Before UNC and Duke meet Saturday, four ESPN analysts made their predictions for the upcoming ACC Tournament. Of the four, only one picked North Carolina to win the ACC Tournament, with the rest picking Duke. Please click here for more.
Category Archives: UNC
Drake Maye Was His Authentic Self at the 2024 NFL Combine—and the NFL Liked It
No quarterback helped themselves more in Indianapolis than the UNC star, who showed teams across the league his competitive nature even without on-field work. Please click here for more.
Heels, Bacot have fun on Senior Night with 84-51 win over Irish
Five North Carolina players scored in double figures, including three who have or may have played their last game at the Smith Center, as the Tar Heels were all smiles in an 84-51 rout of Notre Dame on Senior Night. (3/5)
The jocularity actually started before the game as seven players went through the senior activities and the player introductions – with three seldom-used seniors (Duwe Farris, Rob Landry, Creighton Lebo) getting their first starts as Tar Heels.
The fun continued as Carolina’s sticky defense and hot three-point shooting put the Heels up by 16 at the half 41-25.
But the celebration wasn’t in full measure until the Tar Heels went on a 16-0 run at the start of the second half – a run that included a rare, crowd-pleasing three-pointer by big man Armando Bacot, playing his last home game after six years on the team.
The Fighting Irish managed to cut a 32-point deficit to 20 before Carolina went on an 18-0 run, capped by – guess what – another three-pointer by Bacot with 3:12 to go to make it 84-46, the largest lead of the game. Shortly after the bucket, UNC coach Hubert Davis took Bacot out of the game to thunderous applause from the Carolina faithful.
Bacot said he’s probably taken 30,000 three pointers on that court as he practiced over the year, with it all culminating with two threes on Senior Night including the last shot he’ll ever take in a game at the Smith Center. He hit just one other three-pointer this season.
“I told RJ (Davis) to get me the ball and I was going to shoot it from wherever I was,” Bacot said with a laugh.
The Carolina fans showed their affection for Bacot at various intervals before and during the game, not just when he hit the two threes. “When I came here I never expected the love that has been shown to me by the fans and the community,” he said, adding that he was pretty immature when he first set foot on campus. “I started here as a boy and I left as a man.”
While the evening had no tears as some previous Senior Nights, Coach Davis said he was emotional before the game. “I saw all those parents and our seniors taking the floor for the last time and so many memories and moments went through my head – and how it goes by so quickly,” he said.
With the Carolina defense holding Notre Dame to just over 30 percent shooting, Coach Davis and the Tar Heels were able to enjoy the game as the Tar Heels clinched at least a tie for the ACC regular season title.
“This group of guys is really special,” Coach Davis said. “I really wanted this group to be able to hang a banner.”
Bacot said the Tar Heels don’t just want to share the banner with Duke either which would necessitate Carolina winning at Duke next Saturday. “Then we want to go get two more banners,” he said referring to the ACC tournament title and the NCAA tournament title.
RJ Davis, who is a senior but has another year of eligibility if he wants it, led the Tar Heels with 22 points while one-year transfer Cormac Ryan added 14 to go along with Bacot’s 14 points. Harrison Ingram finished with 11 points and a team-high 14 rebounds while Jalen Washington scored 10 points.
Notre Dame, who had won four of its last five games, are now 12-18 and 7-12 in the ACC. Tae Davis was the only Irish in double figures with 11 points.
The Tar Heels improve to 24-6 overall and 16-3 in the ACC. With the NCAA Tournament looming, most bracket predictions have the Heels as a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. A win at Duke on Saturday would give the Heels sole possession of the regular season title and likely a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs.
For a box score and more on the game, please click here.
Notre Dame’s not an easy road to Duke for the Tar Heels
While Notre Dame is a sub-.500 team both in ACC play and overall, the Irish have won four of their last five games. Anybody that is expecting this to be an easy night for the Tar Heels should recalibrate their expectations: the Irish are going to give them a fight, and if the Heels aren’t ready for it, they may end up having one of the worst Senior Nights ever. Please click here for more.
RJ Davis to be honored as a senior but he could come back next season
Tuesday’s game against Notre Dame could be Davis’ final game at the Smith Center, but he hasn’t thought about that possibility just yet. “I’m trying to figure out what shoes I’m gonna wear. That’s the first thing that came to my mind,” Davis said with a laugh. Please click here for more.
Captains Kelly and Ustby lead UNC’s WBB senior day win over Duke
Senior day couldn’t have played out much better for Carolina senior co-captains Alyssa Ustby and Deja Kelly. Kelly scored 12 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter after Ustby scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half as UNC avenged an earlier loss to rival Duke with a 63–59 victory in a physical battle before a sellout crowd of 6,319 at Carmichael Arena. Please click here for more.
Ramos Becomes First Carolina Wrestler To Qualify For Summer Olympics
Former North Carolina wrestler Ethan Ramos became the first Tar Heel in program history to qualify for the OIympic Games, finishing on the podium yesterday at the 2024 Pan-Am Olympic Games
Qualifier. Please click here for more.
Heels clamp down in the 2nd half to beat Pack 79-70
North Carolina trailed by eight at the half but clamped down defensively, allowing no field goals over a 10-minute stretch in the second half, to ease by N.C. State 79-70 in Chapel Hill. (3/2)
The Wolfpack shot lights out in the first half, going for 57.5 percent from the floor with seven three pointers. State rallied from a 36-31 deficit to a 45-37 lead at the break.
But Carolina came back quickly in the second half, tying the score at 48-all in the first four minutes of the second half after Elliott Cadeau converted an acrobatic basket on the run between three defenders.
Over the next seven minutes, Carolina outscored the Pack 18-4 to take control of the game. During that stretch State big man mostly sat on the bench after picking up his fourth foul. RJ Davis started the run with the three from the right win and Harrison Ingram ended it with a three from the left side.
The Tar Heels’ 13-point lead dwindled however as Carolina failed to score on eight of nine possessions. A Michael O’Connell three in transition and two free throws a few seconds later cut the State deficit to five at 73-68 with under three minutes to go.
It never got closer as Davis hit a jumper and a couple of free throws, and Cadeau wrapped it up with driving layup at the end of the shot clock.
State’s DJ Horne, who had 16 in the first half, ended with 20 points as the Heels’ Cormac Ryan kept him in check in the second half.
“Cormac’s on-ball defense against DJ Horne really helped us,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Cormac has size and he made DJ work really hard in the second half.”
Horne said that the Wolfpack lost their focus during the 10-minute stretch where they failed to hit a field goal (although they did score from the free throw line). “We were getting frustrated with the ball not going in the basket,” he said.
Coach Davis also thinks a couple of tussles between players worked to Carolina’s advantage. “Once things got a little chippy I thought that got us going too,” he said. “We were fired up but we kept within our emotions.”
After one dust-up that involved Cadeau, the Heels went from three down to seven ahead in about six minutes.
Ingram led UNC with a season-high 22 points while Cadeau had one of his best games with 15 points and seven assists. Davis, who scored just two points in the first half, finished with 14 points while Armando Bacot finished out the double-figure scorers with 13 points.
The Wolfpack, now 17-12 and 9-9 in the ACC, was led by Jayden Taylor’s 22 points.
The Tar Heels, who host Notre Dame Tuesday night, improve to 23-6 and 15-3 in the ACC. A victory will ensure at least a share of the regular season title with a regular season finale at Duke looming.
For a box score and more on the game, please click here.
Carolina football staff looking for defensive linemen in Spring Portal
Spring practice for North Carolina’s football team doesn’t begin until March 19, and its spring game is April 20. Five days before, on April 15, the spring portal opens, and the activity will be rampant. UNC will also be suitors, knowing one position that still needs help. Please click here for more.
UNC rides Davis’ 42 points to close win over Miami
UNC’s RJ Davis, coming off a one of 14 performance, scored a Smith Center record-setting 42 points to lead the Tar Heels to a narrow 75-71 victory at home against Miami. (2/26)
“He put the entire team on his back,” said UNC coach Hubert Davis, who was visably upset that it took such an effort from one player to win the game. “He was unbelieveable on both ends of the floor… There are very few times I’ve seen a peformance like that whether it be here or in the NBA.”
Half of Davis’ 14 baskets were threes but he also came up with four steals and six rebounds. His 42 points were the 10th most by a Tar Heel in a game. The last player to score more was All-America legend Charlie Scott, who scored 43 in 1970.
The Hurricanes, now losers of seven games in a row, stroked 14 three pointers to hang with the Tar Heels.
Back-to-back threes from Davis gave the Heels what seemed like an insurmountable lead at 70-57 with just over four minutes to play.
But the Tar Heels went the rest of the way without scoring another field goal and they missed five straight free throws down the stretch.
Meanwhile, Miami went on an 11-0 run – which included three triples – over a two-minute period to pull within a basket at 72-70.
Davis hit three of four free throws before missing those five in a row. It took Jae’lyn Withers, who rebounded a missed free throw from Seth Trimble, to wrap up the game with a pair of free thows with less than three seconds to go for the four-point final margin.
No other Tar Heel besides Davis scored in double figures; however, Armando Davis got 12 rebounds while Harrison Ingram had 10 boards.
Miami, now 15-14 and 6-12 in the ACC, was led by Norchad Omier’s 22 points and Bensley Joseph’s career-high 21 points. The pair hit nine of Miami’s 14 threes.
The Tar Heels, who host N.C. State Saturday at 4 p.m., improve to 22-6 and 14-3 in the ACC.
For a box score, video highlights and more analysis on the game, please click here.