North Carolina moves on to Sweet 16, improves to 6-0 in NCAA Tournament games vs. Michigan State

RJ Davis scored 20 points to lead the Tar Heels over the Spartans and to UNC's record 31st Sweet 16 appearance

By Kyle Boone Mar 23, 2024 at 9:16 pm ET• 2 min read

No. 1 seed North Carolina dug out of an early 12-point deficit and ran away from No. 9 seed Michigan State late to punch a ticket to this year's Sweet 16 with a 85-69 second-round win over the Spartans in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. The Tar Heels trailed by a dozen midway through the first half but rallied on the strength of a 15-0 run to a 40-31 halftime lead and never looked back, clinching its second second-weekend appearance in the last three seasons.

All season UNC (29-7) has gone as RJ Davis has gone, and that was again the case vs. the Spartans, as Davis carried UNC amidst its slow start and helped will them to the win late. Davis finished with 20 points and co-star Armando Bacot added 18 points and seven rebounds. Four different Tar Heels finished in double figures and freshman Elliot Cadeau led the team in assists with four.

Paxson to RJ gets the crowd on their feet 🗣️

📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/2Td3t7TR4s

— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) March 23, 2024

Michigan State (20-15) opened the game making seven of its first 10 shots from the field to break the game open and put the pressure on Carolina from the jump. It struggled to keep pace with the Tar Heels' offense once it started clicking, though. Sparty couldn't collect second-chance points and it went cold in the final frame, finishing 3 of 9 from 3-point range in the second half.

North Carolina advances to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years under coach Hubert Davis and 31st time in school history, where it will face the winner of Sunday's second-round game between No. 12 seed Grand Canyon and No. 4 seed Alabama in Thursday's the West Regional Semifinals in Los Angeles.

Here are three takeaways.