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Entering North Carolina’s big regular-season-ending three-game series at No. 7 Clemson, the Tar Heels still have a shot at winning the ACC Coastal Division title while still being projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels (33–18, 14–11 ACC) would need to sweep the Tigers (36–17, 17–10) and get help to win the division.
The reigning national champion North Carolina women’s lacrosse team was battle-tested heading into the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, where the young Tar Heels face the latest of many huge challenges this season. UNC (16–4) faces No. 5 Denver (21–0) at 5 p.m. (ESPNU) at Dorrance Field with a trip to the Final Four in Cary on the line as the Tar Heels seek their fourth national title. It will be the Tar Heels’ fifth top-five opponent and third in the last five games.
As North Carolina tried to work its way through the one-game player suspensions, the short-handed Tar Heels couldn’t generate enough offense without four big bats missing from the lineup. The Tar Heels took an early three-run lead, but No. 8 Coastal Carolina quickly took control on its way to an 8–6 victory Tuesday night at Springs Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C., to end their five-game win streak.
Tyler Hansbrough is the latest Carolina legend elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Hansbrough was voted into the Class of 2023 a year after Coach Roy Williams and guard Larry Miller were part of the Class of 2022, and will become the 14th Tar Heel to enter the Hall.
North Carolina’s weekend sweep of N.C. State didn’t get the Tar Heels back in the D1 Baseball Top 25, but gave them an outside shot at winning the ACC Coastal Division title entering a week featuring two opponents ranked in the top eight nationally.
A young Carolina women’s lacrosse team took No. 17 Richmond’s best shot and withstood it Sunday to reach the NCAA tournament quarterfinals for the 20th consecutive season.
CHAPEL HILL — From suicide-squeezing in the game-ending run in the opener to a pair of blowout victories, North Carolina’s three-game sweep of N.C. State showed that the Tar Heels have the potential to repeat the May magic of a year ago. A year after flipping the switch and surging to the ACC title before hosting a regional and a Super Regional, UNC — after never reaching low points quite as dire — appears to have flipped the switch faster than a Mac Horvath drive shoots over the outfield wall.
CHAPEL HILL — Suddenly, Carolina’s previously struggling starting pitching is tough to beat, although N.C. State did all that it could to stop right-hander Jake Knapp on Saturday. Before the fourth inning, the Wolfpack requested that the umpires check Knapp’s cap, glove and hands for sticky substances. The short investigation produced a smile and a laugh from Knapp but no substances. And he resumed sticking it to State batters in his best outing as a Tar Heel.
CHAPEL HILL — A different Max Carlson took the mound Friday in his first start after three weeks in the Carolina bullpen. N.C. State couldn’t handle this version, but not that many teams could have. The junior right-hander showed the talent that made him the No. 1 starter heading into the season and got plenty of offensive support as UNC pounded rival N.C. State 9–3 Friday at a sold-out Boshamer Stadium for its fourth straight win to earn a second consecutive series victory over the Wolfpack.
CHAPEL HILL — Although the Tar Heels are the reigning women’s lacrosse national champions, many of Carolina’s offensive leaders trying to continue the program tradition of excellence this season aren’t battle-tested in NCAA tournament play. No. 4 UNC rolled to a 16–5 first-round victory Friday over Sacred Heart for the Heels’ 20th consecutive win in an NCAA tournament opener on a beautiful afternoon at Dorrance Field as the young team keeps improving.
After getting Carolina into the NCAA tournament in his first two seasons as head coach and on his way to doing it for a third consecutive year, UNC gave baseball coach Scott Forbes a five-year contract extension on Friday. The new contract means that Forbes, whose team won its third consecutive game Thursday night with a 9–8 victory over rival N.C. State, is under contract through the 2028 season.
CHAPEL HILL — The maddening pattern of short outings by starters again threw Carolina’s bullpen for a loop. But the resilient Tar Heels, with yeoman work from the relievers, rallied to overcome it this time. Eric Grintz tied it with a pinch-hit RBI triple to right field in the ninth inning. Colby Wilkerson scored pinch-runner Carter French on a suicide squeeze with one out to give UNC a thrilling 9–8 victory Thursday at Boshamer Stadium.
An incident in the seventh inning of Carolina’s 5–4 victory Tuesday over Gardner-Webb has led to the NCAA suspending multiple players for one game over the next five games.
Rising junior D’Marco Dunn on Thursday became the seventh player from last season’s North Carolina team to enter the transfer portal, according to multiple reports, leaving only four returning players. One reason he may have decided to leave is the possible reclassification of Class of 2024 five-start point guard Eliot Cadeau to join the team next season. That decision would mean RJ Davis would shift to the two spot and fewer opportunities for Dunn to get playing time, with the competition already including Seth Trimble, transfer Cormac Ryan and incoming freshman Simeon Wilcher.
CHAPEL HILL — As North Carolina’s baseball season has progressed through tough one-run losses and big wins, it’s clear that the Tar Heels are at a different level when, as Coach Scott Forbes says, they play with a chip on their shoulders. Junior third baseman Mac Horvath has talked about the need for UNC to play with a purpose and not be joking around after a defeat as if losing is acceptable, telling the team that in a players-only meeting last month.
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