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CHAPEL HILL — Carolina’s young pitchers continue to be impressive in the first few games of the season, and the offense keeps piling up the runs. Freshman left-hander Kyle Percival threw together the Tar Heels’ best start of the young season as No. 12 UNC blew out Radford 14–2 Tuesday at Boshamer Stadium on a beautiful spring-like day.
UNC coach Courtney Banghart said after the No. 22 Tar Heels’ win Sunday over Wake Forest that Alyssa Ustby was “day to day or even minute to minute maybe,” suggesting that the junior wing was nearing a return. Ustby posted a powerful suggestion on Instagram on Monday night — a photo of her in uniform and the words “tell a friend to tell a friend …” Officially, she still is listed as day-to-day, but her post seems to indicate that she will play this week.
It’s a big week for Carolina baseball with five games in six days, including a three-game weekend series against No. 11 East Carolina. The No. 12 Tar Heels (2–1) won two of three games in the opening series against Seton Hall.
North Carolina fell three spots to No. 22 in the AP Top 25 women’s poll heading into a challenging week that could go a long way toward determining if the Tar Heels will be first- and second-round hosts in the NCAA tournament.
Carolina coach Hubert Davis talks about where the season stands heading into Wednesday’s game at Notre Dame.
It was an emotional and thrilling opening day in the XFL for former Carolina wide receiver Austin Proehl. He was part of an amazing comeback that only could have been pulled off because of the league’s quirky rules.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. In desperate need of a Quad 1 win, UNC builds a second-half lead only to fall apart down the stretch and fumble away yet another opportunity for a quality win in a season where opportunities are quickly running out. For the sixth time in nine Quad 1 games this season, the Tar Heels led in the final 20 minutes and, for the sixth time, Carolina was unable to finish the game and hold on for a victory.
CHAPEL HILL — Whenever Deja Kelly adds hot shooting to her all-around good game, opponents are helpless to stop her. And they aren’t about to stop No. 19 North Carolina. Wake Forest had no answers for her or any other Tar Heels on a day when they shoot 50.8% from the floor and made 35.3% of their 3-point attempts.
RALEIGH — The questions keep coming for North Carolina’s men’s basketball team. There are no easy answers for the Tar Heels, who after this latest slippage might find that time is ticking a bit too fast.
CHAPEL HILL — The offense kept coming for No. 12 North Carolina, and freshman right-hander Cameron Padgett gave the Tar Heels the pitching performance they were missing in their opening-game loss. Padgett threw 4⅓ shutout innings in relief, giving up only two hits with three strikeouts, as UNC (1–1) rebounded with an impressive 11–2 win Saturday over Seton Hall at Boshamer Stadium to even the season-opening series.
CHAPEL HILL — Top-ranked North Carolina’s biggest early test early in the women’s lacrosse season just showed more evidence that the Tar Heels are again one of the best teams in the country. After UNC (2–0) blanked No. 7 Florida in the first half, the Gators’ first scoreless half since their inaugural season 13 years ago, the contrast between the teams was evident.
CHAPEL HILL — No. 12 Carolina has its deepest pitching in several years but a huge offensive day wasn’t enough to overcome the staff’s tough start. Junior third baseman Mac Horvath’s hitting kept the Tar Heels in the game, but Seton Hall stunned them 10–8 Friday at Boshamer Stadium on a chilly Opening Day.
Caleb Love and Hubert Davis give their thoughts on the loss to Miami and Sunday’s crucial game at N.C. State..
RALEIGH — Winning at N.C. State without Alyssa Ustby? Most probably thought that was too much to ask, but that group didn’t include the rest of the No. 19 Tar Heels, who nearly pulled it off. Carolina couldn’t finish off the Wolfpack, though, blowing a 10-point lead in the last 4:15 of regulation before N.C. State dominated overtime in a 77–66 victory Thursday. It was an ugly, frustrating collapse for the short-handed Tar Heels (18–8, 9–6 ACC) at a loud and raucous Reynolds Coliseum.
With a lot of help from a teammate who was traded along with him from Phoenix, Cam Johnson finally got a victory for Brooklyn in his third game since joining the Nets. Meanwhile, Coby White scored a season-high 25 points in his best game of the season one day before his birthday. Johnson scored 18 points and three 3-pointers while dishing out three assists as Brooklyn headed into the NBA All-Star break with a 116–110 home victory over the Miami Heat.
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