**************************************************************************************
***************************************************************************************
PHILADELPHIA – Brady Manek needed a joke.
He needed to laugh, or at least exhale.
The 6-foot-10 forward was under some self-induced duress Friday night as North Carolina’s Sweet 16 game versus UCLA at Wells Fargo Center roared toward its final bend.
If UNC was going to escape the defensive-minded Bruins and advance to the Elite Eight, Manek needed to follow the script and make some shots, but he wasn’t. A trio of misses over a 45-second span midway through the second half had Manek yelling at himself in frustration, culminating with him ripping off a head band in utter disgust.
So, Carolina Coach Hubert Davis pulled him out at the next dead ball, which came at the 8:38 mark.
“Yeah, it was one of those games,” said Manek, who was 5-for-13 from the floor. “I started off hot early, but these guys, they kept me up, they kept throwing me the ball, trusted me to shoot it… It doesn't all come down to me making shots. But yeah, I had an off-night, and these guys helped pull through.”
Caleb Love scored 27 of his 30 points in the second half, Armando Bacot flexed up over the final few minutes, and the Heels, aided in part by Manek’s defensive work, closed out fourth-seeded UCLA 12-2 over the final two minutes to defeat the Bruins, 73-66, and advance to the regional final.
But Manek making shots was also part of that story. Or at least one big shot. His only one of the second half, but it was huge.
The former Oklahoma Sooner returned to the floor with 6:10 remaining and Carolina trailing 58-56. He missed a three-pointer 48 seconds later, but didn’t stress over it. And at the 4:23 mark, he got another chance.
This time, the long three fell through the cylinder, giving UNC a 61-60 advantage, its first lead since 11:47 remained. It wasn’t just that it put eighth-seeded UNC (27-9) in front, a lead that didn’t last long at the time, but it signaled to the rest of the team Manek was still out there and capable of helping Love get the team some needed buckets. It sent the same message to UCLA.
“He got a little frustrated in the second half because he missed a couple shots that he felt like he normally makes, so we took him out and just gave him a little breather and let him collect his thoughts,” Davis said. “And then we put him back in and tried to make him laugh and told him a couple jokes, and it loosened him up a little bit, and he was able to hit that three.”
It is no joke for Manek, who had 13 points, eight rebounds, and kept UCLA's Jaime Jaquez from going off, that he and the Tar Heels are headed to the Elite Eight.
Games like this, stages like this, and success like this are reasons why Manek opted to spend his final year in college at UNC. He left Oklahoma as its 14th all-time leading scorer, but he is now one game away from the Final Four in Carolina blue. And his marksmanship and grit are big reasons why the Tar Heels have inched closer to spending next weekend in New Orleans.
“For him, he's never been this far before,” Davis said. “And for somebody that this is the first year he's ever lived anywhere outside of Oklahoma, and for him to trust me in my first year as head coach and be a part of this program and do what he's doing and experiencing what he's experiencing, it's a pretty cool feeling.
“I'm just really, really happy for him.”
Manek is quite elated, too, because those jokes obviously worked.
