Sitting at 7-2 with the non-conference portion of its schedule wrapping up, the UNC men’s basketball team is in a significantly better position than it was last year.
Even in its losses to Villanova and UConn, the Tar Heels have shown a strong ability to compete. They’re more experiened, have more scorers and – best of all come NCAA Tournament time, play significantly more down their bench.
Carolina gets another difficult test on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 5:30 p.m. ET, as it travels down to Atlanta, Ga. for a battle with Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic. The Wildcats, also 7-2, are coming off an 81-66 home victory over Penn.
If there’s anything UNC fans remember about these two teams facing off, it likely goes back to the 2017 Elite 8 matchup.
Kentucky was down by a decent margin in the final minutes, then tied the game at 73 on Malik Monk’s moving 3-pointer. Carolina then pushed the ball up-court, in hopes of winning in regulation, then won it on Luke Maye’s shot as time nearly expired.
While implications for Saturday’s game aren’t nearly as high, I’m sure it’ll provide another classic between two, college hoops blue bloods.