Six-Run First Carries North Carolina Past Syracuse in ACC Softball Quarterfinals

By The ACC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (theACC.com) – No. 3 seed North Carolina scored six runs in the first inning and never looked back as the Tar Heels earned an 8-4 win over No. 6 seed Syracuse in the last quarterfinal of the 2017 ACC Softball Championship at North Carolina’s Anderson Stadium.

Six Tar Heels combined for North Carolina’s seven hits on the night. Brittany Pickett earned the win for the Tar Heels while pitching the complete game and striking out seven on the night.

The Tar Heels didn’t waste any time getting runs on the board and scored six in the bottom of the first inning.

Syracuse’s Faith Cain made it 6-1 with a solo home run in the top of the second. The Orange added another run when Alicia Hansen doubled to right and drove Jessica Heese home to make it 6-2 in the top of the third.

Pickett, a National Freshman of the Year finalist, jacked her 12th homer of the season to push the Tar Heels’ lead to five runs, 7-2, in the bottom of the third.

The game was delayed due to severe weather in the area in the middle of the fourth inning. The delay lasted 72 minutes before play resumed at 10:10 p.m.

Once play resumed, the Tar Heels added one to the ledger in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead 8-2 before Syracuse’s short-lived rally in the top of the seventh.

Friday’s semifinal games include No. 1 seed Florida State against No. 5 seed Notre Dame at 1 p.m., and No. 3 seed North Carolina versus No. 7 seed NC State at 3:30 p.m. Both games will air on the ACC’s Regional Sports Networks, while Saturday’s title game will be carried live on ESPN.

NORTH CAROLINA QUOTES

UNC head coach Donna Papa on playing again after almost two weeks off and opening with a six-run first inning:

“I think they were really focused coming out. They were kind of hungry because we haven’t played in almost two weeks. We really stressed keeping everything simple and having fun and that’s what we did. We were really loose and it showed when we went up to the plate. It was a great way to start – when you start with that many runs in the first inning, your pitchers can relax a little bit, your defense can relax a little bit and if there were any nerves, it helps you get through that.”

Papa on the benefits of hosting the ACC Tournament and of playing after the end of exams

“We’ve been pretty successful playing at home, so it’s very advantageous. They can sleep in their own beds. Families are around and they have a little more free time in the day because they’re not coming from class. I think it’s a big advantage to be at home.”

Papa on advancing to face NC State on Friday

“State is a very good hitting team and I think we’re a good hitting team so it’s going to be a great battle. You’ve got four teams left now that can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Dean Smith always said, “Survive and advance,” and that’s really what you’re doing this time of year. You play one game at a time. You can’t look ahead at all.

UNC freshman pitcher Brittany Pickett on the benefits of playing at home

“We’re here, we get to sleep in our own beds. We’re comfortable here, knowing this is our place.”

UNC sophomore catcher Katie Bailiff on the break between the end of the regular season and the start of postseason play

“Having those two weeks to take exams and have a few days off really helped us prepare and get rested.”

SYRACUSE QUOTES

Opening Statement from Head Coach Mike Bosch:

“Obviously we got ourselves behind the first inning. We got behind 6-0 – that’s a big uphill battle to climb at that point with a lot of game left. I thought we chipped away and held them there, but those six runs were too much to come back from.”

Bosch on if he thought the team played well after the first inning:

“After the first inning, it was 4-2. We had four runs and they had two. The game is seven innings. The first inning we came out and walked a couple people. We tried a pitching change. The pitching change didn’t help. The movement wasn’t there and they 8-9 batters got a couple RBI for them. Once our pitching settled in a little bit, our offense had to pick it up after that. Unfortunately, only four after that. Our kids competed. They could have rolled over a little bit and got down on themselves after that first inning, but I thought that they competed hard after that first inning.”

Bosch on the season as a whole:

“I thought our season was another step forward for us. I thought we became more competitive. Obviously our win total was the best we’ve had in five years. I think the program is in an upward movement meaning that I’ve seen good things from where we’ve gone in the last two years, and I think next year will be another step forward for us. That’s where you want to go. You want to keep improving as a program and I think that’s what we did this year. I think the foundation is set for a pretty good 2018.”

Surprising Oregon faces old-school UNC in Final Four

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North Carolina is the best rebounding team in the country. Oregon is down a big guy.

The Tar Heels reek of old-school. They are the only blue-blood in the Final Four. They have an old-school coach in Roy Williams. They have an old-school, low-post big man in Kennedy Meeks, who dominated Kentucky in the South Regional final, grabbing 17 rebounds and blocking four shots.

North Carolina (31-7) has a national-best rebounding margin of plus-13 per game. And the Tar Heels are rebounding nearly 42 percent of their missed shots entering Saturday's game in Glendale, Ariz., tipping off at 8:49 p.m. ET.

"We feel like it's extremely important to get the other team in foul trouble," Williams said. "The biggest way to get their big guys in foul trouble is to go inside. That's something that's been important for us ever since I started coaching, and I still believe that. And Kennedy does a great job rebounding the basketball. ...

"I do think you have to have some guys that can make 3-point shots. But I've seen very few teams win the NCAA championship just shooting threes, because everybody's got somebody inside that can give you a little balance."

Oregon (33-5) provides a contrast. It is a good rebounding team, too, although not like North Carolina. The Ducks do it more through athleticism and effort, especially after losing shot-blocking stretch-forward Chris Boucher to a torn ACL in the Pac-12 tournament.

The Ducks, playing in their first Final Four since winning the inaugural NCAA Tournament in 1939, often play with 6-foot-7 wing Dillon Brooks at power forward next to active 6-9 center Jordan Bell.

Bell had 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks in a 74-60 takedown of overall No. 1 seed Kansas in an Elite Eight game in Kansas City, Mo.

"I can't overemphasize Jordan controlling the paint in the first 10 minutes of the game and just putting a thought in their mind that they were not going to get easy baskets," Ducks coach Dana Altman said.

While many wrote off Oregon after the Boucher injury, the Ducks got hot behind a tight rotation that is not going much past six players.

Sophomore guard Tyler Dorsey has scored at least 20 points in seven consecutive games. He made 25 of 40 3-point shots in the past six games.

Bell, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, has double-digit rebounds in six straight games. Hardly anyone plays harder than Brooks, the Pac-12 Player of the Year who is averaging 16.3 points per game.

"I think all the guys have picked it up a little bit, just knowing that Chris isn't there," Altman said. "But we will have our work cut out for us on Saturday. North Carolina is probably the best rebounding team that we faced all year. They score pretty good on the first shot, but their offensive rebounding numbers are off the charts."

Much of the focus before Saturday will be on the health of North Carolina point guard Joel Berry II, who is dealing with two balky ankles.

"Hopefully by the time we get to Thursday or Friday, he'll be able to do some things in practice," Williams said, "but I'm scared to death right now because I don't know."

The Tar Heels have been led all season by All-America wing Justin Jackson, who is averaging 18.2 points per game and shooting 38 percent from 3-point range (101 of 266). Berry is averaging 14.6 points, Meeks is at 12.3, and forward Isaiah Hicks scores 12.1 per game.

Forward Luke Maye came off the bench to average 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games in the South regional in Memphis. His jumper with 0.3 seconds left beat Kentucky 75-73.

North Carolina, which was the top seed in the South, is in the Final Four for the second consecutive season, having lost in the 2016 final when Villanova's Kris Jenkins hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. The Ducks, the No. 3 seed in the Midwest, have taken a step further than last season, when they lost in the Elite Eight.

"This is a bigger stage," Altman said. "Our guys are aware of that."

No. 14 Duke races past No. 6 UNC 93-83 in ACC semifinals

By MIKE FITZPATRICK
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — This time they clashed up north, and Duke took down Carolina.

Jayson Tatum scored 24 points and No. 14 Duke rallied past No. 6 North Carolina with another lightning-fast surge in the second half, capitalizing on foul trouble for Tar Heels point guard Joel Berry II and beating its fierce rival 93-83 on Friday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals.

"It's like night and day from the one stretch when we were 1-4," said Tatum, a freshman forward averaging 23 points in three ACC Tournament games. "We're clicking at the right time."

Luke Kennard had 20 points and Grayson Allen added 18 off the bench for the Blue Devils (26-8), who will play for the title Saturday night in Brooklyn against No. 22 Notre Dame, a 77-73 winner over No. 16 Florida State.

"We've gotten better here. That's the main thing. We've gotten to know each other better," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

By winning the second game between the teams in seven days, fifth-seeded Duke snagged two of three in the season series against the top-seeded Tar Heels (27-7). It was their first ACC Tournament matchup since the Blue Devils won the 2011 championship game.

The rubber match this year was settled on the streets of New York City rather than Tobacco Road, some 500 miles from the Dean Dome and Cameron Indoor Stadium as the ACC brought its postseason showcase to the Big Apple for the first time.

"It was a big-time game for a while, and then it got so it was not a big-time game," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "I think the most-disciplined, the best-coached team, the most-focused team is the one that won the game tonight. I didn't do as good a job as Mike did."

Regardless of the locale, this edition of the storied rivalry contained many of the usual elements — complete with players and roaring blue-clad fans from both teams taking issue with the officiating.

Perhaps the primary missing staple was a tense finish after Duke outscored defending champion North Carolina by 15 points during a 10-minute span while Berry was on the bench with four fouls. The decisive spurt put the Blue Devils ahead 77-70 when Allen hit Harry Giles for an alley-oop slam with 5:30 left, and they cruised home from there.

"It was brutal. I hate that I was on the bench," Berry said. "I put the blame on me."

Berry, the tournament MVP a year ago, scored 28 points in a win over Duke last weekend.

Kennedy Meeks had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the taller and more experienced Tar Heels, who dominated inside early but blew a 13-point lead in the second half. They squandered a chance to tie Duke for the most ACC Tournament titles and might have cost themselves a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs.

Freshman guard Frank Jackson added 15 points for Duke, which quickly climbed out of a 12-point hole in the second half of Thursday's quarterfinal win over No. 10 Louisville.

Showing some impressive stamina, Duke won its third game in three days against a conference rival with a winning record. No team has won four games in four days at the ACC Tournament.

"Our guys are in really good shape. I was actually amazed today because Carolina really comes at you," Krzyzewski said. "So it could have worn us out, and it didn't."

Back home where the schools are separated by about 10 miles, they split two intense games over the past month — with each program winning on its own court. North Carolina beat the Blue Devils 90-83 last Saturday in the regular-season finale.

Their latest tussle took place on one of the busiest blocks in Brooklyn. And no doubt, the opportunity to showcase college basketball's best rivalry in the nation's largest media market was exactly the dream scenario the ACC envisioned when it moved its postseason tournament north this year — a touchy topic down south that boiled up again this week.

So when Duke and Carolina both won Thursday, it brought a true taste of Tobacco Road to the home of Nathan's Famous hot dogs, smack in the middle of the bustling borough that hosted baseball's most passionate regional rivalries once upon a time: Giants-Dodgers, and Yankees-Dodgers.

It was the fifth time the teams played outside the state of North Carolina — three at the ACC Tournament in Atlanta, plus a Tar Heels victory in the 1971 NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

Both schools are loaded with area alumni, though, and the Barclays Center stands were bathed in both shades of blue after a snowy morning in New York, where the Empire State Building was lit in ACC school colors at sunset.

"I don't know if we're even close to being the team we're capable of being, but we're finding something about ourselves and it's something good," Duke senior Amile Jefferson said.

BIG PICTURE

Duke: Playing before a sellout crowd of 18,109, the Blue Devils improved to 13-8 against UNC at the ACC Tournament and 98-44 in the event overall, breaking a tie with the Tar Heels for the best record in the tournament's 64-year history.

North Carolina: Fell short in its attempt to become the first team to repeat as ACC Tournament champion since Duke (2009-11). The Tar Heels had won their last five semifinal games.

CAROLINA BLUE

Isaiah Hicks had 19 points for the Tar Heels and ACC player of the year Justin Jackson scored 16 on 6-of-22 shooting. ... Meeks did not score in the final 13:52.

WHERE IT STANDS

North Carolina leads the all-time series 135-110.

UP NEXT

Duke: Goes for its 20th ACC Tournament championship Saturday night against third-seeded Notre Dame. Duke won 84-74 at Notre Dame in their only regular-season meeting on Jan. 30.

North Carolina: Probably no worse than a No. 2 seed when the NCAA Tournament pairings are announced Sunday.

UNC QB Mitch Trubisky enters 2017 NFL Draft

UNC QB Mitch Trubisky announced on Monday that he is entering the NFL Draft.

Trubisky finished 2016 with 3748 yards with 30 TDs and only six interceptions.

"Going to the NFL has been my goal ever since I was a little boy," Trubisky said on The Players Tribune. "And now that I have that chance, I’m incredibly excited.

"I don’t know where I’ll end up or what’s in store for me. But I’m going to tell Tar Heel Nation the same thing I told Nick just before he kicked the game-winning field goal."