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FORT WORTH, TX – When Brady Manek was whistled for a flagrant two foul with 10:08 remaining and North Carolina dominating top seed Baylor, it was a blow to the Tar Heels, but it didn’t appear a meltdown was about to ensue.
Yet, it did.
UNC led top-seed Baylor by 25 points when Manek was ejected, but completely fell apart afterward. A 10-0 Baylor run had the Heels stressing. So did the Bears full-court press, Carolina’s panicked offensive possession, and even more so once Caleb Love fouled out with 6:15 still on the clock and UNC leading by 13.
The eighth-seeded Tar Heels regrouped in overtime to beat the defending national champions, 93-86, and as soon as the last second ticked off the clock, the players couldn't wait to get back to the locker room to greet Manek and show him some love.
“When we got back into the locker room, we all gave him a big hug,” said sophomore guard RJ Davis, who led Carolina with 30 points. “Just to be happy for him. We just wanted to do for him and got it done.”
Prior to being tossed for elbowing Baylor’s Jeremy Sochan, Manek was again scorching the nets. He finished with 26 points, but 17 came in the first 9:52 of the second half, as UNC turned a 13-point halftime lead into a 25-point rout. Or so it seemed.
As soon as Manek was ejected, Baylor reeled off 10 consecutive points. UNC then proceeded to meltdown. The program’s largest blown lead in a loss was 22 points versus Maryland in 1997. This would have been a new record, but the Tar Heels came together in overtime and found a way to get the victory.
“You know, we really just wanted to do it for him,” said forward Justin McKoy, who played the final 10 minutes of the game, including all of overtime. “It's his last year. The way I looked it was, you know, I don't want it to be his last game, I want to see him out there again.
“And so I was, like, let's go win this for him.”
It appeared that every time Baylor was about to rev up and make a push in the second half, Manek would drain a three or find another way to score. So when he left, Carolina (26-9) not just lost its most experienced player, but it also lost a key shot maker. That nearly proved costly down the stretch.
“You know, when he got injected, we were trying to regroup and just tell everybody to keep their composure,” said senior Leaky Black. “There was a lot of time left, but we knew we could do it.”
And do it for themselves and Manek, who declined interview requests from the media following the game. A team spokesman said he felt bad about what happened and didn’t want to speak with the media.
His teammates didn’t mind, though.
“We just knew everybody had to step up coming off the bench,” said freshman Dontrez Styles, who played a career-high 25 minutes. “Brady is a hell of a player, he's one of our best players, one of the best players in the country, in my opinion.
“So, we had to step up with him and do it for him.”
The Tar Heels stepped up and won it for themselves and Manek, and are headed to the Sweet 16 for the 35th time in program history.
