North Carolina’s special season is officially over.

A year after not making the 2023 NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels bowed out in the Sweet 16, losing to Alabama 89-87 on Thursday.

It was a game that saw both teams make several runs throughout, but in the end it was a 7-0 run from Grant Nelson of the Crimson Tide that was the factor. The Tar Heels had no answer for Nelson as he helped Alabama battle back from a three-point deficit late in the game.

Nelson finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds in the game, making key plays at the end including getting a big and-one and coming up with a few blocks. His size was a mismatch for North Carolina who couldn’t put a smaller guard like Seth Trimble or Elliot Cadeau on him and instead tried Paxson Wojcik and Jae’Lyn Withers at times.

With North Carolina up 85-82, Alabama got a quick layup from Mark Sears to cut the lead to one. From there, Jae’Lyn Withers three-pointer with 15 seconds on the shot clock and a one-point game did not fall. And it was all Alabama after that.

Withers then fouled Nelson for the and-one as he hit that free throw, then blocked RJ Davis’ layup and would go on to make two more free throws to seal it.

After a back-and-forth first half, UNC took a 54-46 lead into halftime. But the second half proved to be a big negative for the Tar Heels.

UNC shot just 25 percent in the second half which was the worst shooting performance since shooting 22.6% in the second half against Kansas in the 2012 Elite Eight. It cost the Tar Heels as well as RJ Davis went 0-of-9 from the three-point line and 4-of-20 from the field in the game.

Armando Bacot led North Carolina with 19 points in his final game, adding 12 rebounds for another double-double. Cormac Ryan had 17 while Harrison Ingram finished with 12.

UNC finishes the season 29-8 and enters a big offseason.

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Story originally appeared on Tarheels Wire