Tag: North Carolina Basketball

Hubert Davis sees the lineup staying “guard heavy” in the future

If the forwards aren’t working, just start four guards. Could Hubert Davis really do it?

North Carolina finally picked up a huge quad-one win that will go a long way toward their NCAA Tournament resume. However, the phantom that has been haunting UNC basketball still showed up in this game despite the win.

They fell down double digits in the first half and had to fight back in the second half. At one point, UCLA held a lead of 16 points.

However, they did it. They fought back and won a tough game. Since the start of the season, Hubert Davis has always started two forwards. Whether that combination was Jalen Washington and Jae’Lyn Withers or some mixutre of them and Ven Allen Lubin or Cade Tyson.

That might be changing though. The lineup that brought North Carolina back in the second half of the CBS Sports Classic was a four or five-guard lineup.

Davis told the press after the game via Inside Carolina that he will stick with that lineup going forward.

Yes. The lineup change that we made in the second half, I just felt like they were just loading up on RJ, and Ian got it going offensively as well in first half. So just having multiple scorers out there, I thought, would be really good for us because it puts teams in a situation. You want to go big, or do you want to match up with us? And then extending that pressure. You know, we may not have tremendous size, but we do have athleticism. And so when you pick up full court, it speeds teams up. We can get steals and deflections, and we get the pace that we want.

Davis will get that opportunity to start four guards when Campbell comes to the Dean Smith Center on December 29th.

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Guard play propels UNC to first ranked win of the season

Ian Jackson and RJ Davis explode in the Tar Heels’ win over No. 18 UCLA!

There is no denying that the win on Saturday night can be largely credited to two of North Carolina’s guards, RJ Davis and Ian Jackson.

Together, they combined for 41 points as Jackson led the way with 24 points, and Davis chipped in another 17 points. Jackson also had four rebounds as did Davis with two assists. Trimble was the only other player in double figures with 12 points.

After the game, Jackson reiterated, via Inside Carolina, how hard it is to beat AP Top 25 teams, teams which they are now just 2-5 against.

There’s been several games where we’ve been close and kind of didn’t finish it. And it was just one of those games where we got it done. It showed us how hard winning is, definitely how hard winning is at every level, especially at this level. So to come out here and get that final stop and end the game on a stop, it was big for us.

When it came down to it, though, Davis gave the credit for the win to another guard, Seth Trimble.

I shouldn’t have missed the first free throw. I wouldn’t have got to the second free throw (attempts) if Seth didn’t get that stop in the diamond press. That’s the reason why he won the game. He was able to deflect the ball off of the guard’s leg, and we were able to get another chance.

North Carolina will look to a long week break over Christmas as they match up with Campbell next Sunday, December 29th.

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Former UNC basketball coach receives North Carolina’s highest honor

Legendary Tar Heels coach receives North Carolina’s highest honor from the governor.

In 2021, the legendary coach who spent his final 18 years of coaching at UNC basketball stepped down and handed the reigns to Hubert Davis.

Roy Williams, one of the most legendary coaches North Carolina has seen, won three NCAA Championships with the Tar Heels in 2005, 2009, and 2017. He was also a nine-time ACC regular season champion, a three-time ACC tournament champion.

He took the Tar Heels to five final fours as well. Before spending 18 years at North Carolina, he was the head coach at Kansas for the previous 15 years prior to his tenure in Chapel Hill.

Overall, he is 903-264 in his career, with a 79-27 record in NCAA tournaments. He is a two-time AP Coach of the Year and a two-time ACC Coach of the Year. His accolades definitely speak for themselves, and now he adds one more.

According to WCNT, Gov. Roy Cooper presented the legendary University of North Carolina men’s basketball head coach Roy Williams with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest honorary society in the state.

Governor Cooper gave high praise to the former Tar Heel coach saying, “Coach Williams exemplifies what it means to be a Tar Heel and a North Carolinian.”

Williams still attends UNC basketball games all over the country and has been seen as far as Hawai’i this season supporting his Tar Heels.

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Inside Carolina says UCLA is a “must win” to make NCAA Tournament

UNC will face another top-25 opponent on Saturday in a game that will decide the trajectory of the season.

North Carolina dropped another ranked loss on Tuesday against undefeated and No. 7-ranked Florida in a game many thought they should have won.

The Tar Heels have now fallen to 6-5 on the season and 0-4 against teams ranked inside the current AP Top 10. Their only quality win of the season came against No. 22-ranked Dayton in the first round of the Maui Invitational.

Other than that, they have simply just won games that would have been embarrassing to lose. Outside of ACC play, Hubert Davis and his team have just one more top-25 matchup on the season, and that’s on Saturday against No. 18-ranked UCLA — a game that could change the trajectory of the season.

Inside Carolina analyst Sherrell McMillan had this to say about Saturday’s contest with UCLA and the Tar Heels’ tournament chances.

The ACC is just not a good conference this year. What is the path to making the NCAA Tournament? They have to beat UCLA. There’s no way around that. The team knows about NET rankings. They know about KenPom. It makes it even more mysterious when you come out like that in a game you know could help save your season. If we’re being honest, do we really think, with how North Carolina is playing right now, that this season will result in anything of consequence? There’s nothing in particular that they’re really doing well right now. It’s going to take a big winning streak to get them into the Tournament.

North Carolina could still get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament via a championship in the ACC Tournament. However, for even the slight chance at an at-large bid from the committee, the Tar Heels desperately need a win on Saturday.

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Hubert Davis on “little details” contributing more to the Florida loss than “three-point shooting”

Hubert Davis says the team has bigger issues than three-point shooting that is contributing to losses.

North Carolina suffered its fifth loss of the season and fourth to an AP-ranked top-10 team on Tuesday. The loss to Florida felt different than the rest though as UNC basketball held the lead with just under two minutes remaining in regulation.

After several miscues, turnovers, and missed rebounding opportunities, the undefeated, No. 7-ranked Florida tied the game, took the lead, and hit several clutch free throws to pull away and take their 11th win of the season.

As a team, the Tar Heels finished 5-for-28 from the three-point line with double-digit turnovers and a 10-rebound deficit throughout the 40 minutes.

Hubert Davis told Inside Carolina that there was more than just three-point shooting that contributed to the team’s heartbreaking loss against Florida.

Yes, 5-for-28 (on 3-pointers), that would be great if we shot a better percentage. But we were up by four with four minutes to go. It’s all about the little details that make big things happen, box outs, rebounding, making free throws, that’s what it comes down to. So there’ll be games when we’re shooting the ball extremely well from 3. We didn’t do it tonight, but that wasn’t the factor which led us to losing the game. There were a number of (times) where we just didn’t rebound the basketball, especially down the stretch.

Regardless of what the real reason is for UNC’s struggles, things are going to have to change and change quickly. Hubert Davis will get another shot at a top-25-ranked opponent on Saturday in New York as the team battles with No. 18-ranked UCLA.

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How to Watch UNC basketball vs. Florida in the Jumpman Invitational: Odds, TV Channel

Get ready for another top-25 showdown as UNC faces off with Florida in the Jumpman Invitational on Tuesday.

North Carolina has now formulated a winning streak. They took down Georgia Tech in their first ACC win by two points snapping a four-game slide that the team has been on starting in the second round of the Maui Invitational.

After they took down Georgia Tech, they finally won a game with ease, beating La Salle handily. Now, North Carolina faces off against another top-10 opponent as Florida rose to No. 7 in the AP Poll that was released on Monday.

The Jumpman Invitational is a contest between the four teams that are sponsored by the Jordan Brand which also include Michigan and Oklahoma, who will face off Wednesday in a top-25 showdown.

The Tar Heels are 1-4 against teams currently ranked inside the top 25 on the AP Poll and have plenty of tough-game experience this season.

That should bode well as they look toward an undefeated Florida team in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina, not far from home in Chapel Hill.

What channel is North Carolina vs. Florida on today? Time, TV schedule

TV Channel: ESPN

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Where to watch UNC vs. Florida on live stream

Watch UNC vs. Florida live on Fubo (free trial)

UNC vs. Florida prediction, picks, odds

A 1-4 record against teams that match up on paper with the caliber of Florida is not good odds. I have also thought that the Tar Heels would take down Michigan State and Alabama and have been sorely wrong on both occasions.

However, I am back, and so is Carolina basketball. Cade Tyson is finally shooting the ball, and this could be the game in which RJ Davis finds his three-point shot. UNC wins by five, 86-81.

All College Basketball Odds via BetMGM.

SPREAD: North Carolina +3.5

MONEYLINE: North Carolina +145, Florida -175

O/U TOTAL: 166.5 total points

Tar Heels full schedule

Oct. 12: Blue-White Scrimmage (Blue 62, White 53)

Oct. 15: Exhibition @ Memphis (W, 84-76)

Oct. 27: Exhibition vs. Johnson C. Smith (W, 127-63)

Nov. 4: vs. Elon (W, 90-76) (1-0, 0-0)

Nov. 8: at Kansas (L, 92-89) (1-1, 0-0)

Nov. 15: vs. American University (W, 108-55) (2-1, 0-0)

Nov. 22: at Hawaii (W, 87-69) (3-1, 0-0)

Nov. 25: vs. Dayton, Maui Invitational (W, 92-90) (4-1, 0-0)

Nov. 26: vs. Auburn, Maui Invitational (L, 85-72) (4-2, 0-0)

Nov. 27: vs. Michigan State, Maui Invitational (L, 94-90 OT) (4-3, 0-0)

Dec. 4: vs. Alabama, SEC/ACC Challenge (L, 94-79) (4-4, 0-0)

Dec. 7: vs. Georgia Tech (W, 68-65) (5-4, 1-0)

Dec. 14: vs. La Salle (W, 93-67) (6-4, 1-0)

Dec. 17: vs. Florida, Jumpman Invitational

Dec. 21: vs. UCLA, CBS Sports Classic

Dec. 29: vs. Campbell

Jan. 1: at Louisville

Jan. 4: at Notre Dame

Jan. 7: vs. SMU

Jan. 11: at NC State

Jan. 15: vs. California

Jan. 18: vs. Stanford

Jan. 21: at Wake Forest

Jan. 25: vs. Boston College

Jan. 28: at Pitt

Feb. 1: at Duke

Feb. 8: vs. Pitt

Feb. 10: at Clemson

Feb. 15: at Syracuse

Feb. 19: vs. NC State

Feb. 22: vs. Virginia

Feb. 24: at Florida State

March 1: vs. Miami (FL)

March 4: at Virginia Tech

March 8: vs. Duke

March 11-15: ACC Tournament (Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC)

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Hubert Davis praises the “level of play” in practices leading up to Florida showdown

Hubert Davis had high praise for the UNC basketball practices ahead of another tough matchup.

The Tar Heels head to Charlotte on Tuesday with a 6-4 record overall and a 1-4 record against teams currently ranked inside of the AP Top 25.

Mediocrity has been the sentiment of the ball team throughout the better part of the first month and a half of the season. In only two wins this season (American and La Salle), the team looked overly confident.

In all the other games, they dropped to double-digit deficits early and either climbed back out to secure a win or failed to every comeback. However, is that changing?

Hubert Davis told 247 Sports that UNC basketball has stepped up their game in the practices leading up to their Jumpman Invitational showdown with top-10-ranked Florida.

There were some good things that we can build on, that we emphasized and we talked about over the last two days of practice. And honestly, the last two days of practice have been the best practices all year. For the first time all year, I went home and I was like, ‘Wow, we’re getting better, we’re improving.’ … I’ve talked to you guys about getting to that level and staying at that level, and I felt like the last two days of practice, we started and we stayed there. And so we’ll see if we can translate that to tomorrow night against Florida.

We will see if that level of play transpires on the court in front of the nation. The Tar Heels match up with Florida at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Spectrum Center on Tuesday night, airing on ESPN.

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PHOTO: Tar Heels roll past La Salle at home

If you missed the game, here is a photo recap of UNC basketball’s dominant performance vs La Salle.

In need of a big win before going back on the road this week to take on another top-10-ranked team, North Carolina took the court at home against La Salle, an Atlantic 10 Conference team.

For just the second time this season, the Tar Heels looked fully in control and dominant of the entire game from start to finish.

They took a 17-point lead into the halftime break and won the second half by nine and putting a break on the jets.

Belmont transfer Cade Tyson finished with a season-high 23 points on five threes. RJ Davis had 13 points despite shooting 4-for-11 from the floor and 2-for-6 from deep. Seth Trimble and Ven Allen Lubin both finished with 10 points.

Here is a photo recap of the Tar Heels victory over La Salle.

UNC basketball ranked on CBS Sports Top 25 and 1

The Tar Heels might not be in the AP Top 25, but they haven’t fallen out of everyone’s Top 25.

North Carolina has been in the new tremendously over the last week, but despite it being basketball season, had nothing to do with the basketball team and everything to do with football hiring Bill Belichick.

It almost overshadowed in Tar Heels fans the fact that UNC basketball dropped out of the current AP Top 25 rankings at the beginning of the week.

However, despite dropping out of those rankings, CBS Sports latest rendition of its “Top 25 and 1” continues to have North Carolina as a top-25 ranked team. Specifically, they are the No. 19 ranked team in the list.

In their quick recap of UNC’s latest, Parrish wrote this about North Carolina.

Seth Trimble finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in Saturday’s 68-65 win over Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels’ next game is Saturday against La Salle.

The Tar Heels are sandwiched between No. 18 Illinois and No. 20 Dayton, a team that they beat in the first round of the Maui Invitational last month.

Tennessee continues to be on top of the rankings followed by Auburn, Iowa State, Marquette, and Kentucky to round of the top five.

North Carolina will take on La Salle at 4:00 p.m. on December 14th in their next game. You can find that airing on the CW Network.

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North Carolina weirdly pitched AJ Dybantsa on Duke’s success during failed recruitment

Why did North Carolina do this?!?

AJ Dybantsa decided to play college basketball at BYU, but before that, he considered various other schools including North Carolina.

Picture this scenario that Dybantsa experienced: You are the top basketball recruit in the nation and while meeting with the program, the university opts to weirdly invoke the success of their biggest rival as a reason to attend their school.

That is somehow exactly what happened for Dybantsa when he met with UNC, according to a recent profile by Matt Norlander. It makes no sense, but alas, here is what Dybantsa was reportedly told (via CBS Sports):

“North Carolina pitched him a vision of being the next all-time scoring superstar to wear Tar Heel Blue, following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan, Vince Carter and Jerry Stackhouse. They referenced how Zion Williamson’s net worth skyrocketed by choosing to play at Duke instead of Clemson, laying out what one season at a blue blood did for his career in advance of being drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans, including a shoe deal worth upward of $50 million before ever playing an NBA game.”

That was an absolutely absurd decision, and Duke seemed to troll UNC afterward by posting a GIF of Williamson:

After hearing this pitch, and the whopping NIL deal, it isn’t exactly as much a surprise that the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft decided BYU as a better fit than UNC.

Whoever mentioned Williamson should probably reconsider that for future meetings with recruits.

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