The Tar Heels will take on Lipscomb, the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Champions, in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Here’s everything you need to know about the Bisons:
Who: Lipscomb is a private liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1891 and their enrollment is 4,585.
What: This is the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance.
How: Lipscomb defeated top-seeded Florida Gulf coast 108-96 in the ASUN Tournament Championship.
Experience: None of the players on Lipscomb’s team have been to the NCAA Tournament, but their head coach Casey Alexander was an assistant at Belmont when they almost upset Duke as 15th seed in 2008.
Notable Pre-Game Quotes:
Rob Marberry, Jr Forward on previous 2-15 upset and their chances: It’s something we always talk about. We’re not here just to have fun and shoot around with the UNC team. We always have it in the back of our heads and always going to practice like we’re going to win. That’s what we’re going to come out to do.
Coach Alexander: We make no mistake, it’s going to be really tough. We’re going to have to play great for it to happen. But you have to draw upon the experiences of others and understand that the game can be won, and we didn’t come here just to show up. We want to play our best game tomorrow. Win or lose, we want to play our best game tomorrow….I’m not going to sit up here and tell you we’re going to win the game. That’s the reason we cam over here was to win the game, and we’ve seen that it’s happened in other places. I sat on the bench at a 15-2 game myself a few years ago. Belmont vs Duke. We were one possession away from winning that game. I personally will draw upon that experience.