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When the trade deadline dust settled, three UNC alums changed teams. But Cole Anthony isn’t going anywhere and he showed why with his play in Orlando’s big home victory. Anthony collected 17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three blocks as the Magic knocked off Western Conference-leading Denver for a 115–104 home victory Thursday night.
Life on the road in the ACC is challenging enough to begin with, but the difficulty factor goes up without two starters. It can be downright tough when a third starter goes down in the third quarter. It’s even tougher when a fourth starter goes down late. Throw in Syracuse banking in 3-pointers and going 12 of 13 from the free-throw line, and it was a long night for No. 14 North Carolina in Syracuse’s cavernous dome, where the Tar Heels have lost five in a row.
The bigger news for UNC alums was that the Phoenix Suns are reportedly trading Cameron Johnson to Brooklyn (more on that deal here), but the flurry of trades ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline has worked quite nicely so far for Reggie Bullock. After starting only 30 of the Dallas Mavericks’ 52 games, Bullock is back as a Mavericks starter and playing well. He scored 15 of 18 points and five of his six 3-pointers in the first quarter Wednesday as Dallas earned a 110–104 road victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Just when Cameron Johnson was settling into a groove with Phoenix after missing nearly three months with a knee injury, the Suns will reportedly trade him to the Brooklyn Nets as part of a blockbuster trade that will send star forward Kevin Durant to Phoenix. The NBA trade deadline is at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Somewhere in America, someone woke up on Wednesday morning and saw UNC’s 92–85 loss at Wake Forest and said, “I’ll bet that was a competitive game, a decent loss for UNC since Wake plays well at home and it’s tough to win on the road in the ACC.” And they would be wrong.
Cameron Johnson continues to consistently play well, which has helped turn the Phoenix Suns’ season around. He’s combined for 34 points and five 3-pointers in the last two wins. The Suns have gone from losing 11 of 13 games before he returned to 9–2 since then to move up to fifth place in the Western Conference at 30–26. Johnson tore the meniscus in his right knee and missed nearly three months.
WINSTON-SALEM — A year after flipping the switch in February and going on a magical run, Carolina looked for most of Tuesday night like a team that doesn’t have the drive or the cohesiveness to flip this season around. It still could come if they can match the second-half energy. The Tar Heels scored 49 points in the last 14:36 and 60 in the second half. Most of it came without Armando Bacot, who was disgusted by the effort in their third consecutive defeat.
Armando Bacot gave an impassioned speech to the team after the game. Hear what he, Coach Hubert Davis, RJ Davis and Caleb Love had to say after UNC’s loss to Wake Forest.
The eye test tells you that Carolina needs to play a lot better and the numbers back up that the Tar Heels’ performances haven’t been as good as last season. Only one opponent has blown out Carolina’s men this season after Coach Hubert Davis’ first team dealt with several painfully one-sided losses. But the Tar Heels’ rank in many national statistical categories show plenty of significant drops from a year ago.
Carolina slipped three spots to No. 14 in the latest AP Top 25 women’s poll after the Tar Heels — without two starters — lost 62–55 at Louisville on Sunday. It’s their 11th week ranked in the top 15 this season, the most since 16 weeks in the 2014–15 season. The Tar Heels (17–6, 8–4 ACC) won their eighth consecutive game with Thursday’s 73–62 home win over Virginia before the Cardinals ended the streak. Fifth-year guard Eva Hodgson (upper-body injury) missed both games, and junior wing Alyssa Ustby (lower-body injury) was out for the game against Louisville.
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