UNC, Arkansas familiar foes in NCAA second round

If Berry is unable to play, or is limited on Sunday against Arkansas, the Tar Heels would be more reliant on reserves Nate Britt, Stilman White and Seventh Woods. The Razorbacks didn’t do that, either. In 1995, Arkansas defeated North Carolina 75-68 at the Final Four.

Anderson’s only Arkansas NCAA Tournament team before this one lost, 87-78 to Williams’ Tar Heels in 2015 at Jacksonville, Fla.

Harrison Barnes may have been the forgotten man on the Golden State Warriors teams of the past two years, but he’s the centerpiece of our North Carolina alumni squad.

After North Carolina scored the first four points of the second half, Arkansas ripped off another big run, a 14-4 burst that gave the SEC school its first lead of the game, 47-46, on Dustin Thomas’s bank shot in the lane.

Carolina beat Tech 6-5 on Friday when the Jackets fell short in a comeback effort, but on Saturday the bullpen held it together late, and clutch hitting put Danny Hall’s squad over the hump.

The two starters are too integral to UNC’s success to play this poorly in the postseason.

With averages of 11.5 points and 6.3 rebounds this year, the 12-year National Basketball Association veteran definitely has a place in our starting five. Pinson mustered just 2 points. The Razorbacks didn’t play in the NCAA Tournament from 2009-2014 during John Pelphrey’s last three seasons as coach and Anderson’s first three seasons.

It no longer mattered that UNC had seemingly built an insurmountable 30-13 lead in the first half, or that the Razorbacks had charged back with a 37-16 run spanning almost 13 minutes to take a four-point lead.

The saving grace, though, was the play of Kennedy Meeks-who posted 16 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks to help steady the ship on a night defined by inefficiency. Justin Jackson led the team with 21 points and seven rebounds while Isaiah Hicks added 17 points and six rebounds. And the next time Arkansas had the ball, still trailing by three, Anton Beard launched a deep 3-ball with 15 seconds left that drew nothing but iron.

Despite putting up one its worst shooting performances of the season, North Carolina is moving on to the Sweet 16. “He’s been getting treatment. A very heated rivalry”, said Williams, who played for the Tar Heels.

After the win Friday, Berry explained that he’d stayed on the floor a little longer than normal after taking his first shot once returning to the game because he thought he was fouled on the way to the basket.

Berry finished the game with 10 points in 34 minutes. North Carolina has averaged scoring 85.4 points per game and Arkansas is at 79.7 points per game.

Arkansas ends the year winning nine of its final 12 games, including a trip to the SEC Championship game and the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. He felt it most on his lift on field-goal attempts.