The Wisconsin Badgers broke the Big-Ten Mackey curse on Friday, defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 85-62 in the first round of the NCAA men’s tournament.
Tar Heel coach Roy Williams was 29-0 all-time in first round games before this year, 15-0 in first round games with the Tar Heels.
Coming into the tournament, Wisconsin was 18-12, with a 10-10 conference record. The Badgers lost to Iowa in the Big Ten tournament a week ago.
The Tar Heels and rival Duke Blue Devils both finished the regular season unranked for the first time 61 years. Williams team finished 18-11 overall and 10-6 in conference play.
After a slow start, the Badgers went on an 8-2 run in the first 4 minutes and never gave up their lead. Their largest lead was by 23 points, coming with Jordan Davis’ last-minute three-pointer. The Badgers were up 40-24 at halftime and continued to control the game in the second half, shooting 17-30 from the field and 7-13 from the three-point range.
Stellar Badger Backcourt
Wisconsin Guards Brad Davison and D’Mitrik Trice shot the lights out in Mackey Arena. They combined for 50 points, accounting for 58% of the Badgers total points.
Davison finished with 29 points and was 5-7 from the three-point range. With 37 minutes on the court, Davison tallied 6 rebounds and an assist as well.
“Defense led to great offense.” Davison said, “Nobody here came here for individual reasons, we came here to be apart of a team that’s going to take advantage of opportunities in March.”
Trice (brother of former Michigan State guard Travis Trice) finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists and played 36 minutes. Trice led the Badgers with a season average of 13.7 points per game and 4 assists per game coming into the tournament.
UNC Frontcourt Struggles
The Tar Heel frontcourt, led by Armando Bacot and Garrison Brooks, came out slow in the first half. Bacot went into halftime 0-1 from the field, while Brooks went 1-7 and finished with 3 points at the half.
Bacot finished the regular season averaging 12.2 points per game and 8 rebounds, which led the team. He was 6-9 from the field against Wisconsin and finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, an assist, and 2 steals.
Up Next
Wisconsin will face the number 1 seeded Baylor Bears on Sunday, March 21st at 2:40pm EST at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
