Tag: UNC Tar Heels

North Carolina’s RJ Davis coming back for a fifth year? One report says yes

Another year of RJ Davis in Chapel Hill? Say it ain’t so! One CBS writer says the All-American has already made up his mind.

Duke fans might have accidentally got two pieces of bad news in quick succession on Tuesday afternoon.

North Carolina guard Seth Trimble announced he’d withdrawn himself from the transfer portal. In response to the news, CBS senior writer Matt Norlander said that All-American guard RJ Davis is expected to make the same decision to stay in the coming days.

Davis started 118 games across the last four years for the Tar Heels, but with the one-year extension due to COVID-19, he could still exercise a fifth year if he wants. He’s yet to officially say he’ll be back in 2024-25, but Norlander said the decision’s already been made.

The First Team All-American and ACC Player of the Year last season, Davis averaged 21.2 points per game along with 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists. The Blue Devils managed to hold him in check, however, as he averaged 13.0 points per game and shot 34.6% from the floor against Duke.

If he’d decided to forgo his extra year for the NBA, all four double-digit scorers from last year’s UNC team would leave the program this offseason. Armando Bacot and Cormac Ryan are already out of eligibility, and Harrison Ingram declared for the NBA draft.

Davis’s official announcement is expected by the end of this week.

UNC’s Seth Trimble withdraws from transfer portal, will return to Chapel Hill

UNC will lose at least three starters from the 2023-24 season, but the Tar Heels are no longer losing sophomore Seth Trimble.

Duke fans hoping for a complete depletion in Chapel Hill this offseason received some bad news on Tuesday.

Tar Heels guard Seth Trimble announced that he’d withdrawn his name from the transfer portal, confirming he would return to North Carolina for the 2024-25 season.

As a sophomore, Trimble averaged 17.1 minutes per game across his 35 appearances. He scored 5.2 points per game, shooting 47.0% from the floor and 41.9% from beyond the arc.

North Carolina still loses a lot of talent for the 2024-25 season. Longtime center Armando Bacot is out of eligibility after a half-decade career, as is transfer guard Cormac Ryan. Harrison Ingram declared for the NBA draft, and All-American RJ Davis has yet to officially announce whether he’ll stick around for next season.

Should Davis leave, even with Trimble coming back, that’d be 59.4 points per game out the window between those four names alone.

Duke rises to No. 6 in D1Baseball poll after first road series win against Virginia Tech in years

Duke keeps rising in latest D1Baseball poll, moving up to No. 6 after they took a ranked road series against Virginia Tech.

Duke’s weekend in Blacksburg was full of excitement as Duke won a road series against Virginia Tech for the first time in six years. Both Duke wins came with late-inning dramatics, as the Blue Devils fought back and won the game late.

For their efforts against a top-25 team, the Blue Devils saw themselves rise one spot to No. 6 in the latest D1Baseball poll.

Duke’s win puts them two games behind UNC for the Coastal Division lead as the Blue Devils enter the home stretch of the regular season.

At the top of the newest D1Baseball poll, the Texas A&M Aggies remain the nation’s number one team. Arkansas is second while the Tennessee Volunteers are third. Kentucky and ACC foe Clemson are ranked ahead of Duke at fourth and fifth, respectively.

East Carolina, Wake Forest, and Oklahoma State follow in order before Duke’s next ACC opponent, Florida State, slots in at 10th.

The rest of the ACC continues to be well represented in the poll, with Virginia and North Carolina ranked 14th and 15th, respectively, while NC State ranked 21st.

Duke will remain on the road for a midweek game against a tough Campbell Camels team before returning home for a top-10 weekend series against the Florida State Seminoles.

North Carolina starter Harrison Ingram declares for the NBA draft

Harrison Ingram, who averaged 17.5 points and recorded two double-doubles against Duke last year, won’t return to Chapel Hill.

North Carolina starter Harrison Ingram won’t return to Chapel Hill next season.

The 6-foot-7 forward announced through social media on Saturday that he would be declaring for the NBA draft.

Ingram averaged 17.5 points and 11.5 rebounds against Duke last season, recording a double-double in both games. He likely irked Blue Devils fans the most in the first game when he made five of his nine 3-point attempts in a nine-point victory.

For the season, Ingram averaged 12.2 points and 8.8 rebounds. It was his first season playing for the Tar Heels after he started his career with Stanford.

With Ingram leaving and Armando Bacot and Cormac Ryan both out of eligibility, the UNC starting five will be more than 50% depleted this offseason. Hubert Davis still awaits the decision, at least publicly, of All-American RJ Davis to see if he’s losing a fourth starter.

Duke finishes at No. 9 in final AP poll

Four ACC teams, including Duke, crack final AP poll of the 2023-2024 season.

While the season’s outcome was not what many expected when Duke took the floor to start the season, Jon Scheyer’s team was, in essence, just 12 minutes from a Final Four berth.

NC State made more plays down the stretch and ultimately ended Duke’s season before having their season ended by national runner-up Purdue. Connecticut was always the best team from beginning to end, and they proved it by doing what hadn’t been done since Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators teams in 2006–07: winning a second consecutive national title.

It should come as no surprise that the Huskies end the season as the No. 1 team in the final AP poll for the 2023-2024 season. Purdue was second, while Houston, whom Duke beat in the Sweet 16, tied with Alabama for the third-place spot. Tennessee checked in at number five.

Illinois was next at No. 6, followed by North Carolina, Iowa State, and Duke. NC State rounds out the top 10 despite never joining the poll during the regular season. Clemson, one of four ACC schools to make at least the Sweet 16, finished at No. 14.

The ACC had the same number of teams in the final AP poll as the Big 12, with four each.

Duke moves up to No. 7 in latest D1 Baseball poll after five straight wins and a weekend sweep of Miami

Duke baseball back on the rise in latest D1Baseball poll.

The Duke Blue Devils have found their groove.

After a 4-0 week, the Duke baseball team has won its previous five games. If you look further past that, the Blue Devils won eight of their last nine baseball games.

Duke dominated Liberty midweek on the road 9-4 before returning to Durham and sweeping the Miami Hurricanes for the first time in Duke baseball history. They took care of Miami with some heroics, too, walking off the Hurricanes on both Friday and Sunday and overcoming a six-run deficit in the final game.

Duke enters week eight of the season after moving up two spots to No. 7 in the latest D1 Baseball poll for their efforts. They moved up two spots from ninth and are now knocking on the door to cracking the top five.

 

The rest of the ACC remains well-represented in the Top 25, as Clemson remains steady as the second-ranked team in the poll. Florida State is now the 10th-ranked team, while Virginia and UNC are 11th and 13th, respectively. Wake Forest, the preseason No. 1, has started to play much better and is back up to 14th. Virginia Tech rounds out the ACC’s involvement as they place 16th.

Duke closes out this four-game homestand with William & Mary on Tuesday and is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch. They return to ACC action next weekend with a three-game road series against the Pitt Panthers.

Duke softball makes program history rising to No. 1 in latest Softball America poll

Duke Softball is the new No. 1 team in the country.

After a crazy weekend in softball that saw the sport’s premier team, Oklahoma, lose a tough series to its fiercest rival, Softball America has a new number-one squad, and it resides in Durham, North Carolina.

That’s correct; the Duke Blue Devils are the No. 1 softball team in the country, according to Softball America’s latest poll.

Duke’s ascension to number one marks the first time this season that a team other than Oklahoma has topped SA’s poll. It also marks the first time in Duke softball’s short history that it has been ranked as a number one team.

Duke entered last week as the No. 2 team, and after beating UNC-Charlotte 6-1 in a midweek matchup and sweeping their Tobacco Road rivals, UNC, Duke is now the nation’s top team.

Oklahoma has an early season win over Duke, but things have changed for both programs since that game.

Duke is joined by Virginia Tech (16), Florida State (20), Virginia (24), and Clemson (25) as the ACC accounts for 20% of the poll.

Duke returns to action this week when it travels to Greenville, N.C., for a non-conference matchup with East Carolina. The first pitch is slated for 5 p.m. at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium.

WATCH: Armando Bacot misses dunk in March Madness loss to Alabama

North Carolina’s Sweet 16 upset at the hands of Alabama included a stunning gaffe from star center Armando Bacot in the closing minutes.

North Carolina center Armando Bacot has had some great NCAA Tournament moments.

The Tar Heels star helped lead UNC to the doorstep of a national title two years ago, defeating Duke in the Final Four and averaging 16.5 rebounds per game over the Cinderella run.

Thursday’s upset loss against Alabama in the Sweet 16 included one of his lowlights.

North Carolina led the Crimson Tide by eight points at halftime but couldn’t close the door, becoming the first No. 1 seed eliminated from this year’s edition of March Madness.

Teammate RJ Davis, North Carolina’s All-American guard, had his fair share of mistakes in a 4/20 shooting performance. Bacot’s biggest gaffe was a lot more visible, however.

With less than seven minutes left in the game, Bacot went up for a two-handed dunk that would have stretched UNC’s lead to five. Instead, he did this.

What makes the small moment even worse? North Carolina lost to the Crimson Tide by two points, a final score of 89-87.

North Carolina bounced by Alabama in the Sweet 16

North Carolina became the first No. 1 seed eliminated from the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night with an 89-87 loss to Alabama.

The North Carolina Tar Heels have been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

The top-seeded Tar Heels lost to No. 4 Alabama 89-87 in the Sweet 16 on Thursday evening.

The defeat made UNC the first No. 1 seed eliminated in March Madness this year, as all four top teams made it through opening weekend.

The Crimson Tide operate around an up-tempo, high-octane offense, but North Carolina managed to keep up through the first half. The Tar Heels took a 54-46 lead into the halftime break as different UNC players stepped up early.

However, the advantage continued to dwindle throughout the second half. Alabama’s Grant Nelson made a layup to cut the lead to three with 15 minutes left, and he buried two free throws half a minute later to pull within one. A 3-pointer from teammate Sam Walters gave the Tide the lead with 13:56 left on the clock.

North Carolina pulled ahead again, rattling off a quick 9-1 run to lead by six points with 8:46 left. Cormac Ryan, the fifth-year senior who haunted the Blue Devils in Durham earlier this month, buried a triple to make it a five-point game with 6:20 on the clock. It felt like Alabama couldn’t chew far enough into the lead, and the Tar Heels looked assured of a place in the Elite Eight.

But the Tide roared back again. Aaron Estrada made back-to-back baskets, one of them from behind the 3-point line, to knot the game at 75 points apiece. Nelson made a go-ahead layup with 4:24 to play, but his true dagger came late.

With less than a minute to play and UNC leading by a single point, Nelson fought through a foul for an and-one basket. The ensuing free throw game the Crimson Tide a two-point lead, and when North Carolina couldn’t score on its next possession, the finality set in.

UNC couldn’t survive its second-half offensive struggles. After scoring more than 50 points in the first 20 minutes, the Tar Heels managed just 33 points after the break. The team shot 25% from the floor in the second half, its worst 20-minute tournament performance in more than a decade, capitalized by this unfortunate sequence from center Armando Bacot.

RJ Davis, the All-American North Carolina guard, finished with 16 points on 4/20 shooting, and he missed all nine of his 3-point attempts. Star freshman guard Elliot Cadeau finished with eight points on 3/9 shooting, and Bacot put up 19 points and 12 rebounds in his final game.

Alabama advances to play Clemson, the region’s No. 6 seed, in the Elite Eight.

Three keys to a Duke win versus Houston in the Sweet 16

Duke’s methodical offense and ability to handle Houston’s air-tight ball-trapping defense defense is a major key to winning this game.

The time continues to dwindle as we get closer and closer to Duke tipping off in Dallas to take on the Houston Cougars for the right to move on to the Elite Eight.

Duke’s journey this year has been up and down, but after an unfortunate blip of back-to-back losses right before the NCAA Tournament started, the momentum did not seem to favor the Blue Devils.

Yet, here we are after Duke dominated the tournament’s first two games and cruised to Dallas. Things won’t be nearly as easy on Friday night against Houston. The Cougars are tough, physical, and tested. Two-way guard Jamal Shead, Houston’s star player, will be playing in his 15th NCAA Tournament game on Friday evening. Kelvin Sampson has had a terrific tenure coaching this program, and he brings years of NCAA Tournament experience.

Duke will have its hands full. However, Houston can be beat. With that said, here are three keys to a Duke win.

Quick decisions are essential.

Houston runs a highly effective defense predicated on trapping the ball in the pick-and-roll. It blitzes ball-handlers and forces them to make lightning-quick decisions and passes that many teams at the college level can’t make or are too slow to make, thus leading to turnovers and rushed offensive sets.

When you look at the Cougars’ defense, they are No. 2 in effective field goal percentage (44%), block rate (16.1%), and steal rate (15.5%). They are also within the top five in turnover percentage (24.7%) and 2-point defense (43.4 %) and they hold teams under 30 percent from three.

In other words, they are stout defensively. However, opponents have a shot if they can swing the ball and break the trap down off the dribble. Jeremy Roach has dominated the ball in the tournament thus far, sliding into a more conventional PG role like he did in the last few NCAA Tournaments. He must be decisive, make the right reads, and get the ball out so Duke can swing it, attack open gaps, or use numbers to their advantage when applicable.

If the ball sticks, Duke will be in trouble, generating offense. Luckily, Duke has found its rhythm in sharing the ball in the tournament. 22 assists on 33 made field goals against James Madison in the second round certainly helps. They may not make nearly as many baskets, but a similar ratio would likely mean they’ve been able to break down Houston’s defense.

Shoot, shoot, shoot

There are going to be plenty of 3-point opportunities available come Friday night. Duke needs to be ready to hit them. They shot the cover off the ball against JMU in their last game. Jared McCain had eight threes. It’s unlikely Houston will allow the number of open looks that JMU did, but for the ones they do, Duke has to cash in on them.

Per Synergy Sports, Houston is in the 98th percentile in spot-up points allowed per possession at an incredibly high rate (27% of defensive possessions.) In other words, McCain and Tyrese Proctor have to have good days like they did Sunday shooting the ball. The issue is that Houston plays such a hellacious defense that they will contest everything. Duke needs an inspired shooting performance like they had in the second round, or at least 40% in comparison to the 50% they were at against the Dukes.

Toughness wins

You would be hard-pressed to find a tougher team than the Houston Cougars. They play hard physically; if you are mentally and physically unprepared, things can spiral quickly. Duke’s knock this year is that they are soft. That has been the narrative all season long. Both games against UNC showcased that, as did their early loss to Arkansas.

Duke will be run out of the gym if it is not mentally and physically ready to battle this Houston team. In the aftermath of the JMU game, players and coaches talked about how the message preached was to throw the first punch. Come out and attack them. Set the tone on both court ends and let them know you’re here. That same message applies here.

Houston may not be nearly as dynamic offensively as the Tar Heels, but they are even better defensively, and both games against North Carolina did no favors for Duke. Duke is 18th in effective field-goal percentage. They can score with the best of them, but this is different. Duke hasn’t beaten a higher-ranked seed in 30 years. To win this game, they must showcase what they have been missing all year.