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CHAPEL HILL — Caleb Love’s critics came out after his performance against Pittsburgh, but he was strong in many ways as North Carolina looked dominant at times in dispatching Notre Dame. Love scored 18 points and three 3-pointers in Carolina’s 81–64 victory Saturday over the Irish in the Smith Center, but it was his reaction to a second-half incident that showed his leadership.
CHAPEL HILL — While Hubert Davis continues to lean on his starters for heavy minutes in his second season as Carolina’s head coach, he depends on his reserves more in certain stretches this season. But after plenty of talk about expanding the rotation, Davis still likes to stick with his starters.
Carolina’s women keep battling until the end, but not enough shots are falling and the heartbreaking losses just keep coming. The No. 22 Tar Heels lost their fourth consecutive game and are 0–3 in the ACC for the third time in program history after falling 62–58 at Miami on Thursday night.
The Sacramento Kings have split two games the last two nights, but Harrison Barnes played well in each game, with his best performances in consecutive games since November.
After scoring 19 points and three 3-pointers with eight rebounds in Tuesday’s 117–115 win over Utah, he contributed 22 points, two 3-pointers and four rebounds Wednesday in a 120–117 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
CHAPEL HILL — When Pete Nance left the game in the first two minutes, Carolina figured to need unexpected contributions to overcome Wake Forest. Although RJ Davis’ second-half scoring surge — with 22 of his 27 points after halftime — was the Tar Heels’ main spark, they couldn’t have won without the play of Leaky Black and Justin McKoy.
The narrow loss at Pittsburgh made Carolina’s return to the AP Top 25 men’s poll brief. But the good news for the Tar Heels is that the 76–74 setback came in a Quad 1 game, and can be classified as a “good loss” for NCAA men’s tournament resume purposes. UNC (9–5, 1–2 ACC) is one of six teams in the country that has played an NCAA-high six Quad 1 games, but is tied for the second-worst record in those games at 1–5 with South Dakota State (194 in the NET rankings). No 5-ranked Arizona (5 in NET) is 5–1, No. 24 Ohio State (10 in NET) is 3–3, No. 9 Gonzaga (13 in NET) is 3–3 and Florida (61 in NET) is 0–6.
By R.L. Bynum After a pair of narrow losses to start the ACC season extended its losing streak to three, … More
Harrison Barnes scored 16 points and tied his season-high with four 3-pointers in his best game since mid-December, but it wasn’t enough in a tough road test for his Sacramento Kings. The Memphis Grizzlies pulled away after a close first half to lead by as many as 14 points before taking a 118–108 victory Sunday.
Whenever Virginia Tech and North Carolina play in women’s basketball, you can count on an entertaining battle, foul trouble for both teams and, in most cases, hot shooting from the Hokies’ Georgia Amoore. All three happened Sunday as Amoore scored 24 points, including three free throws with 1.8 seconds left, as the No. 7 Hokies rallied from a late four-point deficit to beat the No. 13 Tar Heels 68–65 Sunday at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.
Dawson Garcia, who left the Carolina team in January last season, has found a productive home at Minnesota. The sophomore forward, who began his career at Marquette, leads the Gophers in scoring (14.6 points per game) and rebounding (5.6 average) while starting all 12 games. He joined a program that was 13–17 last season and 4–16 in the Big Ten.
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