By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina moved up three spots to No. 4 in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after the Tar Heels finished a season sweep of Duke for their sixth consecutive victory.
The Tar Heels (25–6, 17–3 ACC), the outright ACC regular-season champion, moved up thanks to their wins last week over Notre Dame on senior night (84–51) and the Blue Devils (84–79) and losses by teams ahead of UNC in last week’s poll.
All but three voters had UNC No. 4. Kate Rogerson of WTVD was one of the three who voted UNC the lowest at No. 5, along with Bret Bloomquist of the El Paso Times and Nick Alvarez of the Alabama Media Group.
It’s UNC’s highest rank since it was No. 3 for three consecutive weeks from Jan. 22 to Feb. 5. It marked the Tar Heels’ fifth week in the top five, the most since the 2015–16 Final Four team did it in nine polls.
Eleven consecutive weeks in the top 10 is Carolina’s longest streak in one season since the 2016 Final Four team was No. 9 or better — peaking at No. 2 — in the last 13 polls. The Tar Heels were in the top 10 for 13 straight weeks over two seasons from Jan. 28, 2019, to Dec. 2, 2019.
UNC’s 1,361 poll points are its most since garnering 1,441 when the Heels were No. 3 on Jan. 29.
No. 1-seed UNC opens play in the ACC tournament at Washington’s Capital One Arena on Thursday at noon with a quarterfinal game against the winner of Wednesday’s second-round game between No. 8-seed Virginia Tech (18–13, 10–10) and No. 9-seed Florida State (16–15, 10–10).
Losing last week and falling to 24–7 were:
— Tennessee, which fell one spot to No. 5 after an 85–81 home loss to Kentucky (which moved up six spots to No. 9).
— Caleb Love’s Arizona team, which dropped one spot to No. 6 after a 78–65 loss at unranked USC.
— Iowa State, which slipped one spot to No. 7 after a 65–58 loss to unranked Kansas State.
Duke (24–7, 15–5) fell two spots to No. 11.
Kentucky moving to No. 9 means that UNC has faced three top 10 non-conference teams, losing to the Wildcats and No. 2 UConn but beating No. 5 Tennessee.
AP Top 25
| Ranking | Team (1st-place votes) | Record | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston (52) | 28–3 | 1,540 | 1 |
| 2 | UConn (6) | 28–3 | 1,471 | 2 |
| 3 | Purdue (4) | 28–3 | 1,453 | 3 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 25-–6 | 1,361 | 7 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 24–7 | 1,291 | 4 |
| 6 | Arizona | 24–7 | 1,125 | 5 |
| 7 | Iowa State | 24–7 | 1,120 | 6 |
| 8 | Creighton | 23–8 | 1,094 | 10 |
| 9 | Kentucky | 23–8 | 1,018 | 15 |
| 10 | Marquette | 23–8 | 1,011 | 8 |
| 11 | Duke | 24–7 | 976 | 9 |
| 12 | Auburn | 24–7 | 914 | 13 |
| 13 | Illinois | 23–8 | 802 | 12 |
| 14 | Baylor | 22–9 | 786 | 11 |
| 15 | South Carolina | 25–6 | 567 | 17 |
| 16 | Kansas | 22–9 | 558 | 14 |
| 17 | Gonzaga | 24–6 | 511 | 19 |
| 18 | Utah State | 26–5 | 486 | 22 |
| 19 | Alabama | 21–10 | 432 | 16 |
| 20 | BYU | 22–9 | 381 | 20 |
| 21 | Saint Mary’s | 24–7 | 306 | 23 |
| 22 | Washington State | 23–8 | 223 | 18 |
| 23 | Nevada | 26–6 | 223 | NR |
| 24 | Dayton | 24–6 | 155 | 25 |
| 25 | Texas Tech | 22–9 | 149 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Boise St. 46, South Florida 27, San Diego St. 21, Drake 16, Texas 14, James Madison 14, FAU 11, Florida 8, Princeton 7, Nebraska 6, New Mexico 4, Colorado 2, McNeese St. 2, Colorado St. 1, Wake Forest 1, Indiana St 1.
ACC tournament
Capital One Arena, Washington
Tuesday’s first-round results
No. 12 seed Notre Dame 84, No. 13 seed Georgia Tech 80
No. 10 seed N.C. State 94, No. 15 seed Louisville 85
No. 11 seed Boston College 81, No. 14 seed Miami 65
Wednesday’s second-round results
No. 9 seed Florida State 86, No. 8 seed Virginia Tech 76
No. 5 seed Wake Forest 72, Notre Dame 59
N.C. State 83, No. 7 seed Syracuse 65
Boston College 76, No. 6 seed Clemson 55
Thursday’s quarterfinals
No. 1 seed North Carolina 92, Florida State 67
No. 4 seed Pittsburgh 81, Wake Forest 69
N.C. State 74, No. 2 seed Duke 69
No. 3 seed Virginia 66, Boston College 60, OT
Friday’s semifinals
North Carolina 72, Pittsburgh 65
N.C. State 72, Virginia 65, OT
Saturday’s championship
N.C. State 84, North Carolina 76
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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