North Carolina was absolutely destroying No. 1 seeded Baylor by 25 points in the second half and then sh*t happened. Ultimately, the Tar Heels overcame the stink to advance to the Sweet 16 with a 93-86 overtime win over the defending national champions. (3/19)

Carolina led 67-42 after Brady Manek drilled a three from the right corner with 10:46 left but within seconds Manek threw a high elbow and, after many looks at the monitor, officials ejected him from game.

Baylor went on a frantic 11-0 run in just two minutes to cut the lead to 14. But the Bears weren’t through. After another blow for Carolina – Caleb Love fouling out on a call that could have gone either way – Baylor continued the pressure and a 12-2 run cut the UNC margin to six at 73-67 with more than three minutes to play.

Baylor cut it to three twice over the next three minutes. After Armando Bacot missed a free throw – he missed three of them over the last 38 seconds of regulation – Baylor’s Jeremy Sochan banked in a three to make it 80-77 as everything seemed to go against the Heels.

You’d think the Bears would need a three but instead James Akinjo was able to tie the game with an old-fashioned three-point play as he drove and was fouled by R.J. Davis with 15.8 seconds left.

Carolina couldn’t get off a good shot and the game went to overtime. During the 38-13 run after Manek was ejected, Carolina turned the ball over 10 times amid the pressing defense and were called with 10 straight fouls compared to none for Baylor.

In overtime, sub Dontrez Styles drained a three from the left corner in the first 30 seconds to give the Heels an 83-80 lead.

Along with that shot, the biggest play in overtime came on a Davis driving layup with his left hand. He was fouled and he hit the free throw to put Carolina in control at 91-85 with 1:15 left. While there were some anxious moments and more looking at the monitor, it never got closer than five the rest of the way.

After the game, the Carolina players hugged Manek in the lockerroom. “We really wanted to do it for him,” sub Justin McKoy said. “We didn’t want this to be his last game.”

Davis, who would have been the story of the game with 30 points if not for the big comeback, said when they went to overtime the players talked about staying together, making plays and not getting too rattled.

“Up until the 10-minute mark, we had been doing a good job of taking care of the basketball,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. But the Baylor pressure sped the Heels up, he added, which led to turnovers.

“At times we lost our composure when they stepped up their efforts,” Davis said. “But we were able to make the plays we needed to make to win the game.”

Senior leader Leaky Black said it was the craziest game he’d every played in. “It was fun though,” he said with a relieved laugh. “We got the Dub.”

In addition to Davis’ 30 points, Manek scored 26 points and Bacot scored 15 to go with his 16 rebounds.

Baylor, led by Adam Flagler’s 27 points, ends the season 27-7

Carolina, now 26-9 overall, takes on the winner of St. Mary’s and UCLA in the next round.

Box Score