It happened a couple of days ago, but the University at Albany women's basketball team nearly upset North Carolina in the first round of the women's basketball NCAA tournament.

The Great Danes led at halftime and in the second half, but just didn't have enough to pull out the win and the Tar Heels advanced to Tuesday's matchup with Delaware and Elena Delle Donne. 

AP

North Carolina fifth-year senior Marcus Ginyard will reportedly miss tonight's game against Rutgters and is doubtful to play against UAlbany on Wednesday.

Ginyard, who is averaging 11 points per game, sprained his right ankle while diving toward the basket during a practice on Saturday.

The No. 9 Tar Heels play Rutgers tonight on ESPN2 at 8:30 p.m.

The University at Albany men's basketball team leaves Monday for North Carolina.

The Great Danes (4-9) take on the defending national champions on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESNPU.

North Carolina (9-3) plays Monday night at 8:30 p.m. against Rutgers on ESPN2.

UAlbany had their last Sunday afternoon before heading out of town.

Coach Will Brown said his wife, Jamie, is probably the person most looking forward to the game.

“Carolina’s been her favorite team in any sport since she was young,” Brown said. “She’s probably more excited about this game than anybody. My (Jackson) son probably has more North Carolina hats in his closet than he does Albany hats.”

Brown said he will be traveling to the GSK Holiday Tournament in Raleigh while down in North Carolina as one of his father's former players is the coach at Durham Riverside High School.

Brown said he will do a little bit of recruiting at the tournament, which is supposed to be one of the top tournaments in the country.

*****

I asked Brown about what he said following the Loyola (IL) game about the veterans buying back in and this was his response.

“In the Loyola game, I thought we did a nice job in the first half defensively and I thought we did a nice job in the second half offensively. We’re trying to pressure a little more and we’re trying to do a few more aggressive things defensively that are going to take some time for us to get used to and then offensively, we’re too selfish. We’re bouncing the ball too much, we’re not moving enough and it does us no good. We’re trying to switch to a motion offense and it does us no good to switch to a motion offense if we’re going to pound the heck out of the ball.”

The University at Albany announced their non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2009-10 basketball season today.

It all will begin for Will Brown and his crew on Nov. 10 when the Great Danes travel to Syracuse to take on the Orange.

For a second consecutive season, UAlbany will play the defending national champions as North Carolina is on the schedule for Wednesday, Dec. 30 in Chapel Hill.

Some other highlights are the annual crosstown rivalry game against Siena (Dec. 5) and hosting the 2K Sports Classic from Nov. 20-22.

Here is the rest of the slate that includes six NCAA Tournament teams from 2008-09.

Tuesday, Nov. 10 @ Syracuse

Friday, Nov. 13 MORGAN STATE

Monday, Nov. 16 @ American

Friday, Nov. 20 2K SPORTS CLASSIC

Saturday, Nov. 21 2K SPORTS CLASSIC

Sunday, Nov. 22 2K SPORTS CLASSIC

Saturday, Nov. 28 @ Central Florida

Monday, Nov. 30 @ Florida Atlantic

Saturday, Dec. 5 @ Siena

Tuesday, Dec. 8 @ Pennsylvania

Saturday, Dec. 12 @ Central Connecticut State

Thursday, Dec. 17 @ Iona

Tuesday, Dec. 22 @ Loyola (Chicago)

Wednesday, Dec. 30 @ North Carolina

Sunday, Jan. 3 YALE

This schedule should certainly prove to be a test for a team that finished 15-16 last season and has eight new players in the mix for this year.