No. 1 UNC pulls away late from ninth-seeded Michigan State to make Sweet 16

The University of North Carolina continues to be a thorn in Michigan State’s side.

The Tar Heels are now 7-0 against the Spartans in March Madness play after their 85-69 second-round victory Saturday.

The Spartans were up 26-14 with 9:40 left in the first half, but UNC responded with a 29-5 run that carried into the second half to put the Tar Heels up a dozen. 

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But the underdogs were not dead, coming right back with a 15-5 run to cut the deficit to two. 

UNC wound up going back up seven quickly, but the Spartans cut it to five with 8:10 left. However, the Tar Heels are a No. 1 seed for a reason.

Over the next five minutes, the Tar Heels went on a 14-2 run to go up an insurmountable 17 points, their largest lead of the night, and Michigan State wasn’t able to get close again.

UNC’s Harrison Ingram went 5-for-7 from long range for his 17-point, seven-rebound performance. RJ Davis (20) and Cormac Ryan (14) combined to hit five of their dozen 3-point tries, while Armando Bacot dropped 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

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UNC is now 13-4 in the all-time series between the two college basketball powerhouses.

The Tar Heels play the winner of No. 4 Alabama and No. 12 Grand Canyon, who face off Sunday. 

Grand Canyon earned its first March Madness victory in school history by upsetting No. 5 St. Mary’s Friday.

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