Category: ACC

UNC-Duke tabbed Game of the Week by famed college basketball analyst

UNC-Duke is the college basketball game to watch this week.

No matter the year, talent on each team or how each rival is progressing throughout their respective seasons, the North Carolina–Duke basketball rivalry never fails to disappoint.

UNC swept its hated Blue Devils in 2024, en route to an ACC Regular Season Championship and appearance in the ACC Championship Game. Duke got the last laugh, advancing to the Elite 8, but the Tar Heels have bragging rights from winning both head-to-head matchups.

As the college basketball world would have it, North Carolina and Duke are playing again on Saturday, February 1 at 6:30 p.m. ET. The Blue Devils (18-2, 10-0 ACC) look every bit of a National Championship contender, while UNC’s NCAA Tournament hopes are on life support.

Despite the direction of each program’s season, UNC-Duke was named college basketball analyst Andy Katz’ Game of the Week.

There’s a few other watch-worthy matchups on Katz’ Top 10 list, such as Florida–Tennessee and Kentucky-Ole Miss, but none that create the hype the Tobacco Road Rivalry can.

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Tar Heels fans almost had the opportunity to celebrate on Monday night, with NC State putting a scare into the Blue Devils, but superstar Cooper Flagg took over.

In North Carolina’s season of unpredictables, it stormed back and escaped Boston College in overtime Saturday, 102-96. RJ Davis put UNC on his back, scoring seven of his 22 points in the extra time period, while the Tar Heels generated some rare, defensive stops.

Duke hasn’t lost a game since November (I hope I’m summoning the writer’s jinx), when Kansas won, 75-72, in the Vegas Showdown.

We’re hoping North Carolina keeps Saturday’s showdown close, but don’t be surprised if the Blue Devils end things early.

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RJ Davis shows why he is THE guy for UNC basketball during OT win against Boston College

Make sure you take a moment and thank RJ Davis for today’s closer-that-expected victory.

Every team needs a closer, particularly in an intense, high-stakes sport like college basketball.

Closers are go-to stars who, when the game is on the line, can take over and lead their team to victory. Closers aren’t just in baseball – they can be in any sport.

The 2024-2025 UNC basketball team is an extremely young team, so it doesn’t have the leadership from a season ago, but UNC does have a closer: RJ Davis, the reigning ACC Player of the Year.

North Carolina escaped Boston College, 102-96, during overtime Saturday in large parts to Davis’ efforts. Davis scored seven of his Tar Heels-best 22 point in overtime: a 3-pointer at the top of the 3-point line, two free throws to put UNC ahead for good, then two more to help ice the win.

Davis was also perfect in the first half, making all four of his shot and free throw attempts apiece.

“I just relied a lot on my teammates – and the coaching staff did a good job setting up plays for me to execute,” Davis said. “Just be confident with my shot and trust my work. I think I did that in overtime and second half a little bit. Everyone contributed a lot. I really didn’t have to score as much because everyone was contributing. Obviously, it was just a lot of back and forth throughout the game, but I just had in my mindset that we were going to win this game and I’m going to make some big shots in overtime.”

Expanding upon North Carolina’s additional contributions, freshman Drake Powell forced a 5-second call with UNC down 18 seconds left. Seth Trimble then made the tying jumper and, with the Tar Heels leading by four later in overtime, Ven-Allen Lubin sealed the afternoon with a block-and-dunk sequence.

“Before overtime, I think Drake was huge for us,” RJ said. “We wouldn’t be in that position, going into overtime, if it wasn’t for him getting the defensive stop, forcing them into a 5-second call on the baseline. I think Seth was tremendous with attacking the rim, Ven with a huge-time block, Elliot with a nice pass to me to hit the top of the three. I could go down the line, but I think everyone just contributed well and made some big-time plays, so we were able to come out with the win.”

RJ Davis has played hero for UNC so many times in the past. He did once again on Saturday afternoon – and helped North Carolina avoid its most embarrassing loss of the season.

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RJ Davis takes over in overtime, helps UNC escape near-embarrassing loss

Saturday’s win in Chapel Hill was much closer than it needed to be. Luckily, UNC has RJ Davis.

Every basketball team needs a closer to win in clutch time. Luckily for UNC, that guy is reigning ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis.

With North Carolina and Boston College deadlocked at 91 apiece in overtime, Davis hit a 3-pointer that blew the roof off the Dean Dome. A minute later, after Donald Hand Jr. countered with a perimeter make of his own, Davis drained a pair of free throws that gave UNC the lead for good.

Davis then added two more free throws, dribbled the clock out and the Tar Heels won, 102-96, against an Eagles squad still searching for their first ACC road victory.

Davis anchored North Carolina’s scoring attack with 22 points, seven of which came in overtime. Davis hit a couple free throws, drained a clutch 3-pointer, called a crucial timeout after Boston College missed a rare 3-pointer of its own, then iced the game with two more free throws.

North Carolina (13-8, 6-3 ACC) withstood a lights-out perimeter shooting performance from Boston College (9-11, 1-8), which show an unconscious 14-of-24 from deep. There was a stretch in the second half where, if the Eagles got the ball beyond the 3-point line, they were pretty much automatic.

UNC wasn’t nearly as efficient from deep, but efficient enough, making six of 16 3-point attempts. Davis and Ian Jackson, who finished with 19 points, each made two shots from deep.

The Tar Heels and Eagles both shot well from the field overall: North Carolina was 55.6 percent, while Boston College was 54.5%. UNC found a ton of success from driving the paint, outscoring Boston College 58-42.

Jackson needed to break out Saturday in the worst way, as he shot just 4-of-19 between losses to Wake Forest and Stanford. Jackson finished the Boston College game with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

Seth Trimble provided some much-needed help in the scoring column, adding 18 points. Trimble also picked up his first double-double of the season, adding 12 rebounds.

Elliot Cadeau continued his offensive ascension, scoring 13 points for his fourth-straight game in double-digits. Jalen Washington continued showcasing why he deserves to be North Carolina’s starting center, pouring in 18 points despite coming off the bench Saturday.

The Tar Heels nearly suffered an embarrassing loss – one which would have questioned the program’s direction. UNC still has plenty of issues to fix, but it needed Saturday’s win in the worst way.

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UNC’s offensive struggles in ACC play continue in Tuesday’s loss at Wake Forest

UNC still can’t solve its struggling offense.

Offense. It’s what the North Carolina Tar Heels’ basketball program prides itself on.

Yet, since shifting to all-ACC play on New Year’s Day against Louisville, UNC’s offense is a shell of what we once enjoyed.

North Carolina’s offensive struggles came to a boiling point during Tuesday’s 67-66 loss at Wake Forest, highlighted by a second-half stretch without a point for five minutes. I’ll credit the Demon Deacons in being one of the ACC’s top defensive squads (65.7 opponent points per game), but even the country’s best offenses can crack strong defense.

According to the ACC’s official team stats page, the Tar Heels averaged 82.3 points per game heading into Tuesday, second-best in the conference behind SMU (84.8). UNC then turned in a 66 point-performance, its second-lowest total in conference play – and the larger season.

North Carolina also failed to reach the 70-point threshold nearly two weeks ago, when it snuck by NC State in a 63-61 victory. The Tar Heels’ defense carried them in that one, similar to large parts of the Wake game.

UNC scored a minimum 80 points on nine different occasions during non-conference play, highlighted by a 107-55 victory against American. The ACC, despite in the midst of another down year, presents better competition than playing the likes of Campbell and Elon.

Why can’t North Carolina score all of a sudden? I can think of two reasons why: inconsistent center play, plus an inability to drain perimeter shots.

Jalen Washington and Ven-Allen Lubin combined for just 12 points on Tuesday night. The Tar Heels shot an ice-cold 25 percent (8-of-32) from deep, with Elliot Cadeau and RJ Davis the only players making multiple threes.

UNC has plenty of scorers on its team, such as Davis (17.3 points per game), star freshman Ian Jackson (15.2 ppg), Seth Trimble (12.6) and Cadeau (10.4). North Carolina doesn’t need them all to play Superman each game, but the team needs to find broader offensive production, before even thinking about postseason basketball.

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Getting to know UNC’s next basketball opponent: California Golden Bears

Here’s a few factoids you should know about the Cal Golden Bears’ basketball program.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are riding their best stretch of college basketball season, winning their last three games and climbing back into the NCAA Tournament picture.

UNC started its winning streak with a close, 1-point win at Notre Dame. After dominating SMU at home, North Carolina escaped rival NC State, 63-61, in Raleigh on a game-ending sequence from Jalen Washington.

The Tar Heels (11-6, 4-1 ACC) now return home, facing conference newcomer Cal for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday, January 15.

If you like watching Pac-12 basketball, you may know a bit about the Golden Bears (8-8, 1-4). If you didn’t watch Pac-12 hoops – or even if you did – we’re here to tell you a bit about UNC’s next opponent.

Historically, Cal is a strong program when you focus on the 1990s and early 2000s. The Golden Bears even won an NCAA Championship, way back in 1959, beating West Virginia in the title game.

Cal hasn’t been the same since former head coach Mike Montgomery retired after the 2013-2014 season, with the Golden Bears only making one Big Dance (2015-2016) since. Cal is coached by Mark Madsen, its third head coach since the 2016-2017 campaign, hoping to capture its first winning campaign since.

The Golden Bears have just one win in 2025, a comfortable 75-61 home win against Virginia on January 8, then lost to Virginia Tech – by three points – three days later. Cal’s offense is middle-of-the-road, ranking 10th in the ACC at 77 points per game, while its defense allows 75.5 points per game (fourth-highest in ACC).

The Golden Bears enjoy a fairly balanced scoring attack, thanks to four double-digit points per game averages. Andrej Stojakovic, son of NBA legend Peja Stojakovic, leads Cal (and sits 12 in Division I) with 20.3 points per game.

North Carolina should beat the Golden Bears comfortably, but a big night from Stojakovic could doom the Tar Heels.

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Jalen Washington seals UNC victory over NC State with game-ending block

UNC barely escaped NC State with a victory after late Jalen Washington heroics.

For most of the second half on Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, it looked like the UNC basketball team would run away with a big victory over NC State.

North Carolina entered the second half with a 9-point advantage – and later pushed its lead back to nine points – thanks to another Ian Jackson 3-pointer. The host Wolfpack wouldn’t budge, though, re-taking the lead late (63-62) on a Marcus Hill jumper.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Tar Heels escaped Raleigh with a 63-61 victory – sealed by Jalen Washington‘s third block on a career day.

You could hear boos raining down from the NC State (9-7, 2-3 ACC) faithful after Washington’s block. The Wolfpack should be more upset about the play they drew up out of their final timeout, though, holding the ball until the very last second.

Washington recorded the first double-double of his UNC (11-6, 4-1) career with an 11-point, 12-rebound performance. The greatest play on Washington’s big day, though, was him block Jayden Taylor’s game-tying layup attempt.

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North Carolina won a crazy, extremely up-tempo battle in which scoring focused mostly on who could finish drives to the basket. This was evident by 62 points in the paint – exactly half of the game’s total – between both teams, with the Tar Heels holding a 34-28 advantage.

Jackson shined once again in the scoring department, totaling 21 points on 8-of 15 shooting (5-of-8 on 3-pointers), for his fifth 20-point outing in his last six games. Jackson out-dueled Taylor in a battle of high-scoring guards, as Taylor led NC State with 20 points on an efficient, 10-of-19 mark from the field.

North Carolina shot an efficient 43.3 percent (26-of-60) overall. After starting the game rough from 3-point land, UNC finished the night 7-of-19. The Tar Heels’ defense limited the Wolfpack to 36.9% (24-of-65) overall, who made just three of 19 perimeter attempts.

Saturday wasn’t pretty, but instead the type of gritty win North Carolina needed to build momentum. UNC is now third place in the ACC with a 4-1 and, heading into Wednesday’s matchup with California, looks like a much better team than we witnessed in December.

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UNC, ACC highlighted amongst USA TODAY Sports’ losers in bowl season

The ACC turned in a miserable showing during bowl season.

The North Carolina Tar Heels limped into bowl season during December, hoping to end a tumultuous campaign with one final win.

UNC faced UConn in the Fenway Bowl, which essentially proved to be a home game for the Huskies. Several key North Carolina players missed their postseason matchup due to opt-outs – and it showed on the field, with the Tar Heels losing 27-14 and never able to generate offense or get stops.

The ACC, as a whole, struggled as it tries to prove its worth as a Top-3 conference. Syracuse and Louisville were the only ACC programs to win a bowl game, while UNC, Cal, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Boston College, NC State, Duke, SMU, Clemson and Virginia Tech all lost.

With the ACC’s lackluster showing in postseason football, it should come as no surprise it was named amongst USA TODAY Sports’ “losers” in bowl season.

“If under much less scrutiny than the SEC, this has been a nightmare run for the ACC, starting with both SMU and Clemson losing on the road in the opening round of the playoff,” USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg wrote. “Overall, the league went 2-11 in bowl play, with wins from Syracuse (Washington State in the Holiday Bowl) and Louisville (Washington in the Sun Bowl). In addition to N.C. State, the worst losses have come from Pittsburgh, which fell 48-46 in six overtimes to Toledo in the GameAbove Sports Bowl; Miami, which dropped a 42-41 decision to Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl; and North Carolina, which turned the page to the Bill Belichick era by losing 27-14 to Connecticut in the Fenway Bowl.”

The Tar Heels should give their conference something to be proud of in 2025, thanks to new head coach Bill Belichick, but the ACC is no longer the premier conference it once was.

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UNC dominates SMU in ACC basketball tilt behind strong first half

UNC outplayed SMU in virtually every aspect during a big ACC basketball win Tuesday night.

Throughout their college basketball season, the North Carolina Tar Heels have largely struggled to do two things: play solid defense and good basketball in the first half.

On Tuesday night against SMU in a late-night ACC basketball batle, UNC turned in its best defensive performance of the year and – for the second-consecutive game – trotted into halftime with a lead.

North Carolina outscored SMU by 15 in the first half, never trailing en route to an impressive, 82-67 win.

It became apparent pretty quickly that the Tar Heels (10-6, 3-1 ACC), who struggle to find a defensive identity from game-to-game, were going to decide tonight’s outcome with their defense.

UNC limited the visiting Mustangs (11-4, 2-2) to a 33.3 percent (23-of-69) mark from the field. SMU missed plenty of looks from deep in the paint – and North Carolina prevented second-chance points by boxing out. Ven-Allen Lubin and Jalen Washington won their battles against the 7’2″ Samet Yigitoglu. The Mustangs fared even worse from deep, shooting just 22.2% against a Tar Heels lineup that returned Seth Trimble.

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UNC continued shooting the ball well, recording a 47.4 field goal percentage as a team. Most surprising about North Carolina’s win, perhaps, was its ability to make 50 percent (11-of-11) of its 3-pointers .

RJ Davis led all scorers with 26 points, his third 20-point outing in six games. Drake Powell, known more for his defense, started the Tar Heel scoring party with a 14-point first half.

UNC still has a long way to go in proving itself as an ACC contender, but Tuesday’s result was the outcome we yearned for all season. North Carolina has all the pieces to play a winning brand of basketball – and beating SMU comfortably goes a long way towards proving that.

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UNC’s leading tackler from Fenway Bowl commits to Florida State

UNC will be down one linebacker in 2025…

The Fenway Bowl was another upsetting ending to UNC’s 2024 football season, as North Carolina played primarily with players who didn’t see the field much in 2024, during a 27-14 loss to UConn.

One Tar Heel who saw the field sparingly during regular-season action was freshman linebacker Caleb LaVallee, who actually was one of the rare defensive standouts in the Fenway Bowl.

LaVallee led UNC with nine tackles, recording seven solo stops and one tackle for loss, being one of the few who benefitted from opt-outs and NFL Draft declarations.

Looking ahead at North Carolina’s depth chart, LaVallee would be a likely starting 2025 linebacker.

Unfortunately, the Fenway Bowl is the last we’ll see of LaVallee in a Tar Heels uniform, as the freshman linebacker recently committed to ACC rival Florida State.

The Seminoles (2-10), who suffered through their worst season since 1974, need all the talent and help they can get. UNC beat FSU, 35-11, on November 2 in a game which Omarion Hampton scored five touchdowns.

Not having LaVallee next year will definitely be a loss for North Carolina, but it isn’t roster-altering, as Bill Belichick continues to land commitments in his first offseason as head coach. The Tar Heels’ greatest defensive get, through early January, is former Washington linebacker Khmori House.

Like LaVallee, House is a freshman who played more as the season came to a close. LaVallee totaled 14 tackles (eight solo, six assisted) across five 2024 games, while House collected 33 tackles (19 solo, 14 assisted), forced a fumble, intercepted one pass and deflected four more across nine contests.

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Getting to know UNC basketball’s next opponent: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

We give you a brief preview about UNC’s next basketball opponent: the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

It’s right back to the drawing board for Hubert Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels, who struggled down the stretch in Wednesday’s 83-70 loss at Louisville.

UNC (8-6, 1-1 ACC) played fairly solid basketball until the final five minutes, when it only scored one point – on an Ian Jackson free throw. North Carolina never trailed by more than nine points, until the host Cardinals (9-5, 2-1 ACC) pulled away during those same five minutes.

The Tar Heels stay on the road to open up 2025, as they’ll head up to South Bend, Ind. on Saturday, January 4 for a 12 p.m. tip-off against Notre Dame.

UNC owns a 30-9 all-time record against the Fighting Irish (7-6, 1-1 ACC), whom we’re about to give you a deeper dive into.

Notre Dame started the year 4-0 by beating Stonehill College (89-60), Buffalo (86-77), Georgetown (84-63) and North Dakota (75-58), leading to hope amongst fans the Irish were back to their Mike Brey level of winning (13 NCAA Tournaments in 23 seasons).

A loss to a significantly-improved Elon squad on November 22 made the South Bend faithful think again, as Notre Dame began a 5-game losing streak. The Irish then snapped their skid, starting a 3-game winning streak against ACC rival Syracuse, but are fresh off a New Year’s Eve loss at an average Georgia Tech program.

North Carolina’s defense will face a tall task on Saturday, facing a Notre Dame offense with four double-digit scorers.

Markus Burton, a top guard in the ACC and one of the country’s best, leads the Irish with 18.2 points per game. Forward Tae Davis averages 16.6 points per game. Braeden Shrewsberry, starting guard and son of head coach Micah Shrewberry, contributes 16.2 points per game. Matt Allocco adds 10.2 points per game, rounding out Notre Dame’s collection of double-digit scorers.

The Irish are in a similar position to that of our Tar Heels, needing to start a winning streak that shows they’re capable of making the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame hasn’t made the Big Dance since 2021-2022, while UNC is in danger of missing March Madness for the second time in three seasons.

Can North Carolina escape South Bend with a victory, or will prolonged issues persist and lead to a second-straight loss?

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