In a make or break year for Hubert Davis, it felt like he coached his way off the hot seat. The Tar Heels finished 24-9, got a double-bye in the ACC Tournament and weathered the storm of the Caleb Wilson injury.

All he had to do was… not embarrass himself in March.

Unfortunately for the UNC coach, his worst loss of the season came at the worst possible time - as the Tar Heels not only fell to VCU, but did it in the worst way imaginable.

The stats are mind boggling.

UNC led by 11 at the half.

They built the lead to 18 with 13 minutes left.

With seven minutes left, they were up 14 and had scored 70 points.

By the end of regulation, they managed just five more points.

The game went to overtime, where UNC lost 82-78.

Yes, UNC was without its star player, Caleb Wilson, who has been out since early February.

But to lose that game in the manner UNC did has to make you wonder if the power brokers in Chapel Hill are reconsidering his future. If they’re not, they probably should

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While UNC fell, it wasn’t much better for the Tar Heels biggest rival the Duke Blue Devils.

Unlike UNC, Duke did survive. But it wasn’t pretty as they held on to beat No. 16 seed Siena 71-65. It was a game where they trailed by 11 at the half and by as many as 13 in the second half.

After the game Jon Scheyer even made a surprise confession: He believed he was outcoached by the Saints’ Gerry McNamara.

Bigger picture, it does feel like it’s officially time to worry about Duke if they can’t get healthy.

As most probably know, the Blue Devils are currently without two starters: Point guard Caleb Foster and center Patrick Ngongba. While Foster’s prognosis isn’t good (he recently had surgery on his foot) the hope is that Ngongba will be back Saturday vs. TCU.

Frankly, the Blue Devils need him. Cam Boozer struggled (by his standards) finishing with 22 points, but shooting just 4 of 11 from the field and its clear Ngongba’s absence is putting more on his plate on both ends of the court.

The road won’t get easier for Duke, which has TCU Saturday. From there, the other side of the bracket is loaded with big, physical teams, as a trip to the regionals could feature matchups with some combination of St. John’s, Kansas, UConn and Michigan State.

Duke needs to get healthy… fast.

Yes, you read that right. Chase Johnston hadn’t made a 2-pointer the entire season until hitting the game-winning layup. Insane stuff.

After their first NCAA Tournament win in program history, head coach Flynn Clayman’s postgame, on-court interview was quickly interrupted by his players.

He doubled down in the postgame news conference, making it clear he believes his team deserves more opportunities to face legitimate nonconference opponents — and, frankly, he might have a point.

He said it himself: High Point and Miami OH are 2-0 in Quad 1 games.

“It’s pretty obvious that something needs to be done about this non-conference scheduling. We won 22 of our last 23 last games and we didn’t move up one spot in the metrics. If we can get games like this [the Wisconsin game] on neutral courts and some home games, I think we’d know who’s really the best teams,” he said.

He also said they’re not in the tournament just to win one game; they want to make it to the Sweet 16.

AJ Dybantsa’s college career came to an end on Thursday night. And like so many games down the stretch, he gave his all, even if his team fell short.

Dybantsa finished the game with 35 points, playing all 40 minutes. Unfortunately, a roster that lost six other players to season-ending injuries just didn’t do enough to support him, combining to shoot just 18 percent from three, while giving up 16 offensive rebounds.

Dybantsa’s career at BYU is over, but his impact will be felt long after he leaves Provo.

And for those who think he wasn’t “worth” the financial investment, well… stop embarrassing yourself.

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