While the Wolfpack outscored Virginia Tech in the fourth period, the 13-point deficit NC State inherited at the beginning of the final frame proved to be too much to overcome. Please click here for more.
Julius Peppers to be Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Carolina football legend Julius Peppers will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Hall announced during the NFL Honors program on Thursday night. Peppers is the third Tar Heel to achieve Hall of Fame status, joining Chris Hanburger (2011) and Lawrence Taylor (1999). The members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2024 class will officially be enshrined in Canton, Ohio on Aug. 3. Please click here for more.
Necas’ first hat trick carries Hurricanes past Avalanche 5-2
Martin Necas posted a natural hat trick in the first 17 minutes, the first three-goal game of his career, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Thursday night despite changing goalies twice. Raanta injured. Please click here for more.
UNC falls flat against Tigers at home, lose 80-76
A hangover from the Duke win? Maybe. Discord among the team because players were late for warmups? Perhaps. The loss of super-sub Seth Trimble to injury? Probably had an effect.
The only thing for certain is that North Carolina started slow and once the Tar Heels caught up, they committed three straight turnovers as Clemson beat Carolina for the second time in three seasons in Chapel Hill, 80-76. (2/3)
When you lose by four yet were down 15-2 after the first three minutes, it’s pretty easy to see that the difference was the first three minutes… an 80-second portion of it to be precise.
Up 6-2, the Tigers hit three straight three pointers over a minute and 20 seconds to take command of the game. First it was Joseph Girard who hit one before PJ Hall banged in two. By the first timeout of the game, Clemson had hit six of seven shots while Carolina had just managed one of six.
“We were down 15-2 because they were playing harder than us. That’s obvious,” said UNC coach Hubert Davis who called a timeout before the first official TV timeout. “I don’t know what a timeout telling them we need to play harder does, but we regrouped and understood that we needed to pick up our energy and effort. And we did and we got back into the game and we just weren’t able to finish it.”
Clemson still led by nine at the half at 43-34 after getting the margin up to 16 at 41-25 late in the first half.
A 16-7 Carolina run capped off by a Harrison Ingram three, after returning to the court from a leg injury earlier in the second half, tied the game at 70-all with 4:15 to play.
But the momentum was short lived as the Tar Heels fumbled the ball away on three straight possessions.
First, RJ Davis threw a bounce pass to Armando Bacot who was streaking to the goal for a go-ahead basket but it went between his legs. Then, Elliott Cadeau seemingly had a lane for a short jumper that would have tied it again but he pushed off to get free and was called for the foul. Then, with less two minutes to go, a frantic Jae’Lyn Withers corraled a loose ball and threw it into the backcourt for a third turnover in two minutes for the Heels.
Meanwhile, Clemson was scoring as the Tigers went up 77-70 to wrap up the win.
“Down the stretch, that’s when the discipline and details have to be even tighter,” Coach Davis said. “You have to execute on the offensive end and I think we had the ball 70-70 all and we turned the ball over. They scored, they got offensive rebounds. We fouled them, we put them on a free throw line. And those are things down the stretch that you just can’t have.”
Leading the way for the Tigers, now 15-7 and 5-6 in the league, were Hall with 25 and Girard with 21.
The Tar Heels, who were led by Bacot’s 24 points and Davis’ 22 points (although it took him 22 shots to get there), fall to 18-5 and 10-2 in the ACC with a game at Miami looming Saturday at 4 p.m.
For a box score and more on the game, please click here.
Not Smart for Duke coach to criticize his players in public
Jon Scheyer, a good young coach, makes $7 million a year, which he also owes to Mike Krzyzewski’s outrageous pay scale over his 42 years at the helm. That’s more than twice what Hubert Davis makes. It was surprising when, along with praising Carolina’s play in its nine-point win, Scheyer got on his own team after his first loss to the Tar Heels as a head coach. Please click here for more.
Auburn Transfer Safety Donovan Kaufman Commits to NC State
NC State just picked up a commitment Monday from Auburn Transfer Safety Donovan Kaufman (5’10”/204). Kaufman took an Official Visit to NC State on the weekend of January 26th, after entering the Portal on the 16th. Please click here for more.
NC State, finding rhythm through trust, tops Georgia Tech
NC State was well versed that Georgia Tech had split the series with Duke, and won at home against North Carolina last Tuesday. The Wolfpack had some ebbs and flows, but when it came to winning team, put the foot down and won 82-76 to improve to 15-7 overall and 7-4 in the ACC. Please click here for more.
Heels control game, take it to Duke 93-84
North Carolina, behind a first-year Tar Heel and a fifth-year Tar Heel, handled rival Duke from beginning to end to win 93-84 in Chapel Hill. (2/3)
Fifth-year senior Armando Bacot controlled the inside, going 10 of 13 for 25 points and 10 rebounds while transfer Harrison Ingram controlled the rest of the floor, scoring 21 points on five three pointers.
“Armando was Armando. He was big time… It was one of his best games ever,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Harrison has the ability to post up and make perimeter jump shots. That helps Armando to get free inside and opens up the lane to allow other guys to drive to the basket.”
Duke led 2-0 and that was it as the Tar Heels led for 38 minutes, stretching the lead to 10, 45-35 at the half.
Carolina extended the margin to 15 at 63-48 with 13:14 left when Ingram swished a 14-footer. Duke managed to cut it to eight at 77-69 with just over five minutes to go when McCain drilled a three from the left corner.
The margin mostly stayed between eight and 13 the rest of the way. A Bacot dunk in the closing seconds rounded out the scoring and put the Carolina crowd into an even bigger frenzy.
“You could feel it coming out of the tunnel. It just has a different feel,” Coach Davis said about the excitement in the building. “It was our best complete game all season. We were locked in. We especially did a good job defending without fouling and contesting their 3s.”
Coach Davis said Duke gets a lot of their threes in transition but since the Heels turned the ball over only five times and were able to get to the free throw line, the Devils weren’t able to get into transition often. And Duke ended just five of 19 from beyond the arc.
Despite the Tar Heels controlling the pace, the Blue Devils shot well, hitting well over 50 percent of their shots in the second half. Jared McCain led the way for the Blue Devils, now 16-5 overall and 7-3 in the ACC, with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Big man Kyle Filipowski had 22 points and five rebounds while Jeremy Roach added 20 points.
The Tar Heels, who also got 17 points from RJ Davis and 10 from Seth Trimble, improve to 18-4 and 10-1 in the ACC with a matchup against Clemson at home coming Tuesday night.
For a box score and more on the game, please click here.
Jordan’s signed NBA championship sneakers sell for record-breaking $8M at NYC auction
Signed sneakers Michael Jordan wore during NBA championship games sold for a whopping $8 million at an auction in New York City. Please click here for more.
Veteran journalist Art Chansky weighs in on Carolina-Duke matchup
For the 7th-ranked Blue Devils to win their third straight game in Chapel Hill, they will have to make a higher percentage than No. 3 Carolina, hold their own on the boards and stay out of foul trouble. For more on what Carolina needs to do, please click here.