketball head coach criticial of Jae'Lyn Withers lane violation Jae'Lyn Withers' solid late season play was overshadowed by one costly mistake in the ACC Tournament semifinals. I still think about the ending of Friday night's UNC-Duke ACC Tournament Semifinal matchup, but most of my focus is now on Selection Sunday. The North Carolina Tar Heels were in desperate need of another signature win to boost their NCAA Tournament chances, with the top-seeded Blue Devils providing a chance for that scenario. UNC staged a massive comeback from 20+ down, but a missed free throw and unfortunate blunder halted those chances, with a 74-71 loss resulting. With four seconds remaining in the second half Friday night, Ven-Allen Lubin backed down Duke center Khaman Maluach and drew the foul. Lubin missed his first free throw, then Jae'Lyn Withers committed a lane violation on Lubin's second attempt. Withers played some great basketball in helping anchor North Carolina's late-season turnaround, including seven made 3-pointers in a 76-56 win over Notre Dame earlier in the ACC Tournament, so please don't go blaming Withers for Friday's loss. Legendary Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is one of many who feels for Withers after his costly mistake, but as 247Sports' Cody Nagel pointed out, Boeheim also highlighted how it was a momentum-buster for the Tar Heels. "He's gonna have to live with that — nobody's gonna wanna live with that," Boeheim said after UNC's ACC Tournament Semifinals loss. "It's an effort mistake. You can say that, but in that situation, it's just one you can't make. And it cost Carolina an awful lot. They dominated the last 10 minutes. Duke hung in there. Duke had control of the game until 7-8 minutes to go. Then, Carolina just kept going, kept going, kept going. It was a great effort spoiled by just a mental mistake." I hope Withers gets another chance to redeem himself and end his UNC career on a high note. Even if North Carolina doesn't make the NCAA Tournament, there's a chance at playing in the NIT, but head coach Hubert Davis could turn down that invitation again. Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
15-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Everything Hubert Davis, RJ Davis said after UNC loss to Duke in ACC Tournament
Everything Hubert Davis, RJ Davis said after UNC loss to Duke in ACC Tournament Hear what UNC head coach Hubert Davis and star guard RJ Davis said after Friday's ACC Tournament Semifinals loss to Dule. The first UNC-Duke basketball matchup this year was a blowout. Saturday, March 8 in Chapel Hill wasn't much better. It appeared the ACC Tournament Semifinal matchup on Friday, March 14 was heading towards a blowout, but North Carolina came roaring back in the second half. The Tar Heels dug themselves too deep a hole, though, losing 74-71 in a game that could very well decide their NCAA Tournament fate. UNC (22-13, 13-7) had every excuse to win Friday's game, facing a Blue Devils (30-3, 19-1) squad without superstar Cooper Flagg and top defender Maliq Brown. Instead, North Carolina trailed by 21 points at halftime and endured perimeter shooting woes that plagued it all season long. Also as the Tar Heels did all season long, they showed plenty of fight and overcame a massive second-half deficit. UNC actually had a chance to take the lead with under five seconds to go, as starting center Ven-Allen Lubin went to the line for a pair of free throws. Lubin missed the front end, then Jae'Lyn Withers got called for a lane violation I haven't seen in ages. I watch so many games where that same play isn't called – and it's tough Friday's game had to end on one. You can go ahead and blame North Carolina's loss on Withers' timely mistake, but Withers is one of the main reasons the Tar Heels were playing Friday in the first place. UNC lost because of digging itself in a 20-plus point hole during the first half. North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis had quite a few things to say in his postgame press conference, while star guard RJ Davis joined him for a couple questions. Hubert on his feelings about the 2024-2025 Tar Heels "I can't be more proud of a team than I am right now. Just love these guys to death. I love their fight, I love their togetherness, I love how close they are. I told them after the game, I didn't think I could be more proud of a group than I am right now. But I am more proud. I thank Jesus every day that I get to be their head coach.' Hubert on Ven-Allen Lubin's continued impact and tonight's double-double "He helped us a lot. Not just in scoring, his defense his rebounding, keeping the ball alive, running the floor. He's been consistently at a high level for a while and giving us that inside presence, alongside our ability to score from the outside has helped us out offensively. Again, Ven's activity, Duke even without Maliq and Cooper, they still have tremendous length. And so for Ven to be able to do what he did against a long and athletic team, was exactly what we needed to be able to get back into the game.' Hubert on whether UNC deserves an NCAA Tournament spot 'We're going to go back home. The most thing I've been proud of this group, is and they're good questions in regards to the NCAA Tournament. Those are questions that have been asked over a month. And for our guys to stay focused on what is real and that was, being the best team we could become, continue to prepare, practice and play, whomever we're playing, keep our eyes focused straight ahead on the competition right in front of us and be thebest that we can be. For a month and a half, we basically played must-win games. In that situation, our team played the best. That's pretty cool from a bunch of kids.' RJ on whether UNC deserves an NCAA Tournament spot 'I think we've shown these past couple of weeks that we are a tournament team. We're a special team. If you look at the trajectory of our whole season, the way we dealt with diversity and perseverance, especially these last couple of weeks, we overcame all of that. You couldn't ask for a better team than that, which goes through that type of adversity, goes through that type of criticism and still perseveres through it all and comes out on top. I think that's a tournament team right there for you. Cause that's what March is all about.' RJ on the UNC-Duke rivalry 'I think anytime you put on this jersey and you're going against Duke, it's an opportunity to be part of history. I've been fortunate and grateful enough to play in a lot of games, that I'll cherish and remember for the rest of my life. I just think with this team and this year's group of guys, to be down 20 the first half and then fight our way back, all the way down to a minute and a half, I don't think a rivalry gets better than that. It was a gritty game and I'm just proud of the way we, not just against Duke but this whole tournament and all year, we consistently battle and compete at an all-time level.'
