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Five former Tar Heels started in their debuts for new college programs on Monday, highlighted by a career-best game for Kentucky redshirt junior forward Teonni Key, while Oregon graduate guard Deja Kelly pulled off a unique doubleheader and Caleb Love had a big game in his final college season.
CHAPEL HILL — Cold shooting and ugly, sloppy, choppy play made No. 9 North Carolina’s opener hard to watch at times. But the Tar Heels woke up in the final 6½ minutes after trailing by two to pull out a 90–76 victory Monday at the Smith Center against an Elon program that went 13–19 last season.
CHAPEL HILL — With seven newcomers and a deep roster, No. 15 North Carolina showed off plenty of talent as the team builds chemistry.
In an amazing bit of sorcery, Carolina broke its losing string with a 41–14 win in Charlottesville against Virginia and followed that up on Saturday with a 35–11 victory that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The route to Mack Brown’s elusive first victory over Florida State was laid out by the elusive, relentless running of Omarion Hampton. North Carolina combined a versatile offense with solid defense, easing to a 35–11 victory Saturday at Doak-Campbell Stadium in a game that could have easily been even more one-sided given the statistical domination.
CHAPEL HILL — It took North Carolina 11 games last season to figure out that defense and rebounding were the catalysts for success. Coach Hubert Davis hopes that that message will come much quicker after the choppy first nearly 11 minutes of the No. 9 Tar Heels’ exhibition victory Sunday over Johnson C. Smith.
Belmont transfer Cade Tyson came to Chapel Hill with a reputation as a prolific 3-point shooter, and a noted college basketball statistical analyst projects him to be among the best in the country this season.
CHAPEL HILL — This deep, talented Carolina team will be fun to watch. Against an overmatched Division II team, the No. 9 Tar Heels put on a show for the fans and a clinic in transition basketball, defensive pressure and the pick-and-roll game.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — What can this Carolina team do with good defensive play? The answer Saturday gave the Tar Heels hope of turning the season around. UNC looked so close during its four-game losing streak but kept coming up short because of the sort of defensive lapses that were rare in an impressive 41–14 victory Saturday over Virginia at Scott Stadium as the offense keeps making strides.
CHAPEL HILL — The agonizing wait for five-star stretch-four Ciera Toomey is nearly over. Carolina’s Nov. 4 opener against Charleston Southern will come 592 days after Toomey led Dunmore High School to the 2023 Class 3A Pennsylvania state title. In between, there has been plenty of rehab, work and patience as the 6–4 former Miss Pennsylvania Basketball worked toward that day.
As if No. 2 Alabama’s visit to No. 9 North Carolina on Dec. 4 for the ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge wasn’t already big enough, it just got bigger when the Tide’s Mark Sears and the Tar Heels’ RJ Davis were named to the AP preseason All-America team.
MEMPHIS — It was strange to see Memphis Grizzlies rookie Armando Bacot at courtside watching instead of playing, but No. 9 North Carolina was prepared for that this season. Playing without Preseason ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis was a different story. Seth Trimble scored 21 of his 33 points (after never scoring more than 12 in a game) as UNC took control before holding on for an 84–76 exhibition victory over Memphis on Tuesday at FedEx Forum in the Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic.
After four analysts rotated on the Tar Heel Sports Network men’s basketball broadcasts last season, there will be only two Tylers this season. Tyler Zeller and Tyler Hansbrough will rotate working alongside Voice of the Tar Heels Jones Angell on this season’s broadcasts, just as Joey Jauch and Brynn Renner do for football broadcasts.
North Carolina is No. 9 in the preseason AP Top 25, which was released on Monday, and will play three, possibly four, teams in the top 10.
The first, and most important, is that former wide receiver Tylee Craft lost his 2½-year battle with cancer at age 23. On the field, UNC suffered another heartbreaking defeat, dropping their fourth straight game.
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