The Texas Longhorns can probably feel a little better about their NCAA Tournament seeding after watching North Carolina completely dismantle San Diego State in a similar situation.
Both Texas and UNC had to go through the First Four round against fellow No. 11 seeds—Texas facing Xavier and UNC taking on SDSU. But North Carolina played a day earlier and made a serious statement with a blowout win.
By halftime, the Tar Heels were already up by 24 points, and they just kept piling it on in the second half. They shot over 52% from the field, hit an insane 58.3% of their threes, and completely out-rebounded SDSU while forcing 11 turnovers. In short, they dominated, proving that despite all the doubts, they actually deserved their spot in the tournament.
Texas had a rocky regular season and only made the tournament thanks to an unexpected deep run in their conference tourney. So, with their matchup against Xavier coming up, UNC’s big win should’ve at least given the Longhorns a little confidence boost.
Texas and Xavier were set to tip off at 8:10 p.m. CT on Wednesday, March 19, with the game airing on truTV.
