Covering Carolina sports beyond just men's basketball and football — with the most complete women's basketball coverage
Cole Anthony and Orlando have found the Magic to turn their season around and continue to show it. Anthony’s 3-pointer with 7:11 left gave Orlando its first lead and he scored 15 points in a 116–110 road victory Wednesday night over the Houston Rockets.
CHARLOTTE — There was no need for a fiery halftime speech to get North Carolina going this time. A heated exchange late in the first half seemed to light a fire in the Tar Heels. From there, UNC (9–4) went on a 21–6 run to storm away from Michigan (7–4) and the Tar Heels held on for an 80–76 victory Wednesday night at the Jumpman Invitational before 19,236 mostly Carolina fans to take a four-game win streak into the Christmas break.
When Carolina needs a buzzer-beating shot to send a game into overtime, it’s wise to involve Jeff Lebo, and that was also true 35 years ago.
Lebo earned a lot of praise after the Tar Heels’ 89–84 overtime victory Saturday in New York over Ohio State because he drew up the play that sent the game into overtime.
By R.L. Bynum CHARLOTTE — Carolina returned to that dangerous habit of giving up significant first-half deficits to ranked teams. … More
ARLOTTE — UNC point guard Deja Kelly is used to dishing out passes for buckets, but she did a little distributing this week with early Christmas gifts for the Carolina basketball family. One of Kelly’s many NIL deals is with Beats by Dre, and she took advantage of that relationship to gift headphones to every player and coach on UNC’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Andrew Platek continues to produce steady performances for Siena, Texas Tech’s Kerwin Walton found his shooting range and Anthony Harris could be close to his season debut for Rhode Island.
North Carolina returned to the No. 6 spot it held three weeks earlier in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll and is on the highest five-week poll run in 14 seasons. The Tar Heels (9–1), after three decisive non-conference home wins, are ranked No. 8 or higher for the fifth consecutive week for the first time since the program’s remarkable late 2000s run.
North Carolina’s thrilling 89–84 overtime victory Saturday over Ohio State still wasn’t enough to return the Tar Heels to the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll. The Tar Heels (8–4), the preseason No. 1 team, are unranked for the third consecutive week. Unlike last week, though, UNC received votes, garnering the 32nd-most poll points with 36. The Buckeyes (7–3) fell from No. 23 to unranked.
North Carolina’s 89–84 overtime victory Saturday over Ohio State was huge on so many levels, including that it was the Tar Heels’ first Quad 1 victory of the season. What makes it even bigger is that UNC won’t get many more chances to add to that in a top-heavy ACC. The victory moved Carolina’s NET ranking up five spots to No. 27.
Hubert Davis gained a permanent place in the hearts of Carolina fans with the two wins last season over Duke, but he may have done one of the best coaching jobs of his short tenure Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Davis trusted his team even after falling behind by 14 points in the first half, and they came through.
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