North Carolina is having a tough time to start March Madness, leading Florida Gulf Coast by just one point at halftime
The North Carolina Tar Heels earned a No. 1 seed by winning the ACC both in the regular season and in the conference tournament. They looked to carry that momentum into March Madness as they played the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Thursday in the First Round. That’s far from what actually happened in this first matchup for the Tar Heels, though.
After jumping out to a relatively sizeable lead early in the first half, it seemed as if North Carolina got a bit complacent with their play on both ends of the floor. FGCU recognized this relatively quickly, though, and pounced on the opportunity to climb back into the game, chipping at the deficit at every turn.
In the final seconds of the first half, the Eagles actually had the chance to go ahead of North Carolina with their final possession. Though they ultimately turned the ball over on that trip, that they were that close is telling of how poorly North Carolina played late in the half and how well FGCU was able to capitalize that.
Now we’ll have to see if the Eagles can maintain any semblance of momentum or if North Carolina will come out more poised and put FGCU away like they should have early in the first half. Either way, you’ll want to keep an eye on it.
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