CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Brady Manek's ejection for a flagrant-2 foul was nearly a season-ending call in North Carolina's 93-86 overtime win over Baylor on Saturday. And all he could do was watch a delayed broadcast feed that brought anxiety for every cheer at Dickies Arena because he didn't know what was happening.
Manek spoke to the media on Tuesday as the No. 8-seeded Tar Heels (26-9) prepare for their NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 matchup with No. 4 seed UCLA (27-7) on Friday in Philadelphia. Carolina has not advanced to the Elite Eight since winning the 2017 national title. The Heels almost squandered their chance to get there when Manek was ejected Saturday.
He had to watch the remaining 10 minutes of regulation and all of overtime from the locker room with UNC director of basketball operations Eric Hoots.
Junior forward Armando Bacot described the game as a "sinking ship trying to stay afloat until we got to shore." Now imagine how helpless Manek felt not being able to help fend off Baylor's momentum.
"It was pretty stressful," Manek said. "So we didn't have the TV feed, we had the Jumbotron. So when the play was still happening, we were watching the replay before, so we didn't know what was going on."
Baylor's Jeremy Sochan had already drawn a technical foul in the first half for locking Bacot's foot with his legs. Manek said there was a lot of "pushing and shoving" and the game had a lot of "physicality" throughout.
While Manek battled for position with Sochan under the rim on a rebound, the UNC forward's left elbow made contact with Sochan's chin.
"I caught him high, hit him in the face," Manek said. "It was one of those ones where, I don't know if it was intentional, but I definitely got a piece of him."
Manek said as soon as the whistle blew, he knew there was a chance that he could be ejected.
"Anytime something like that happens, especially above the shoulders, it gives you that stress right then and there," Manek said.
Manek has been arguably the Heels' most consistent player offensively over the past month. He's scored 20 or more points in five of UNC's last six games including his 26 points against Baylor in just over 27 minutes. In the nine games since Carolina's loss to Pittsburgh, Manek has led the team averaging 19.3 points per game.
UNC coach Hubert Davis did not agree with the call that led to Manek's ejection. He believes it should have been called a flagrant-1, which would have allowed Manek to stay in the game. He also said UNC didn't protest the call to the NCAA after the game.
"The only thing that we have control over is our play," Davis said. "And there wasn't an issue for me during the game and there wasn't an issue for me after the game."
The Heels coughed up a 25-point lead without Manek in the lineup, but regained their composure in overtime and knocked off the No. 1 seed and defending champions. The moments that followed the game may have meant more to Manek.
One by one as his teammates entered the locker room, they sought out Manek to embrace and uplift him. Manek blamed himself for putting the team in a position where it had to win without him. He apologized to the team in the locker room.
The Heels were all reassuring to Manek. They chose him to plaster the 'North Carolina' tag on the bracket advancing the Heels to the Sweet 16. Walk-on Creighton Lebo also suggested that in place of the team rule that mandates Manek run after practice for getting a flagrant foul, the rest of the team would crawl on his behalf.
"We actually all ended up crawling and stuff for Brady to like half court — everybody on the team, all the managers, all the trainers and everything," Bacot said. "So that was really cool."
Manek found it funny. But it shows the lengths in which the Tar Heels have embraced the Oklahoma graduate transfer in what will be his lone season in Chapel Hill.
"There's something about Brady that, as soon as he stepped on campus, like it just felt different," sophomore guard R.J. Davis said. "Even the open runs, he's always just like the Energizer — getting buckets. He's always fun to be around. He has his own personality that we all love and I'm just happy that he's a part of this team."
