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Path for UNC’s women again includes potential early matchup with No. 1 seed
North Carolina will see a familiar scenario if the Tar Heels advance to the second weekend of the NCAA women’s tournament. A No. 1 seed, again, will likely be waiting. This time, it would be No. 1 overall seed UConn in the Sweet 16.
UNC pours on offense, gets good pitching, defense to finish off sweep at Cal
North Carolina finished off its first ACC sweep of the season, smothering California with one final burst of offense and power pitching in a 10–2 win in Berkeley, Calif. No. 15 UNC (17–3–1, 4–2 ACC) controlled the weekend from start to finish, outscoring Cal 14–5, nearly a year after the Tar Heels’ last road sweep against Wake Forest.
No. 17 Maryland tops visiting women’s teams headed to UNC subregional
Maryland is the headliner of the visiting teams that will play early-round NCAA women’s tournament games at Carmichael Arena beginning Friday, with North Carolina placed in the Fort Worth 1 Regional.
Transfer tracker: Cadeau says confidence higher than at UNC, but Michigan, Vandy fall in league finals; Jackson’s Red Storm win Big East
Ian Jackson was the only former UNC player of four to win in conference championship games this weekend, but he had the smallest role. Elliot Cadeau’s No. 3 Michigan team, despite his double-double in the Big Ten tournament championship game, and No. 22 Vanderbilt, with Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington, both came up short in title games on Sunday. Michigan, Vanderbilt, St. John’s, Ven-Allen Lubin’s N.C. State team and Puff Johnson’s Ohio State team will all play in the NCAA tournament.
UNC draws 6 seed, trip to Greenville, S.C., for early-round games
No. 21 North Carolina is headed to Greenville, S.C., for the first two rounds of the NCAA men’s tournament as a No. 6 seed. The Tar Heels (24–8) are in the South Regional, which has Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Houston. UNC faces VCU (27–7) on Thursday in the first round. A win would advance the Tar Heels to a second-round game Saturday against the winner of Thursday’s game in Greenville between No. 3 Illinois (24–8) and No. 14 Penn (18–11).
Consensus of final projections has UNC as 6 seed, beginning play in Oklahoma City
North Carolina appears destined for a No. 6 seed when the NCAA tournament committee reveals the bracket at 6 p.m. Sunday night. The consensus of 120 projections listed Sunday on Bracket Matrix has No. 19 Tar Heels as the second-highest No. 6 seed, with 12 seeing the Tar Heels as a No. 5 seed and two having Carolina as a No. 7 seed. UNC has a NET ranking of 24 and a WAB ranking of 21.
Hull drives in three in 3-hit game, Lynch sharp as UNC rolls past Cal to clinch series win
Center fielder Owen Hull drove in three runs to back outstanding pitching from Ryan Lynch as No. 15 North Carolina rolled to its fourth consecutive victory. Lynch struck out seven in eight innings as the Tar Heels piled up 10 hits to earn a 6–2 victory Saturday in Berkeley, Calif., over California and clinch their first ACC series victory of the season.
UNC one of 16 hosts for early-round NCAA women’s tournament games
For the second consecutive season, North Carolina will host early-round games in the NCAA women’s tournament.
Former ACC ref Hess shares Dean Smith stories in radio interview
Karl Hess shared a couple of interesting Dean Smith stories during a radio interview, offering a rare look at how the Hall of Fame coach interacted with officials and his heat-of-the-moment choices. Hess suggested that he may have helped prevent then-UNC assistant coach Phil Ford and Clemson coach Rick Barnes from going after each other.
Schaffner, Hull each collect 3 hits, Heels get big defensive plays, one-sided win at Cal
Shortstop Jake Shaffner and center fielder Owen Hull each had three hits as No. 15 North Carolina used two big defensive plays and a late offensive surge to beat California 8–1 Friday night in the opener of a three-game ACC series in Berkeley, Calif.
Tar Heels in pros: Barnes has big game in return; Sharpe’s productive season over; Davis, Love have big G League games
Harrison Barnes returned after missing five games with an ankle injury to produce one of his best games of the season, while a thumb injury ended a productive season for Day’Ron Sharpe and there were big game in the G League for RJ Davis and Caleb Love.
UNC players proud of fight, wish desperation had come earlier
CHARLOTTE — For most of Thursday night, North Carolina looked out of sync. The Tar Heels struggled to establish an offensive rhythm, had difficulty getting stops on the other end, and watched Clemson build a double-digit lead that eventually swelled to 18 points in the second half. Only in the final minutes did UNC find the urgency it needed, nearly completing a stunning comeback before falling 80–79 Thursday in the ACC tournament quarterfinals at the Spectrum Center.
UNC finds energy too late as rally comes up short
CHARLOTTE — With its season unraveling in a blowout, North Carolina made a furious rally to show that the Tar Heels aren’t dead yet. UNC scored eight 3-pointers in the last 12 minutes to slice an 18-point deficit down to one before falling to Clemson 80–79 Thursday in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament at the Spectrum Center.
Video, full transcript from UNC press conference
Here is video and the full transcript from No. 19 North Carolina’s press conference after the Tar Heels’ loss to Clemson in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, with Coach Hubert Davis and Henri Veesaar. Also: dressing room video with Jarin Stevenson, Luka Bogavac, Seth Trimble, Derek Dixon and Veesaar.
Clemson to face UNC without injured center
CHARLOTTE — When North Carolina and Clemson play for the second time in 10 days, the Tigers will be without a key starter. No. 19-ranked and No. 4 seed UNC (24–9), of course, will be without Caleb Wilson, but No. 5-seed Clemson (22–9) probably won’t have the services of 6–11 junior center Carter Welling (top and below photos), who is officially listed as out on the ACC availability report.