CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WNCN/AP) — RJ Davis scored 20 points to help UNC-Chapel Hill beat Michigan State 85-69 in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, pushing the Tar Heels to the Sweet 16 while keeping them unbeaten in March Madness against Spartans Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo.
Harrison Ingram made five 3-pointers and scored 17 points for the West Region’s top seed, which continued its NCAA success in its home state. UNC (29-7) ran off 17 straight points during a 23-3 run over the last eight minutes of the first half to erase a 12-point deficit, then continued answering every push by the Spartans after halftime.
The Tar Heels improved to 5-0 in the tournament against Izzo, including victories in the 2005 Final Four and 2009 title game. And they move on to the regional semifinals in Los Angeles, where they will face either Grand Canyon or Alabama on Thursday night.
UNC also got a strong showing inside from Armando Bacot (18 points), who got into the paint to score, draw fouls or kick out against oncoming double teams. Ingram was on the receiving end of some of those, knocking down 5 of 7 three-pointers to go with seven rebounds.
Tyson Walker scored 24 points for the ninth-seeded Spartans (20-15), who were playing what amounted to a road game in front of a blue-clad crowd about a 2 1/2-hour drive from UNC’s Chapel Hill campus.
The Tar Heels went on two “runs” in the game — scoring 12 to Michigan’s 2 in the last few minutes of the second half. In the first half, UNC gained real steam with a 16-0 run in a five-minute span late in the first half.
When the big UNC run of the first half was over, the Spartans only scored 3 points against the Tar Heels 20, which started when Ingram hit a 3-point jump shot from 22 feet out.
That surge took UNC from 8 points down to 9 points ahead — and the Heels then kept a lead throughout the second half in the fan-friendly Charlotte venue, where retired UNC head coach Roy Williams watched from the stands.
Coming into the game, North Carolina led the all-time series against Michigan State with a 12-4 record and were a perfect 5-0 against the Spartans in the NCAA Tournament.
The last time the two teams met in the postseason was in the 2009 NCAA championship game, which UNC won for the school’s fifth national title.