ACC Hoops: North Carolina Advances in March With 95-68 Win Over San Diego State – Weds March 19th 2025

Dayton Ohio: The North Carolina Tar Heels belong. The noise surrounding the Tar Heels acceptance into the tournament permeated their locker room and was heard, loudly. The Tar Heels completely obliterated their opponents from the Mountain West Conference in their “First Four” matchup Tuesday night. The Heels ran the San Diego State Aztecs out of the gym, winning 95-68.

Magoon Gwath made a free throw to give the Aztecs a 6-5 lead at the 16:28 mark of the first half which turned into the last lead of the ballgame. Although the Heels committed 6 turnovers in the first 4 minutes, they were able to score at a clip that the Aztecs could not keep up with. The Heels took a 47-23 lead into the half. 

Even more impressively, the Heels continued their offensive dominance over the #12 rated defense in the second half scoring another 48 points. The most impressive state line of the night came from senior RJ Davis who refused to let this game be his last. Davis went 6-6 from three, tying Caleb Love’s record from 2022 against UCLA and surpassing his coach, Hubert Davis’, 5-5 performance against Eastern Michigan in 1991. RJ Davis finished with 26 points. Jae’Lyn Withers bounced back from the ACC semifinal loss to Duke with a double-double scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Two other Tar Heels finished in double figures, Ven-Allen Lubin continued his stretch of impressive performances with 12 points, and Seth Trimble added 16 points off the bench. 

The Aztecs only could muster two double figure scorers as Nick Boyd and Cam Lawin both finished with 12 points. 

The Tar Heels came into Tuesday night’s matchup with something to prove. After the game guard Seth Trimble said “We know we deserved to be here”. Furthermore, Trimble stated “We know who we are on the offensive end,”, “We know what we’re capable of. This doesn’t surprise me, what we did tonight. It’s what I expect every single night.”.

The Heels have earned the right to play in the round of 64 against SEC opponent Ole Miss Friday at 4:05pm. The Rebels have a few familiar faces for longtime ACC vet RJ Davis. Sean Pedulla of the Rebs started his career at Virginia Tech, Jaemyn Blakefield played his freshman season at Duke, and Dre Davis played at Louisville. Even Jaylen Murray of the Rebels played at Saint Peters during their miracle run that was stopped by the Heels in 2022. 

The Tar Heels have seemed to bounce back from their loss against the Blue Devils and look like a serious contender going forward in the tournament. RJ Davis is playing like a kid who does not want his college career to end and the emergence of Ven-Allen Lubin is filling the largest hole in the Tar Heels line up. The Heels have the talent to play with any team in the tourney. With another Cinderella run by a North Carolina ACC school, we could see the ultimate matchup in the NCAA Final: Duke v UNC part IV.