Carolina moved up two spots to No. 7 in the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll after a pair of victories last week, with another top-10 clash with Duke ahead on Saturday.
Category: Basketball
Like at most programs, senior days different at UNC with fifth-year options
CHAPEL HILL — Senior days don’t always have the same finality in the post-COVID era, when seniors can return for a fifth season. On Sunday, North Carolina honored four members of a senior class that has been a big part of the resurgence of the women’s program — guard Deja Kelly, wing Alyssa Ustby, and post players Anya Poole and Ali Zelaya — after the Tar Heels’ 63–59 win over Duke.
Captains Kelly and Ustby lead UNC’s huge senior day win over Duke
CHAPEL HILL — Senior day couldn’t have played out much better for Carolina senior co-captains Alyssa Ustby and Deja Kelly. Kelly scored 12 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter after Ustby scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half (and was her typical versatile self) as UNC avenged an earlier loss to rival Duke with a 63–59 victory in a physical battle before a sellout crowd of 6,319 at Carmichael Arena.
Love scores 22, dishes out 7 assists in senior day win; Puff Johnson starts, has career day
Caleb Love had a memorable senior night at Arizona as the Wildcats won their final Pac-12 home game, and Puff Johnson scored a career-high 19 points in his first start in 11 games in a Penn State loss.
UNC falls in NET after win with mostly bad news two weeks before Selection Sunday
There wasn’t much good NET rankings news for No. 9 North Carolina two weeks away from Selection Sunday after Saturday’s Quad 3 home victory over N.C. State.
Tar Heels flip defensive switch at halftime, rally to beat State
CHAPEL HILL — It was like No. 9 North Carolina flipped a defensive switch early in the second half. The Tar Heels gave up seven 3-pointers and 1.4 points per possession to N.C. State in the first half but forced the Wolfpack to come unglued offensively after halftime.
Garcia pours in 29 points; Love and Styles each score 16
Dawson Garcia poured in 29 points in a high-scoring Minnesota loss, while Caleb Love and Dontrez Styles both scored 16 in mid-week games.
Cam Johnson scores season-highs with 29 points, 7 3s, Sharpe adds 12, in Nets win
Cam Johnson had his best game of the season as the Brooklyn Nets fight to earn the last play-in spot in the Eastern Conference. Johnson scored season-highs of 29 points and seven 3-pointers as the Nets rolled to a 124–97 home win Thursday over the Atlanta Hawks in the first home game since Kevin Ollie took over as head coach for the fired Jacque Vaughn.
Furious fourth-quarter UNC rally falls short at BC
Regardless of the opponent, playing on the road in ACC women’s basketball is always challenging, particularly on senior night. Senior guard JoJo Lacey scored a career-high 23 points as Boston College scored a season-high 10 3-pointers to snap a 10-game losing streak by holding off a furious North Carolina rally.
UNC men will face Duke, State, Pitt twice next season; women to play at Stanford, Cal, SMU
With the ACC going to 18 schools next season, adding Cal, SMU and Stanford, each team will only play home-and-home with three teams in men’s basketball under the 20-game schedule and play every other team once.