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CHAPEL HILL — With the way that Lexi Donarski is shooting of late, Wake Forest had no shot at pulling an upset.
In the best shooting run of her career, the fifth-year guard scored five 3-pointers for the third consecutive game, pouring in 17 points, as No. 13 North Carolina pulled away from a four-point halftime lead for a 76–51 victory Thursday at Carmichael Arena.
As impatience with Coach Hubert Davis continues to ramp up among some boosters and a segment of the North Carolina fanbase, you have to wonder if the same sort of heat would be coming if Roy Williams was leading this team. Even Davis’ most ardent supporters wouldn’t compare him as a coach to Williams, but comparing the numbers to gauge performance is fair.
WINSTON-SALEM — Carolina’s perimeter shooting was as frigid as the temperatures outside Joel Coliseum, and that has squarely put the Tar Heels on the NCAA tournament bubble. Intent on living or dying by 3-point attempts, the latter led to UNC’s second consecutive one-point loss in a game that wasn’t that close. The Tar Heels continually settled for perimeter shots that — other than a stretch of three consecutive makes in the second half — rarely fell, leading to an ugly 67–66 loss Tuesday night to Wake Forest.
Images from UNC’s 67-66 loss Tuesday night at Wake Forest.
North Carolina’s 72–71 Quad 3 loss to Stanford has the bubble talk simmering again for the Tar Heels, with one projection sending them to the First Four in Dayton. The consensus of 69 bracket projections listed on Bracket Matrix, which had UNC (12–7, 5–2 ACC; 38th in the NET rankings) as the second-highest No. 9 seed before the loss to the Cardinal, now has the Tar Heels as the highest No. 10 seed. Fourteen project them as a No. 8 seed, and seven as a No. 11 seed.
CHAPEL HILL — Instead of piling up points and assists, Kayla McPherson’s Carolina career has included periods of pain, healing and setbacks, confronting all with the determination that made her one of the country’s top high school point guards.
For No. 14 North Carolina to reach its ceiling, the Tar Heels’ perimeter shooters will have to perform consistently. In a 75–58 victory Sunday at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Lexi Donarski and Lanie Grant combined for eight of UNC’s 13 3-pointers to shoot down the Panthers for the Tar Heels’ fourth consecutive victory.
North Carolina’s damaging 72–71 Quad 3 home loss to Stanford didn’t sink the Tar Heels in the NET rankings as much as expected, but they lost a Quad 1 opportunity.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina couldn’t find that extra gear and the level of defensive intensity that carried the Tar Heels during their four-game win streak, and they didn’t do the little things needed to extend it. The result — a 72–71 loss to Stanford on Saturday after a step-back jumper from former Duke reserve Jaylen Blakes with 1.5 seconds left — gave UNC a damaging Quad 3 loss and led to much reflection about what went wrong.
DALLAS — Four days after the agony of a historic collapse, No. 14 North Carolina only added to SMU’s misery and offensive malaise. The Mustangs, who tied the NCAA women’s Division I record by blowing a 32-point lead in a 13-point Sunday loss at Pittsburgh, collected more turnovers (21) than field goals (12) as the Tar Heels’ relentless defense claimed another victim.
Quad 3 games will never help your NCAA tournament resume much unless you win by a wide margin, but that’s what North Carolina did on Wednesday night.
CHAPEL HILL — Skittish late-game stretches on both ends of the floor have made putting opponents away challenging for North Carolina. Against ACC newcomer California, the Tar Heels changed that, hammering the Bears with a 22–6 second-half run on their way to an easy 79–53 victory Wednesday at the Smith Center for their season-high fourth consecutive victory.
After a three-year run, the Jumpman Invitational will not continue. This season’s edition of the event, which brought together the men’s and women’s basketball teams from North Carolina, Florida, Michigan and Oklahoma to Charlotte’s Spectrum Center for two nights of games, was the last of a three-year contract.
With Selection Sunday 61 days away, NCAA tournament bracket projections keep improving for North Carolina. One suggests that the Tar Heels (11–6, 4–1 ACC; 37 in NET rankings) will play their first- and second-round games in Raleigh, and another has them facing Caleb Love’s unranked Arizona team (11–5; 37) in the first round.
The ACC expanded to 18 teams for many reasons, nearly all financial, that had little to do with men’s basketball. That will be apparent this week for North Carolina (11–6, 4–1 ACC) when California (8–8,1–4) and Stanford (11–5, 3–2) come to the Smith Center, providing Quad 3 games that, even with victories, won’t help the Tar Heels much in their pursuit of an NCAA tournament bid.
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