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Heading into two games this week against ranked rivals, North Carolina fell out of the AP Top 25 women’s basketball after being ranked seven consecutive weeks. The Tar Heels (15–3, 5–3 ACC) beat Virginia 61–52 Thursday but lost to Georgia Tech (which stayed at No. 18) 55–38 on Sunday after being ranked No. 20 last week. The Yellow Jackets (15–4, 6–2) moved up four spots to No. 14 after also beating Syracuse 65–55.
Centers Garrison Brooks, Walker Miller and Walker Kessler all scored in double figures in league victories over the weekend and Brandon Huffman just missed a double-double in a victory. Kessler collected 19 points, seven rebounds and two blocks as No. 2 Auburn topped No. 12 Kentucky 80–71 Saturday at home and made the case to be ranked No. 1.
Against the best defense in the country and one of the tallest teams, the No. 20 North Carolina women had a tough time finding an offensive rhythm all day. The Tar Heels countered that with some of their best defense of the season in stretches but it wasn’t enough. No. 15 Georgia Tech pulled away in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 22 points in a 55–38 victory Sunday at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.
WINSTON-SALEM — In a season-long struggle to figure out how to play better defense, Carolina found no answers Saturday night. Wake Forest (16–4, 6–3 ACC) took advantage of careless turnovers, ran in transition with ease and shot well as the Demon Deacons overwhelmed UNC 98–76 at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, leading the fans to storm the court.
CHAPEL HILL — With six ranked ACC teams, there aren’t many nights when you can turn the ball over too many times, shoot poorly, give up too many offensive rebounds and still easily win. Virginia offered that rare night, and No. 20 North Carolina (15–2, 5–2 ACC) did all four in a 61–52 victory Thursday night at Carmichael Arena. The Cavaliers didn’t make it easy at the end, though, coming within seven points late.
After getting off to the best start in program history at 10–2, Coach King Rice’s Monmouth team has hit a rough stretch but showed signs Tuesday night of rebounding. The Hawks (10–6, 2–3 MAAC) went on a COVID-19 pause after a loss to Hofstra on Dec. 22 and didn’t play again until last Friday. Two losses this week extended Monmouth’s losing streak to four, but an 86–85 overtime home loss to Iona on Tuesday was encouraging.
Rasheed Wallace joined the Memphis staff of head coach Penny Hardaway in the offseason but now is in “a consultant’s role,” Hardaway said on Wednesday. Hardaway said that Wallace is “still a coach,” but that his absence is a mutual decision based on “health and safety” concerns, according to The Commercial Appeal in Memphis.
Carolina hoped that the phrase “historically bad” would have been retired after the Tar Heels’ losing season of two years ago but they made it sadly relevant at Coral Gables, Fla., on Tuesday night. As UNC tried to forget the nightmare losses to Tennessee and Kentucky, the Tar Heels added another forgettable effort in an 85–57 loss against a red-hot Miami team.
Watching video of Miami repeatedly scoring on pick and rolls and getting numerous easy baskets on back-door plays in the Hurricanes’ road upset of Duke no doubt got the attention of UNC coach Hubert Davis. Heading into the Tar Heels’ 7 p.m. Tuesday visit to Coral Gables, Fla., the memory of their well-documented issues dealing with ball screens this season is hard to shake. Davis just hopes that his team’s progress after the nightmare games against Tennessee and Kentucky will be enough to neutralize the Hurricanes.
North Carolina, which was one of 11 ranked teams to lose last week, moved up one spot to No. 20 in the latest AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll. UNC (14–2, 4–2 ACC) lost 70–65 Sunday at Notre Dame (13–3, 4–1) in the Tar Heels’ only game of the week. The Irish moved up one spot to No. 19 after also defeating Wake Forest (12–6, 2–5) 74–64 earlier in last week.
Against a tough ACC team on the road, No. 21 North Carolina showed resiliency by not wilting when No. 20 Notre Dame surged to an 11-point third-quarter lead. The Tar Heels rallied back to make it close after never trailing in the first half, but Dara Mabry was too much for them in a 70–65 Notre Dame victory Sunday in South Bend, Ind.
Centers Garrison Brooks, Brandon Huffman and Walker Kessler each put up double-doubles Saturday as their teams earned big conference victories. Brooks had 16 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season in Mississippi State’s 78–76 home victory over No. 24 Alabama.
CHAPEL HILL — While Carolina’s unquestioned key to success is Armando Bacot and Caleb Love playing well, winning consistently will require a big game from at least one other Tar Heel. Bacot and Love did their part Saturday night when that third guy was RJ Davis. He rebounded from a scoreless day against Virginia to score 16 of his 21 points in the first half as UNC (12–4, 4–1 ACC) rolled to a season sweep of Georgia Tech (7–9, 1–5) with an 88–65 victory.
For the time since Roy Williams left Kansas to take the North Carolina head-coaching job, the Hall of Fame coach was back for a Jayhawks game at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, on Tuesday night. Williams returned to the venerable arena in October 2014 — along with current coach Bill Self and other former Kansas coaches Larry Brown and Ted Owens — to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the building. But it was the first time he’s been back for a game.
North Carolina’s home game with Virginia Tech that was postponed has been rescheduled for Monday, Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. and will air on ACC Network. Additionally, the Tar Heels’ game at Louisville that originally was scheduled for Jan. 31 is instead set for Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. on ACC Network.
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