Category Archives: Featured stories

Ryan leads Heels over Duke for ACC title

After six seasons in college, Cormac Ryan had the game of his life by scoring a career-high 31 points, including six threes, to lead North Carolina to an ACC regular season title with an 84-79 at rival Duke. (3/9)

“I love to play in these environments,” Ryan said. “This game meant a lot to us. We didn’t want to share the title with anyone… Winning outright in this building is something special.”

Ryan set the tone early by swishing three triples in the first four minutes to force Duke to take a timeout with the Tar Heels up 15-4.

The Heels extended the lead to 15 on three different occasions in the first half. A Jalen Washington dunk made it 21-6. An Elliott Cadeau layup high off the backboard made it 27-12 and an RJ Davis three put the Heels up 30-15.

Duke didn’t go away, getting threes from McCain and Proctor to help the Blue Devils cut the halftime margin to nine at 40-31.

A quick Duke spurt at the beginning of the second half, led by Kyle Filipowski, who scored seven points in less than two minutes, put the Blue Devils right back in the game. After Jeremy Roach hit a three from the top of the key, the Tar Heels led by just one at 43-42 with 16:55 still left in the game.

But the resilient Tar Heels went on a quick 9-1 run of their own to get back control of the game with a 52-43 lead. Highlighting the run was an old-fashioned three-point play by Armando Bacot, who backed in, scored and was fouled.

The lead hovered around six to 10 points most of the remainder of the game. A long two by Cadeau at the end of the shot clock with 40 seconds left seemed to wrap it up at 80-72. But Duke scored seven points in 35 seconds to make it close at the end.

Carolina game hero Ryan hit four straight free throws late in the game to help keep Duke at bay.

“We competed and fought,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “We had the will, the effort, the want-to, everything you have to have to win a game like this on the road against Duke. I really wanted our guys to be ACC champions alone and they are.”

Harrison Ingram, the other starting transfer player, was the only other Tar Heel in double figures as he scored 14 points and pulled in 10 rebounds.

Duke, who end the regular season with a 24-7 overall record and a 15-5 mark in the ACC, was led by Filipowski’s 23 points and Jared McCain’s 19 points.

“We took some tough shots that led to them getting some run outs,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said, adding that the Devils may have gotten caught up in the senior day activities. “We’re hurt and disappointed but our guys always respond.” He said he expects his team to regroup and be refreshed for the ACC Tournament.

The Tar Heels improve to 25-6 overall and 17-3 in the ACC. Carolina goes into next week’s ACC Tournament in Washington, DC as the No. 1 seed. With that, they’ll face the winner of the 8 vs. 9 game at noon on Thursday, March 14.

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

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.