The magic of the Florida Gulf Coast basketball team has appeared to have worn off.  After a win over Fairleigh Dickinson in Dayton Tuesday night in the First Four, the Eagles seemed primed for another splash of upsets in the tournament.  That was until they ran into number-one-seeded North Carolina.  It was a close game early as FGCU was able to play with the Tarheels, but the Eagles couldn’t rekindle the high level of play from a few years ago in the tournament when they reached the Sweet-Sixteen as a 15 seed and North Carolina was able to pull away.  Brice Johnson continued his stellar season with an 18-point game to go along with 7 rebounds and a Tarheel NCAA Tournament record 8 blocked shots.  Four more players from North Carolina wound up scoring double figures including Marcus Paige, Justin Jackson, Joel Berry II, and Isaiah Hicks.  Florida Gulf Coast was led by sophomore guard Christian Terrell with 15 points.  Also for the Eagles, Antravious Simmons added 14 and Marc Eddy Norelia dialed up a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.  The Eagles are young, so expect to see them back to the tournament in the years to come.  

As for UNC, they advance to the round of 32 and will square off with the ninth-seeded Providence Friars.  Providence was down by a point in the final seconds before scoring a layup off an inbounds pass under their own basket.  Look for North Carolina to keep rolling as they seek a trip to the Final Four.