The NCAA Tournament hopes for the North Carolina Tar Heels took a major hit Thursday night, losing to No. 13 Virginia in the ACC Tournament, 68-59.
UNC entered the game on the bubble, one of the "Next Four Out" in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology, and needed a deep run in the ACC Tournament to solidify its case for an NCAA berth.
The loss to Virginia dropped the Tar Heels to 20-13 in a season in which four starters returned from the 2021-22 team that reached the championship game.
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"It’s not a great feeling," North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis said, according to ESPN. "Not the expectations that we had coming into the year. It was definitely frustrating and disappointing, but one thing I can say about this group is we fight to the end."
"I'm sad and disappointed for [the players] that we're in this position. Just very sad for them."
The Tar Heels entered the year No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason rankings but lost four straight games after starting the year 5-0.
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The Tar Heels beat just two ranked teams all season and went 11-9 in ACC play.
If UNC does not hear their name called on Selection Sunday, the Tar Heels will become the first preseason No. 1 to miss the tournament since 1974-75, according to ESPN.
Virginia improved to 24-6 on the season with the win and will play Clemson on Friday in the ACC semifinals.
"I think we needed everyone, we really did," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said after beating North Carolina.
