LOS ANGELES — Hubert Davis’ three seasons as head coach at North Carolina have made for one wild ride.North Carolina reached the national championship game in Davis’ first season in 2021-22 after he replaced three-time national title winner Roy Williams, but the Tar Heels missed the tournament altogether a year ago.Now, the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region finds itself two wins shy of the Final Four when it faces No. 4 Alabama in the Sweet 16 on Thursday.North Carolina (29-7) has won 10 of its last 11 games after its 85-69 defeat of Michigan State on Sunday in the second round.”The big picture for Coach Davis is what he brings out of the guys,” RJ Davis said following the win. “What that is is the passion and fire and competitive spirit to go out there each game and each practice to play to the best of our abilities. When you have a coach like that, I think you can go a long way.”The Tar Heels come to Los Angeles aiming for their second Final Four under Hubert Davis and fourth since 2016.This year’s North Carolina lineup leans heavily on veterans who were part of the national runner-up roster two seasons ago, with RJ Davis averaging 21.3 points per game and Armando Bacot producing a double-double average of 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.The consensus first-team All-American Davis scored a total of 42 points in North Carolina’s first two NCAA Tournament games, the former in a 90-62 romp of 16th-seeded Wagner.The second-round defeat of Michigan State saw the Tar Heels come out on the right side of a roller-coaster game, reflective of the last few seasons. North Carolina rallied from a 12-point deficit against the Spartans.”When it comes to times like this and we go down 12, just knowing that our coaches believe in us, but also are hard on us, it just makes a huge difference,” Bacot said.The Tar Heels will try to keep the high going against an Alabama team that reached the Sweet 16 for the third time in four seasons but is looking to secure its first Elite Eight appearance since 2004.
