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RJ Davis saved the worst for last. The North Carolina senior All-America player made just four of 20 shots and missed all nine of his three-point attempts as the Tar Heels lost a late lead and fell to Alabama 89-87 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Certainly the blame doesn't rest solely on Davis as other things went wrong for Carolina in the season-ending lost but the Tar Heels did lose by only two and it was the first time in 41 games, dating back to last season, that Davis failed to hit a three-point shot.

UNC, which ended the season with a 29-8 record, shot just 25 percent as a team (10 for 40) in the second half, its worst shooting performance in a half all season and the lowest in a Tournament game since shooting a paltry 22.6 percent in the second half in a lost to Kansas in 2012.

That was a painful way to lose, especially coming on the heels of two impressive wins in the first two NCAA Tournament game and due to the worst shooting performance perhaps of RJ Davis' career at Carolina.

The Tar Heels should have had enough firepower even with Davis struggling, especially from beyond the arc. In the first half, Harrison Ingram took up some of the slack by scoring 10 points but he had just two in the second half. Ingram should have been able to handle Grant Nelson, an inferior athlete, but Nelson ended up with 24 and along with other Alabama players held Ingram to those two in the second half. Ingram could use another year of seasoning before the NBA if Nelson can better him.

Bacot had 12 at the half and only seven in the second half. Cormac Ryan had 12 in the first half and only five in the second half.

Jae'Lyn Withers picked up four fouls in only 10 minutes of play but his worst decision was to shoot a three with a minute to go and the Heels still up 85-84. Sure he was open - Alabama wanted him open - but he has hit only four of 19 threes all season. That's not the shot you want with a one-point lead and a minute left. Grant Nelson promptly scored on Withers and Withers picked up a foul. Carolina never led again.

There was plenty of blame to go around. Alabama's plan ultimately worked.

"We had a game plan," Bama coach Nate Oates said. "Gotta give Cadeau and Trimble a lot of credit. We planned on leaving them open; they hit four 3s in the first half. We questioned whether to stay with it or not. We decided to stick with it. Those guys ended up not playing very many minutes, 13 between the two of them. I think the plan was right."

Especially if your leading scorer - RJ Davis - misses all nine of his three-point attempts.

"Shout-out to Rylan (Griffen)," Alabama star Mark Sears said. "He did a great job on him. We don't win this game without Rylan locking him up. And he executing the game plan."

The Tar Heels had a very good season, winning 10 games in a row at one point and nine of 10 before losing to Alabama in the Sweet 16.

Losing to Villanova by two and Kentucky by four hurt in the early season, and the loss to N.C. State in the ACC Tournament did as well. But to win the ACC regular season title with a 17-3 record and two big wins over rival Duke was impressive.

While this team should have gone at least to the Final 8, fans should have enjoyed winning 29 games in a season and seeing Armando Bacot, who loves Carolina as much as any Tar Heel has, set several records and finish off his long career.

- Clifton Barnes