Tag: UNC Basketball

North Carolina falters down the stretch, again

UNC falls again, this time to Pitt on the road.

North Carolina’s 2025 NCAA Tournament hopes are all but officially over.

Facing an opportunity to get a big quad 1 win on the road, North Carolina’s struggles continued on Tuesday night at Pitt. Despite leading 61-57 with 8:26 left in the game, the Tar Heels scored just four points the rest of the way in a 73-65 loss.

The Tar Heels committed several turnovers and couldn’t make any shots down the stretch, allowing Pitt to go on a run, which was the story of the game. North Carolina led by 8 and 10 at one point in this game, but allowed runs by Pitt to see the Panthers get back into it.

And as we have seen too much this year, they can’t close out games.

Despite a strong start for UNC, Pitt was able to battle back in the first half after the Tar Heels built up a 10-point lead. The Panthers closed out the first half on a 8-0 run to cut the lead down to 44-42 at the break.

But UNC responded with a strong start to the second half with a 5-0 run to extend the lead a little more. Much like they did in the first half, Pitt didn’t let it get out of hand and responded again.

The second half was a back-and-forth battle. Despite 14 turnovers and Elliott Cadeau in foul trouble, UNC found a way to get the lead again as we mentioned at that 8:26 mark.

However, they couldn’t close it out as they watched Zack Johnson help spark a Pitt run behind his four blocks and a big three-pinter late.

This loss drops UNC to 13-9 overall and 6-4 in conference play, putting their NCAA Tournament hopes down the drain as they were a bubble team going into this game.  They are also 2-4 against Pitt in the past four seasons.

Now, they head to Durham to face off against No. 2 Duke in a game that could get ugly early on.

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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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Former UNC basketball standout Caleb Love anchors Arizona’s upset win over Iowa State

Caleb Love provided a little nostalgia for UNC fans on Monday night.

I’m confident that every UNC basketball fan remembers the name Caleb Love.

Currently in his fifth and final season of college basketball, Love is now an integral part of the Arizona Wildcats. Before heading to the desert, Love spent his first three seasons at North Carolina: playing well, but not living up to his lofty expectations.

Love’s greatest moment as a Tar Heel, though, came in the 2022 Final Four against arch-rival Duke. As UNC clung to a 75-74 lead in the final 30 seconds, Love drained a deep 3-pointer that proved to be the final dagger.

Three years later for Arizona, Love nailed another clutch shot – again, helping his team win late.

With the Wildcats trailing Iowa State, 71-68, in the closing seconds of regulation on Monday, January 27, Love drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from beyond half-court.

Love sent the game into overtime and, five minutes later, his Arizona squad upset the third-ranked team in the nation.

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Make sure you watch the clip above closely, as Love then runs around the court and sends the Wildcat faithful into a cheering frenzy. Love ended the upset win with a game-high 22 points.

Love helped North Carolina improbably reach the 2022 NCAA Championship, where it choked away a 15-point halftime lead to Kansas. Many saw the Tar Heels’ title game appearance as a surprise, ourselves included, but they embarked on a regular season hot streak and held off top-seeded Baylor.

Love, Armando Bacot and RJ Davis all returned the following year, giving many UNC fans hope another NCAA Title was in reach. North Carolina instead ended up missing the tournament, then Love transferred that offseason.

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North Carolina faces big bubble game for NCAA Tournament

Here is where the UNC basketball program stands in the latest ESPN Bracketology.

The next two or three weeks will be crucial for the North Carolina Tar Heels’ 2025 NCAA Tournament chances. After a loss at Wake Forest and a close win over Boston College, UNC is still on the bubble and they have a very important game on Tuesday.

With a big week ahead, North Carolina is on the road Tuesday night at Pitt before taking on the No. 2 team in the country Duke on Saturday.

For Tuesday’s game, UNC enters the matchup against Pitt still on the bubble as ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has made an update to his Bracketology. Lunardi has UNC as one of the last four in the field along with Ohio State, Texas and UCF.

Lunardi has UCF as the last team in, meaning UNC is team No. 67 in his bracket.

So here’s where it gets interesting. Lunardi also has Pitt on the bubble and as one of the last four byes. A win for UNC on Tuesday would give them a Quad 1 win and would help them jump Pitt in the mock bracket. If UNC could somehow stun Duke on Saturday, it would help their chances even more.

The bottom line for UNC is that they need to win games no matter who the opponent is. The ACC is considered to be in a down year, so any bad losses would absolutely ruin their chances.

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The next 7 games will decide the Tar Heels 2025 NCAA Tournament destiny

Will North Carolina find themselves on the inside or outside of the NCAA Tournament? The next seven games will answer that question.

North Carolina has been on the outside and the inside of the NCAA Tournament bubble for most of the last month. They fell down the seedings hard after their loss to Louisville at the top of the year.

However, the game that sent them to the bubble was their home loss against Stanford, their only non-quad-one loss of the season.

Since that loss, any analyst you ask would be on opposite sides of whether this Hubert Davis-coached team deserves to be in the NCAA Tournament or not.

The next seven games will determine the team’s tournament chances

They will start that seven-game stretch with four, quad-one games. The Tar Heels will end out January with a road game against Pitt on Tuesday. They will turn around and head to Durham to take on their archrival No. 2-ranked Duke on Saturday, February 1st.

After those two road games, they will take on Pitt at home on February 8th before going to South Carolina and taking on Clemson in their fourth-straight quad-one game.

Their last three games of that seven-game stretch are against three quad-three opponents in Syracuse on the road, NC State at home, and Virginia at home.

Despite them being quad-three opponents, they could be considered “trap” games, especially Syracuse on the road. They will close out February with a road game against Florida State.

North Carolina fans want nothing but success for this team and many desire their presence in the NCAA Tournament. If that is going to happen, they need at least two of the four quad-one games and all three, quad-three games.

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North Carolina five-star commit named to McDonald’s All-American rosters

The Tar Heels’ newest recruit was named to the McDonald’s All-American roster!

The last week in basketball recruiting for North Carolina has been a whirlwind. Their last recruiting target of the Class of 2025 made his decision on Thursday night/Friday morning. Thankfully for Tar Heels fans, five-star power forward Caleb Wilson is on his way to Chapel Hill.

His announcement included Ramses on the set of NBA on TNT following the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics game. The next game, Wilson proceeded to drop 15 points with 15 rebounds and six blocks in a near triple-double effort, making North Carolina fans that much more excited.

Wilson became the fifth-highest recruit in UNC’s famed history with a 247Sports composite ranking of .9979, the No. 6 highest player in the country in the Class of 2025.

Now, Wilson adds to those senior-year accolades by being named to the McDonald’s All-American roster. Wilson will take the court with the No. 1 overall recruit and former UNC target, AJ Dybantsa, along with Duke commit Nikolas Khamenia and Kansas commit Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 overall ranked player.

On the other side of the McDonald’s All-American roster is the Boozer brothers, Cameron and Cayden, Duke commits. They are joined by Kentucky commit Malachi Moreno, and three UConn commits Braylon Mullins, Eric Reibe, and Darius Adams.

Last year, Ian Jackson and Drake Powell took the court in this game and showcased their skills that are now on display at the Dean Dome. Wilson will do the same in this year’s McDonald’s All-American game.

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Tar Heels fall in NET rankings despite a conference win over Boston College

Check out where the Tar Heels stand in the NET rankings following the team’s win at home against Boston College!

North Carolina took the court on Saturday in a must-win game against the 1-7, now 1-8 in the ACC, Boston College. In a game that should have been an easy 20+ point victory, the Tar Heels turned into a nail-biter that required a miracle and overtime just to win.

After the win and with other results across the college basketball world, UNC dropped from No. 39 to No. 40 in the NET rankings being supplanted by Creighton.

In the 102-96 victory, RJ Davis led the team with 22 points and five rebounds with five assists. Seth Trimble had the team’s only double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Other double-digit scorers include Jalen Washington (18), Elliot Cadeau (13), and Ian Jackson (19).

At No. 40 in the NET rankings, North Carolina is the No. 5-ranked team in those rankings a part of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Duke holds the highest NET in the conference at No. 2, followed by Louisville at No. 24.

Clemson comes in at No. 30, and just above North Carolina, Pitt is No. 34.

The Tar Heels’ next four games will be against teams with a better NET ranking than them and will be pivotal to their NCAA Tournament resume. Wins will put them in, losses will securely render them out.

North Carolina holds a 1-7 record against quad-one teams, with their only win against former No. 18-ranked UCLA. They hold a 4-1 record against quad-two teams, with Stanford being that only loss. They are 4-0 against both quad-three and quad-four teams on the season.

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UNC basketball commit flirts with triple double

This UNC basketball commit had a HUGE game over the weekend.

The North Carolina Tar Heels continue to navigate this tough 2024-25 college basketball season, sitting on the bubble despite a win over the weekend. As the Tar Heels hit a very important stretch over the next few weeks, they are hoping to close out strong and try to build momentum into next season.

And on early Friday morning, they received some great news in terms of a commitment in the 2025 class when five-star forward Caleb Wilson pledged his commitment on TNT. Wilson is the third commitment for North Carolina in that 2025 class but he’s the biggest one as he’s a top 10 player overall.

It also didn’t take long for Wilson to make a positive impact with the UNC fan base, either.

On Saturday, Wilson flirted with a triple-double against Grayson High School in Georgia. He finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks which was a great performance.

There’s a reason why Wilson is ranked No. 6 nationally in the 247Sports composite rankings.  And if he keeps this up, he could see that ranking climb even higher before he steps foot on UNC’s campus for next season.

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College GameDay heading to Durham for UNC/Duke matchup

Here is where the next ESPN College GameDay broadcast will take place.

Now that the college football season is over, ESPN’s College GameDay is returning to the road on Saturday mornings to cover the game of the day. The crew already appeared in Auburn for the Tigers’ battle against Tennessee, and they have announced their second location.

And it’s a familiar one.

ESPN announced that the College GameDay crew will travel to Durham, North Carolina, on Saturday, Feb. 1, for the first game of the UNC-Duke rivalry. The two teams meet twice a year, and College GameDay usually attends those games.

But is it the right decision? Saturday’s slate is a loaded one for college basketball featuring a battle between two top 10 teams in Florida and Tennessee as well as John Calipari’s return to Kentucky when Arkansas visits.

Duke will be ranked No. 2 for this matchup and for North Carolina, well they will be unranked. Still, it’s the best rivalry in college basketball and it draws huge ratings.

This will be the 14th trip to Duke for College GameDay. The show is hosted by Rece Davis and features analysts  Jay Bilas, Andraya Carter, Seth Greenberg, Jay Williams and Pete Thamel.

Duke is looking to stay red hot and unbeaten in conference play while North Carolina needs to stack wins for the NCAA Tournament resume.

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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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