Harrison Ingram calls out Michigan State for 'ridiculous' trash talk
When North Carolina and Michigan State met in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, it was bound to be a heated battle. That’s exactly what took place between the Spartans and Tar Heels, two of the most prestigious teams in college basketball.
According to UNC forward Harrison Ingram, that’s exactly how it played out. Ingram called out Michigan State postgame for excessive trash talk against the Tar Heels, saying it was “ridiculous.” North Carolina won 85-69 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
“I haven’t seen a team talk like that since our scrimmage at the beginning of the year,” Ingram said. “It was ridiculous. Like, for what? Now they’re going home so they see what it got them.”
If the trash talking was as bad as Ingram said, it seemed to fuel him. He finished 5-of-7 from 3-point range to record 17 points and seven rebounds. However, things didn’t start off on the best foot for the Tar Heels.
UNC got off to a sluggish start in the NCAA Tournament second round matchup, falling behind by double digits as the Spartans raced out to a 26-14 lead. The Tar Heels responded with a 20-2 run over the next 10 minutes and took a 40-31 lead into halftime.
Senior guard RJ Davis led North Carolina with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting. He came up with a clutch play toward the end of the second half, making a big 3-point after the Spartans had come back to cut the lead to four points with 9:18 to go.
With the win, North Carolina is now 5-0 against Tom Izzo in the NCAA Tournament. UNC holds a 13-4 all-time advantage against Michigan State. The Tar Heels also got big performances from Armando Bacot (18 points) and Harrison Ingram (five 3-pointers).
UNC advances to face the winner between Alabama and Grand Canyon in the Sweet Sixteen. It is the 36th Sweet Sixteen appearance in program history.
Hubert Davis addresses his fiery first-half speech vs. Michigan State
Hubert Davis didn’t hold back on how he felt with the start for North Carolina on Saturday against Michigan State. The Tar Heels got off to a sluggish start in the NCAA Tournament second round matchup, falling behind by double digits as the Spartans raced out to a 26-14 lead.
Davis appeared on CBS for a midgame interview with Allie LaForce. Before she could even finish her question, Davis lit into his teams for the lack of fight, calling Michigan State the “tougher” team.
He also gave his team a similar speech on the bench, and it seemed to spark something in them. UNC went on a 20-2 run over the next 10 minutes and took a 40-31 lead into halftime. The Tar Heels kept up the energy on their way to a 85-69 victory to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
Speaking again with LaForce postgame, Davis addressed his message to the team that led to the turnaround.
“I was pretty fired up,” he said. “I just didn’t really feel the competitive fire to start the game. They were more physical than us. Their will and their want to overpowered us. I said, ‘we can’t even talk about basketball until we join the fight’ at about the 10-minute mark in the first half. Then they started competing and it turned for us.”