Caleb Love’s unbeaten Arizona team ascended to No. 1, and North Carolina jumped eight slots to No. 9 in the latest AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll. That sets up a top 10 matchup for Carolina with No. 5 UConn. Please click here for more.

You have to think the Duke’s Mayo Bowl asked UNC if Drake Maye will definitely play in the December 27 game against West Virginia before issuing an official invitation. By the same token, what if Maye and his family haven’t decided yet? Imagine Maye playing his final college game in Charlotte, 20 minutes from his childhood home in Huntersville. Please click here for more.

The No. 3 seed North Carolina men’s soccer team (11-3-7, 2-3-3 ACC) fell to Oregon State (10-5-5, 4-1-5 PAC-12) 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, Saturday at Dorrance Field. Please click here for more.

North Carolina survived Florida State’s top three-point shooting game of the season and used pressure defense to rally from 14 points down in the second half to defeat the Seminoles 78-70 in Chapel Hill. (12/2)

Still down eight midway through the second half, the Tar Heels went on an energy-infused 22-0 run. To start the run, Armando Bacot scored inside and got fired up by a hard foul that knocked his hair down. That old-fashioned three-point play was followed by an RJ Davis three from the the left wing.

Then Davis found a streaking Elliott Cadeau for a layup to tie it at 56-all with about eight minutes to go. Cadeau followed that up with a fastbreak bucket off a smooth crossover dribble and Carolina never trailed again.

“I felt like our energy wasn’t there in the first half and coming out in the second half,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Then we started to press and that started to get us alive. That energy allowed us to come back…

“We created turnovers that allowed us to attack the basket and convert. And it sped them up. They were out of their offense. They took quick shots and we rebounded and got out in transition.”

There were seven lead changes and three ties in the first half but the Seminoles went on an 8-0 run at the end of the half to go up 35-29. The Heels failed to score over the last 3:18. FSU hit seven of 14 threes in the half. The Seminoles had been averaging seven threes a game.

Carolina started the second half like it ended the first half as Florida State extended the lead to 45-31 with a 10-2 run.

That’s when Carolina employed the full-court press that changed the trajectory of the game and led to the 22-0 run that ended with a 14-point lead for the Heels at 70-56.

A 9-1 FSU run made the final score respectable but the Heels ended any further drama when Davis drained a long three and hit four straight free throws.

Davis, who hit all eight of his free throw shots, finished with a game-high 27 points to go along with five assists. Bacot had another double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Harrison Ingram was the only other Tar Heel in double figures with 11 points.

Jamir Watkins led Florida State, now 4-3 and 0-1 in the ACC, with 17 points and eight rebounds.

The Tar Heels, now 7-1, play UConn Tuesday at 9 p.m. in the Jimmy V Classic in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

For a box score and more on the game, please click here.

Newcomers have injected some important intangibles missing last season into North Carolina’s roster. During the Tar Heels’ 2022 run to the national championship game, Brady Manek was fiery, didn’t hesitate to call out teammates or throw things in disgust. After nobody filled that role last season, transfers Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan are bringing an intensity level and physical play to the team that’s making a big difference. Please click here for more.