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McAdoo also earns a double-double with 10 rebounds. UNC outrebounded Providence by a 40-26 margin, including a jaw-dropping 21 offensive boards
UNC leading scorers were Marcus Paige with 19 points, Brice Johnson with 16 points, James McAdoo with 16 points also
Providence can't hang on despite 36 points from Bryce Cotton, other leading scorers for the Friars were LaDontae Henton with 16 points and Tyer Harris with 13 pts
That's it. In a nailbiter, North Carolina defeats Providence 79-77 despite Bryce Cotton's career high 36 pts
McAdoo back at FT line, again makes first and missed second, rebound out of bounds off Providence
McAdoo makes first FT, misses second, but follows his shot, pulls down rebound, gets fouled again. Only 1.7 secs left
Providence calls timeout to ice McAdoo, who is an under 60% costless throw shooter. He'll get two shots after thr timeout
Refs put 3.5 secs on the clock
UNC at the costless throw line with 2.8 secs left with a chance to go ahead. McAdoo pulled down offensive rebound and was fouled on putback attempt
Tar Heels playing for last shot in regulation with game tied
UNC's Marcus Paige with another huge three pointer to tie it up again 77-77
Tokoto dribbles the ball off his foot and turns it over. Guess who is there to pick up the ball and drive in for the layup? 36 points now for Bryce Cotton
LaDontae Henton sinks one of two FT's for the Friars and Providence is now up 75-74 with 1:45 remaining
UNC's J.P. Tokoto with a three point play of his own to tie it up again 74-74 with two mins left
Cotton has now matched his season high of 34 pts
Providence's Bryce Cotton fouled on a three point attempt, makes all three FT's
Marcus Paige with a three pointr at the to off the key off ANOTHER Tar Heels offensive rebound. Game dow tied 71-71 with 2:29 left
Tar Heels missing a lot of shots in the paint, but it seems like every time they do, someone tips it in, been that way the entire game, which is why it's still a close one despite Tar Heels not shooting nearly as well
Providence still shooting far better at 56.3% compated to 45.3% for UNC
Tar Heels still winning on the boards 32-24, including 16 offensive rebounds
Providence up 71-66 with 4:11 to go
McAdoo just commits his 4th foul, Batts completes a three point play
Tar Heels still crashing the offensive boards hard, McAdoo with another putback
Bryce Cotton steals it, sinks a three from the top of the key and he now has 31 points. Providence up 66-62 with under six mins to go
Providence's Tyler Harris completes a three point play and Providence is up 63-60
Bryce Cotton has scored 14 of Providence's 24 points so far in the 2nd half
Cotton tickles the twine again and gives Providence the lead, 60-58, on an 11-0 run
Cotton with the feed to Henton inside, game is now tied
Bryce Cotton's stat line so far: 26 points, 10-of-17 shooting inclusing 2-of-6 from three point line, costless throws 4-of-4, also four rebounds and five assists
Cotton strikes again, Friars within two, 58-56 with 9:41 left to play
Cotton has 24 points, so pretty much half of Providence's total scoring
Bryce Cotton managing to keep the Friars in this one, he's suddenly cut Tar Heels lead to 54-49 with 12:02 left, Roy Williams wants a time out
UNC has now opened up a nine point lead, Providence still getting clobbered on the boards
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Meeks with a jumper to put Tar Heels up 50-43, time out with 15:25 to go
Brice Cotton still on ffire for the Friars, 20 points now and Tar Heels lead is 48-43
Second half underway, McAdoo and Meeks now in double figures with 10 pts each for the Tar Heels
Tar Heels also showcasing the depth of their roster, as Roy Williams has already played six different players off the bench. Providence has only sent in one player off the bench and that's only because Batts got into early foul trouble
So overall the Tar Heels are not really shooting the ball well, but their dominance on the offensive glass more than makes up for it. Providence would easily be ahead if they did better on the boards
Providence is shooting 53.8%, Tar Heels only 44.7%, however the Tar Heels have made a lot of put backs on missed shots, nine offensive rebounds total
Providence's Bryce Cotton eads all scorers at the half with 13 points but he's only shooting 4-of-10 from the floor
So it's halftime in San Antonio and UNC leads Providence 39-36. Friars doing a great job matching Tar Heels' pace and keeping up with them so far, but can they keep it going in the second half?
Cotton and Henton already in double figues for Providence with 11 pts each, accounting for 22 of the Friars' 34 points thus far
Tar Heels coming off the loss to PItt in ACC tournament where Pitt's Talib Zanna absolutely crushed the Tar Heels on the board, grabbing 21 rebounds, including 10 offensive. Tar Heels must have studied that game tape, however nauseating, to be sure that wasn't going to happen again tonight
Tar Heels with 18-12 rebounding advantage, including NINE offensive boards
1:45 until halftime, Tar Heels up 37-32
Providence's Henton with a jumper, so Friars still keeping up . . . knock on wood
Tar Heels now u 37-30. Takoto made one of two FT's but then he makes a steal and dunks it, so gets the point back from missed FT and then one more
Providence starters used to playing a lot of minutes, but probably not at this pace
Tar Heels up 34-30 with four minutes until halftime. Friars doing a good job keeping up after a sluggish start, but again, that is exactly what Roy Williams wants, hoping they will eventually get dog tired
A team with roster depth like the Tar Heels can make things very difficult for this Providence squad
Roy Williams's strategy is very clear. Run and gun offense, make frequesnt substitutions to give his players a breather, try to tire Providence out early since they don't bring a lot of people in off the bench unless someone gets into foul trouble
McAdoo starting to heat up for the Tar Heels, 8 pts now
Time Out. UNC lead 30-26 with 7:11 left in the first half
Providence starting to pick it up and match UNC's Paige, tip in makes it a 28-26 Tar Heels lead
UNC's Marcus Paige drills a three at the other end, 28-22 with just over 8 mins until halftime
Providence's LaDonte Henton completes a three point play, cute Tar Heels lead to 25-22
Friars's Kadeem Batts has to sit after picking up his second foul, a push off underneatth to try to prevent another UNC offensive board
Tar Heels also have MUCH better depth on the roster and Coach Williams is already taking advantage by rotating players in and out
UNC with a 9-2 rebounding advantage so far, they just got another put back and lead it 25-19 midway through the forst half
Brice Johnson with another offensive rebound for the Tar Heels, putback opens up 23-18 lead
Tar Heels are burning the Friars in transition, leaving them in the dust, beautiful fast break layup by Takoto put the Tar Heels up 21-18 with 11:42 until halftime
Great defensive stop for UNC, Brice Johnson with a swat away, McDonald with layup at other end, Tar Heels up 17-14, Friars call time out
Both teams red hot shooting so far, Tar Heels 6-for-8 and Friars 8-of-12
Friars only have one measly rebound so far
Tar Heels up 13-12 early and absolutely dominating the offensive glass getting way too many second chances
Again don't expect Providence guard Bryce Cotton to take a breather, he usually plays all 40 minutes
Friars starters are Batts, Harris, Henson, Cotton, Fortune
Tar Heels starters are McAdoo, Takoto, Meeks, Paige, McDonald
Tipoff underway in San Antonio Tar Heels - Friars
Tar Heels have had a horrible time at the costless throw line this season, averaging just 62.5% from the charity stripe, looks for the Friars to exploit that
Meanwhile, sophomore Marcus Paige leads the Tar Heels averaging 17.4 points per game. He suffered a thigh injury during the ACC tournament but says he's fine to play, although he'llikely be wearing a protective pad
Friars guard Bryce Cotton is an absolute workhorse, averaging more minutes played (39.9) than any other college basketball player in the nation. In all but three of Providence's last 18 games, he played the entire 40 minutes. He leads the team in scoring, averaging 21.4 points per game.
The Tar Heels, on the other hand, made an easly exit from the ACC tournamentt after getting manhandled by the Pitt Panthers and are looking to bounce back
The Providence Friars are in their first NCAA tournament in 10 years. They pulled off a HUGE upset over Creighton to win the Big East tournament
UNC - Providence is just about to tip off, should be a great matchup
Hi this is Casey Gagnon here to bring you more March Madness live commentary and analysis