By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina jumped two spots to No. 9 in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after an impressive victory over Oklahoma.
The Tar Heels disrupted the Sooners with tough defense in an 81–69 victory Thursday at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte’s Spectrum Center and got 23 points, five assists, three steals and no turnovers from senior guard RJ Davis.
Carolina finishes non-conference play at 8 p.m. Friday at the Smith Center (ACC Network) against Charleston Southern (4–8), which beat NAIA Kentucky Christian 103–79 Thursday. The Bucs, who lost 87–53 at N.C. State on Nov. 17, are 339 in the NET rankings and 338 in the KenPom rankings.
After their first loss, the Sooners (10–1) fell five spots to No. 12. Also helping Carolina move up was Baylor’s 78–70 loss to Duke in New York, which dropped the Bears (10–2) seven spots to No. 17, and Marquette (10–3) falling four spots to No. 10 after a 72–57 loss to Providence.
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The Blue Devils (8–3) slid up five spots to No. 16 after the victory.
Caleb Love’s Arizona team (9–2) stayed at No. 4 after a 96–95 double-overtime loss Saturday in Las Vegas to Florida Atlantic (10–2), which jumped seven spots to No. 7.
Other teams ranked last week that lost were:
— UConn (11–2), stayed at No. 5 after a 75–60 setback against Seton Hall.
— Creighton (9–3), which is down 10 spots to No. 22 after a 68–66 overtime loss to Villanova
— Virginia (9–2), previously No. 22, fell out of the poll after a 77–54 loss to Memphis.
The only other ACC team in the poll is Clemson (10–1), which stayed at No. 18 after a 109–79 home win over Queens.
Ranking UNC the highest at No. 5 were Jerry DiPaola of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Kyle Austin of MLive in East Lansing, Mich., and Lauren Walsh of WSMV-TV in Nashville.
Bob Holt of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette was the only voter who didn’t rank the Tar Heels.
Kate Rogerson of WTVD ranked UNC No. 10, with JB Ricks of Specrum Sports voting the Heels No. 11 and Luke DeCock of The News & Observer ranking Carolina No. 17.
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team (1st-place vote) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue (46) | 11-1 | 1,486 | 1 |
| 2 | Kansas (5) | 11-1 | 1,424 | 2 |
| 3 | Houston (9) | 12-0 | 1,408 | 3 |
| 4 | Arizona | 9-2 | 1,191 | 4 |
| 5 | UConn | 11-2 | 1,150 | 5 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 9-3 | 1,124 | 8 |
| 7 | Florida Atlantic | 10-2 | 1,089 | 14 |
| 8 | Kentucky | 9-2 | 1,074 | 9 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 8-3 | 954 | 11 |
| 10 | Marquette | 10-3 | 928 | 6 |
| 11 | Illinois | 9-2 | 902 | 13 |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 10-1 | 778 | 7 |
| 13 | Gonzaga | 9-3 | 577 | 15 |
| 14 | BYU | 11-1 | 575 | 17 |
| 15 | Colorado State | 11-1 | 573 | 16 |
| 16 | Duke | 8-3 | 551 | 21 |
| 17 | Baylor | 10-2 | 532 | 10 |
| 18 | Clemson | 10-1 | 513 | 18 |
| 19 | Memphis | 10-2 | 493 | 23 |
| 20 | James Madison | 12-0 | 417 | 20 |
| 21 | Texas | 9-2 | 342 | 19 |
| 22 | Creighton | 9-3 | 340 | 12 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 9-3 | 287 | 24 |
| 24 | Ole Miss | 12-0 | 243 | 25 |
| 25 | Providence | 11-2 | 128 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Auburn 121, Colorado 64, Miami 51, Utah 45, Virginia 40, Iowa St. 21, Nevada 13, Ohio St. 10, Texas A&M 9, San Diego St. 8, Michigan St. 8, Villanova 6, New Mexico 6, Northwestern 5, Dayton 4, Grand Canyon 3, South Carolina 2, Mississippi St. 2, Alabama 2, Princeton 1.
UNC season statistics
| Date | Month/day | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 11 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 9 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | L, 82–78, OT | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | 24–9 |
Photo by Smith Hardy
