By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina held its spot at No. 3 in the latest AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after rebounding from its first ACC loss with an impressive 93–84 Saturday win over Duke.
The Tar Heels (18–4, 10–1), who lost 74–73 at Georgia Tech on Tuesday, have a two-game lead in the ACC over Virginia (17–5, 8–3) and lead the Blue Devils (16–5, 7–3), who fell two spots to No. 9, by 2½ games.
UNC’s poll points total fell from 1,441 last week to 1,352 but Kansas (18–4), which went up four spots to No. 4, only got 1,322 poll points.
Carolina, in its 36th season ranked No. 3 or higher, is at home again at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN), going for the season sweep over Clemson (14–7, 4–6), which the Tar Heels beat 65–55 on Jan. 6. The Tar Heels play at Miami (15–7, 6–5) at 4 p.m. Saturday (ESPN).
Four consecutive weeks in the top five matches the 2019 streak when the Tar Heels were No. 3 in the last two polls. UNC hasn’t had a longer such streak since it was in the top 5 for the first nine polls in the 2011–12 season, when the Tar Heels went 32–6 and lost to Kansas in the Elite Eight.
Six consecutive weeks in the top 10 is the longest since doing it 13 straight weeks from Jan. 28, 2019, to Dec. 2, 2019. It’s the longest such streak in one season since UNC was in the top 10 for the final eight 2019 polls.
Voting UNC the highest at No. 2 was Calum McAndew of the Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri. Rodd Boxley of the Fayetteville Observer was one of 27 to vote the Heels No. 3. JB Ricks of Spectrum News and Kate Rogerson of WTVD were two of 21 to vote UNC No. 4.
Voting Carolina the lowest at No. 7 were Shane Mettlen of the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va., and Zach Klein of WSB in Atlanta.
In other metrics, UNC is No. 3 in KPI, No. 8 in KenPom, No. 9 in the NET rankings, No. 9 in ESPN’s BPI and No. 11 in Bart Torvik’s T-Rank. Bracket Matrix averages dozens of bracket projections, and has Carolina as the fourth No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
UConn (20–2) remained atop the poll with 45 first-place votes after beating Providence 74–65 and St. John’s 77–64. Purdue (21–2), with the other 16 first-place votes, remained No. 2 after a 105–96 overtime victory over Northwestern and a 75–69 win over Wisconsin.
Including Duke, five teams below UNC in the top 10 of last week’s poll lost:
— Houston (19–3) fell one spot to No. 5 after beating Texas 76–72 in overtime but losing 78–65 to Kansas.
— Tennessee (16–5) dropped one spot to No. 6 after losing 63–59 to South Carolina but winning 103–92 over Kentucky.
— Wisconsin (16–6) is down five spots to No. 11 after losing 80–72 in overtime to Nebraska, in addition to the loss against Purdue.
— Kentucky (15–6) sunk seven spots to No. 17 after losing 94–91 in overtime to Florida, in addition to the defeat against Tennessee.
AP Top 25
| Ranking | Team (1st-place vote) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn (45) | 20–2 | 1,509 | 1 |
| 2 | Purdue (16) | 21–2 | 1,479 | 2 |
| 3 | North Carolina | 18–4 | 1,352 | 3 |
| 4 | Kansas | 18–4 | 1,322 | 8 |
| 5 | Houston | 19–3 | 1,273 | 4 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 16–5 | 1,211 | 5 |
| 7 | Marquette | 17–5 | 1,173 | 9 |
| 8 | Arizona | 17–5 | 1,077 | 11 |
| 9 | Duke | 16–5 | 924 | 7 |
| 10 | Illinois | 17–5 | 893 | 14 |
| 11 | Wisconsin | 16–6 | 838 | 6 |
| 12 | Auburn | 18–4 | 818 | 16 |
| 13 | Baylor | 16–5 | 730 | 18 |
| 14 | Iowa State | 16–5 | 700 | 12 |
| 15 | South Carolina | 19–3 | 564 | NR |
| 16 | Alabama | 16–6 | 520 | 24 |
| 17 | Kentucky | 15–6 | 513 | 10 |
| 18 | Dayton | 18–3 | 493 | 21 |
| 19 | Creighton | 16–6 | 484 | 13 |
| 20 | Florida Atlantic | 18–4 | 431 | 20 |
| 21 | BYU | 16–5 | 425 | 22 |
| 22 | Utah State | 19–3 | 286 | 17 |
| 23 | Texas Tech | 16–5 | 156 | 15 |
| 24 | San Diego State | 17–5 | 141 | NR |
| 25 | New Mexico | 18–4 | 123 | 19 |
Others receiving votes: Saint Mary’s 73, TCU 72, Indiana St. 53, Boise St. 49, Colorado St. 43, Virginia 32, Texas 22, Oklahoma 17, Mississippi 10, Washington St 6, Memphis 5, Appalachian St 4, Gonzaga 2, Grand Canyon 1, Michigan St. 1.
UNC season statistics
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 4 North Carolina | 17–3 | 25–6 |
| No. 11 Duke | 15–5 | 24–7 |
| Virginia | 13–7 | 22–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–8 | 21–10 |
| Clemson | 11–9 | 21–10 |
| Syracuse | 11–9 | 20–11 |
| Wake Forest | 11–9 | 19–12 |
| Virginia Tech | 10–10 | 18–13 |
| Florida State | 10–10 | 16–15 |
| N.C. State | 9–11 | 17–13 |
| Boston College | 8–12 | 17–14 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–12 | 14–17 |
| Notre Dame | 7–13 | 12–19 |
| Miami | 6–14 | 15–16 |
| Louisville | 3–17 | 8–22 |
Saturday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 84, No. 11 Duke 79
Virginia Tech 82, Notre Dame 76
Florida State 83, Miami 75
Boston College 67, Louisville 61
Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76
Pittsburgh 81, N.C. State 73
Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 57
ACC tournament
March 12–16, Capitol One Arena, Washington
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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