Tag: UNC Tar Heels

UNC standout guard named to Naismith Player of the Year watchlist

RJ Davis has been named to the official Naismith Player of the Year watchlist!

There is no denying that a large part of North Carolina’s success as a team over the past three seasons was due to the stellar performance of guard, RJ Davis. Now a fifth-year senior, he has been named to the Naismith Player of the Year watchlist, an award he has never won.

His awards list stacks up. He has been a consensus All-American, the ACC Player of the Year, All-ACC first teams, All-Tournament first teams, and All-American first teams. However, the coveted Player of the Year award has never fallen in the hands of one of the country’s greatest scorers.

Last year, Davis averaged 21.2 points on the way to most of the aforementioned awards. This year, he is currently averaging 20.2 points per game. He has also upped his rebounds from 3.6 last season to 4.2 this season and assists from 3.5 last season to 4.6 this season.

The increased play of Elliot Cadeau has also led to his budding into a different role this season. However, despite that shift in responsibility, he is still scoring at will on the best defenders in the country.

Depending on how far Davis and the Tar Heels can go this season, he has a real chance at finishing his career at North Carolina with this Player of the Year award. Much more, he can be an NCAA Champion, another accolade that has illuded him.

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North Carolina Tar Heels announce that football coach Mack Brown won’t be back in 2025

The North Carolina Tar Heels will part ways with legendary football coach Mack Brown after the season, the school announced on Tuesday.

After Saturday’s 41-21 loss to Boston College, the North Carolina Tar Heels football team is preparing for an offseason coaching change.

The school announced on Tuesday that legendary coach Mack Brown won’t be back for 2025 despite initially being under contract through the 2027 season.

Brown first coached UNC from 1988-97, a tenure that started with consecutive 1-10 seasons before ending with back-to-back 10-win seasons. He left Chapel Hill for the Texas Longhorns, where he won a national championship in 2005 before he stepped away from coaching in 2013.

He chose to return to Chapel Hill in 2019, and he’s won at least six games in all six seasons since. However, despite his program-leading 113 wins in 16 seasons, the Tar Heels suffered some embarrassing losses in 2024. UNC gave up 70 points to James Madison in their home stadium in Week 4 and blew a 20-0 lead over the Duke Blue Devils in Durham before letting Boston College quarterback Grayson James lead a 20-point victory in his third start with the Eagles.

Saturday’s loss dropped the team to 6-5 for the season with three wins in its last eight games.

Despite a headline earlier this season that insinuated Brown asked his players if he should step away, the UNC coach insisted he wanted to return for next season.

RJ Davis emphasizes first-half problems, praises Seth Trimble’s leadership

First-half struggles have led to the Tar Heels having to fight back in the second half multiple times this season.

North Carolina escaped a tough introductory game to the Maui Invitational on Monday night as Dayton gave them everything they could handle.

The first half was all Flyers as Dayton got out to an 18-point lead in the first 20 minutes and extended it to 21 points in the second half.

North Carolina eventually won, 92-90, but it was yet another soft start that got them behind against a good team. This was the sentiment of coaches and players alike after the close win.

RJ Davis told reporters after the game, via Inside Carolina, the importance of a strong first half.

There was a lot of motivation going into halftime for myself and Seth. We were kind of like the voice in terms of just trying to get guys going and just build our spirit. Obviously we went down big in the first half. Wasn’t the first half we like to play. Myself and Seth, we just told them, like, We got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. We always putting ourselves in this positions and got to climb our way back into games. If we can just put together the second half like we did tonight in the first half for a full 40 minutes, we’ll be more than fine. I feel like in the second half, the way we battled, competed, we just chipped away possession by possession. I think that’s when we knew we would come back from this game.

RJ Davis and Seth Trimble combined for 57 points of the team’s total 92 points on the night, which was just over 60%. Trimble also finished with a double-double pulling down 10 rebounds while Davis grabbed seven himself.

Heading into a tough game today against a top-five opponent, it will be important for this Tar Heels team to get the first half going with the same energy that they left the Dayton game with yesterday.

North Carolina takes on Auburn at 11:00 p.m. ET tonight, airing on ESPN.

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PHOTOS: Tar Heels Maui Invitational first-round win over Dayton

If you weren’t able to stay up and watch UNC basketball, check out our photo recap here!

North Carolina took to Hawai’i this week for a star-studded lineup in the Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center. The Tar Heels matched up with unranked Dayton in the first round last night.

With a game that had an original start time of 11:30 p.m. ET and ended up starting almost half an hour later, no one would blame you if you didn’t stay up. However, you missed a great game.

North Carolina fell down 18 points in the first half, and that deficit grew to 21 points at the start of the second half. The Tar Heels bounced back and won by two points in a demonstrative second half from RJ Davis and Seth Trimble.

Here is how that game looked!

Tar Heels women’s basketball claims championship in the Bahamas

North Carolina women’s basketball is bringing hardware back to Chapel Hill!

North Carolina women’s basketball took down Indiana today in a massive championship performance in Nassau, Bahamas. They won the Bad Boy Mowers Women’s Battle 4 Atlantis Championship by 30 points over the Big Ten school.

The Tar Heels traveled south this week and opened up the tournament with an 11-point win over Ball State. Lanie Grant led all UNC scorers in the game with 15 points. Meanwhile, Alyssa Ustby had a silent double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Yesterday in the semifinals, they took down Villanova in dominant fashion, winning 53-36. Ustby led all scorers in the game with 14 points and 14 rebounds in a not-so-silent double-double that propelled UNC to the win.

Facing off with Indiana, who upset the former No. 18 ranked Baylor, North Carolina proved its value. It was a battle in the first quarter pulling out to just a one-point lead. However, by the halftime break, courtesy of a three-point party, they led by six points.

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The second half is where this team exploded, winning the third quarter by 15 points and the fourth quarter by nine points to win the game by 30 points.

Ustby finished with nine points and 13 rebounds and was awarded the Battle 4 Atlantis Most Valuable Player. Indya Nivar finished with 15 points and five rebounds as the only starter in double figures.

Trayanna Crisp came off the bench and shot 5-for-9 from behind the arc with 15 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Ciera Toomey also shot 3-for-4 from behind the arc with nine points and seven rebounds off the bench.

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Tar Heels women’s basketball clashes with Indiana in Battle 4 Atlantis Championship

UNC women’s basketball will play for a championship tomorrow vs Indiana in the Bahamas!

The North Carolina Tar Heels women’s basketball team heads into this week with just one loss under its belt against the No. 2 ranked team in the country, UConn, by just 11 points two weeks ago.

After not playing a game last week, they headed to Nassau, Bahamas, this weekend for an in-season tournament that would test their resilience, durability, and perseverance in an eight-team tournament.

They matched up with Ball State in the tournament’s opening game, winning by 11 points. Lanie Grant led all Tar Heel scorers in the game with 15 points and two rebounds off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.

Alyssa Ustby had 12 points and 11 rebounds, in the game’s only double-double, with three assists to pair.

Heading to the semifinals, they took on Villanova in a game that was never really a game. They jumped out to a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back, eventually winning by 17 points.

Ustby led all scorers in the game with 14 points and 14 rebounds in a monstrous double-double. Lexi Donarski tied Ustby with 14 points, shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 2-for-5 from behind the arc.

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In this championship game, they will face off against Lilly Meister and Indiana. Meister is averaging 13.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game for the team. She is not the only contributor, however, with Shay Ciezki dropping 34 points in their semifinal matchup.

North Carolina will face off against Indiana in the Bad Boy Mowers Women’s Battle 4 Atlantis at noon on Monday, airing on ESPN2.

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RJ Davis moves up on UNC basketball’s all-time leading scoring list

RJ Davis, now the No. 4 top scorer for UNC, is just 713 points away from UNC’s all-time leading scorer.

The win over Hawai’i in the middle of the night for those on the East Coast meant much more to the 18 points the fifth-year season guard RJ Davis, the reigning ACC Player of the Year than most as he surpassed Sam Perkins on the all-team leading scoring sheet for UNC basketball.

He went into the game just four points away, sitting at No. 5. He had 18 points in the win, shooting 6-for-14 from the floor and 2-for-6 from behind the arc.

RJ Davis, now No. 4 on the list, is 131 points behind the No. 3 Phil Ford. Ford played for North Carolina from 1974-1978 and played 123 games, averaging a career 18.6 points per game.

A former teammate of RJ Davis, Armando Bacot, is the No. 2 player on the list with 2,347 points, just 188 more points than Davis. Bacot played with UNC for the last five years and averaged a career 13.9 points per game.

The top player on the list, who Bacot was also chasing, is UNC basketball legend Tyler Hansbrough. The center played for the Tar Heels from 2005-2009, winning a national championship in his last season.

He averaged a career of 20.2 points per game with 8.6 rebounds per game and was a four-time All-American. Davis sits 713 points behind Hansbrough’s 2,872 points that stand in first.

Last season, Davis scored 784 points, which if duplicated this season, would put Davis as the all-time leading scorer in North Carolina history at the end of the season.

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PHOTOS: Tar Heels fall in Massachusetts to Boston College

Check out the latest photos from UNC’s 41-21 loss at Boston College!

North Carolina went on the road for the last time this season taking on ACC opponent Boston College in Chesnut Hills, Massachusetts.

Things did not go UNC football‘s way. They found themselves down 24-7 at the halftime break, and they were down 41-7 before Davion Gause broke off two rushing touchdowns in the final 2:09 in the fourth quarter to make it a reasonable score.

Jacolby Criswell finished the game with 176 yards through the air and three interceptions. All-American running back Omarion Hampton had just 53 yards on 11 carries due to a poor rushing game script.

Here are the photos that capture the 60 minutes of play.

Tar Heels steamrolled by Boston College in final road game

It was a rough day for UNC football as they lost big to Boston College on the road.

North Carolina traveled to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, today to face off with Boston College in their last road game of the season. They took the field at Alumni Stadium and it didn’t take long for the Eagles to take the lead, keep the lead, and win the game by a wide margin, 41-21.

UNC was never really in the game, either.

Boston College dominated the entire way on both sides of the ball as UNC couldn’t stop them, allowing the offense to do what they wanted. UNC’s offense struggled, failing to get past the Boston College 30-yard line until late in the fourth quarter.

Boston College converted on 7 of 15 third-down attempts while UNC was just 3 of 13. That was pretty much the story of the game.

The Tar Heels fell behind on the opening drive, allowing a 49-yard field goal on Boston College’s opening drive. From there, it was all Boston College as they controlled the game not only with the clock but having the lead the entire way.

The second quarter is when things started to pick up.

Boston College scored on back-to-back drives while holding UNC to just 12 total plays in the two drives in between. Chris Culliver returned the ensuing kickoff from the second touchdown for a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 17-7.

That was the lone highlight for UNC as Jacolby Criswell and the offense stalled out on all but one drive.

However, Boston College scored one more time at the end of the half. The Eagles saw just one field goal in the third quarter as well, with nothing getting done on either offense. Heading into the last quarter, Boston College scored quickly on a pick-six and followed it up with a rushing touchdown just a drive later.

After going down 41-7, North Carolina scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes, both from Davion Gause.

Criswell struggled to get any rhythm in the game, throwing for 176 yards and three interceptions while Omarion Hampton managed just 53 yards on 11 carries. With the Tar Heels playing down most of the game, it was hard to get the rushing attack going.

The defense finished with just one sack and four tackles for a loss.

They will have a chance to get back in the win column in their season finale back home next week against NC State.

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NC State QB ‘confident’ he will beat North Carolina in season finale

NC State’s quarterback might be a little too confident about taking on UNC next week.

North Carolina takes on Boston College this week on the road in the toughest test in their recent win streak. They became bowl-eligible with their win last week against Wake Forest and will have a postseason.

The same cannot be said for NC State, which is sitting at five wins after losing this week against Georgia Tech on the road. Quarterback CJ Bailey threw for 147 yards and three interceptions in that loss and had pretty strong words for UNC following his loss.

Bailey said this about his impending season finale matchup with the Tar Heels, which will determine NC State’s bowl eligibility, via 247sports.

We’re hurting ourselves. We’re having these self-inflicted wounds every time we take these losses. Our mindset every time is to try to bounce back and go out and get a win. North Carolina, we coming. We’re gonna win this game at North Carolina. We’re gonna get our win against North Carolina, because it means a lot to us. Things went wrong all year, but this game right here is our game.

The Wolfpack will head to Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill and take on North Carolina at home. The Tar Heels, prior to this week against Boston College, have won all three of their previous matchups and are now 6-4 on the season.

North Carolina will take on NC State in the season finale next week on Saturday, December 1, at 3:30 p.m. ET, airing on ACC Network.

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