Alabama-UNC history includes slowing down Michael Jordan on ‘worst referee’ game

Both Alabama and North Carolina have NCAA tournament history. Some time has just passed.

They’ll reunite Thursday night in Los Angeles to compete for a spot in the Elite Eight — the Tar Heels’ birthright and their opponents’ fleeting desire. This will be the fourth such meeting for the brand known for its argyle and houndstooth patterns, respectively… er, plaid.

When they play at the home court of LeBron James’ Lakers, it will be the first time they meet without Wimp Sanderson on the bench. Sanderson served as an assistant coach with the Crimson Tide from 1960-80 and as head coach from 1980-92, going 1-2 against the Tar Heels coached by the legendary Dean Smith. Negative record. In fact, his last game on the bench for Alabama was a loss to North Carolina in the 1992 NCAA Round of 32.

The now-retired coach, who co-hosts the daily morning radio show with his son Barry Sanderson, spoke to AL.com about his history at North Carolina and shed some light on Thursday’s game. analyze.

“I got calls asking who was going to win,” Sanderson said. “The answer is: Alabama has a good chance to win. I don’t know if they will. But I think they have a good chance of winning. “

His experience wearing Tar Heels for the first time in the NCAA tournament ended ideally. In 1976, Sanderson served as an assistant coach under CM Newton and was on the bench as the Crimson Tide defeated the blue bloods 79-64.

“We beat them pretty good,” Sanderson said before facing eventual national champion Indiana. That Hoosiers team remains the last undefeated team in men’s college basketball, and their 74-69 loss in the Sweet 16 served as a roadblock for the Crimson Tide for decades to come.

Six years later, Alabama met North Carolina again in the Sweet 16. This is a special Tar Heel roster, one with a No. 1 seed and a name that has become an icon. James Worthy, Sam Perkins and freshman Michael Jordan are among those facing the fourth-seeded Tedders in Sanderson.

Led by Ennis Whatley, Bobby Lee Hurt and Eddie Phillips, this Alabama team reached 15 wins in early February 2 losses and ranked in the top ten. It would beat Kentucky for the SEC title at Rupp Arena, beat St. John’s 69-68 and face North Carolina in Raleigh.

The Birmingham News’ headlines the next day summed up Alabama’s 74-69 loss in the Sweet 16.

“Foul happy Bama quits,” read above Don Kausler Jr.’s story. In it, Sanderson was quoted as saying he had no comment on the referees, “But I Do “have opinions.”

Forty-two years later, he’s happy to share that.

“People are going to call me a crybaby,” Sanderson said this week, “but we had the worst officiated basketball game in the history of Alabama basketball.”

Alabama was called for 27 fouls to North Carolina’s 14, and the Tar Heels made 26 of 31 (83.9 percent) from the free throw line. The Tide made five more field goals but lost by five to a North Carolina team that would go on to win the national championship.

Jordan made his famous game-winning shot in the championship game, but he only scored 11 points and took the fewest shots in the tournament (six).

“We did a good job with him,” Sanderson said.

Whatley, a guest on Sanderson’s radio show in recent years, said he would joke about Jordan and say Alabama would host him in the next few years. They were teammates on the Chicago Bulls early in their NBA careers.

Having to play North Carolina a few miles away was frustrating at the time.

“My biggest problem when I coached was, I guess they still thought we were a football school because we always had an 8-9-10 seed,” Sanderson said. “We’re always going to have to play really, really tough games to get to the Sweet 16.”

That includes the 1992 season, when North Carolina was between Alabama and the Sweet 16. The Tide roster included future NBA stars Robert Horry and Latrell Sprewell, while North Carolina featured All-Americans Eric Montrose and Hubert Davis — —Current Tar Heels coach.

Well, Alabama picked the wrong night and had its worst offensive performance of the season. Alabama lost 64-55 and shot 29 percent from the field, its second-lowest scoring total of the year. Sprewell went 2-for-15 from 3-point range against what Birmingham News columnist Kevin Scarbinsky called “an extremely average North Carolina team.” 1 for 9 from the field.

Davis spoke after the Tar Heels’ practice in Los Angeles on Wednesday and recalled the game.

“That was in Cincinnati, Ohio, with Robert Horry and Latrell Sprewell, Hollywood Robinson, and it was a very talented group,” said Davis, now the coach at North Carolina State ’s third season. “We played them in the Sweet 16. We had to play really well to advance to the Sweet 16, where we played Ohio State and unfortunately lost that game.

“It’s very similar to the Alabama team we’re playing now – just with tremendous length, athleticism, talent, can score in multiple directions, can get after you defensively. “I remember that game, playing against them, I Remember the game before against Alabama, I wanted to play well because the game before, I was 2-for-17 and we almost lost to Miami, Ohio State. “

The Tar Heels lost to Ohio State in the annual Sweet 16 before winning the 1993 national championship. The 1992 loss kept Alabama from reaching the Sweet 16, having lost the previous two games.

“I really felt like this was a basketball game we could win,” Sanderson said on The Birmingham News the day after the loss. “I still feel that way. “Carolina is a good team, but not as good as it has been in years past. “

Sanderson went 0-6 in Sweet 16 games at Alabama, which he doesn’t deny is still frustrating to this day.

“Yes, of course,” he said this week. “Everything is frustrating when you look back on it. Of course it is. It’s frustrating for me. We had a really good run in the SEC tournament. We got to the last nine games in ’12, but the only frustrating thing is It was us who failed three times in the final in Birmingham.”

In 2004, Alabama reached the Elite 8 as a No. 8 seed, beating No. 1 seed Stanford in the second round and No. 5 Syracuse in the Sweet 16. It remains the deepest in the program’s history.

This is the third time in the past four seasons that the Crimson Tide has reached the Round of 32, having suffered upsets the previous two times. It was the No. 2 seed in 2021, when UCLA advanced in overtime, and Alabama was a year ago when San Diego State ended its most promising season in memory. , Alabama is the No. 1 overall seed.

This time, Alabama will be more the hunter than the hunted. The fourth seed is four points behind top seed North Carolina.

Sanderson said he thinks Alabama has two key factors that could upset Los Angeles.

“One is, they have the ability to play good defense without fouling,” he said. “Because a foul is a defensive error. I believe they will do better there. They have to shoot the basketball well.”

AL.com columnist Joseph Goodman reports from Los Angeles.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for Alabama Media Group.Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.