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CHAPEL HILL — RJ Davis wouldn’t let No. 3 North Carolina go down against Wake Forest. The senior guard scored 23 of his career-high 36 points in the second half as the Tar Heels went from trailing by one at halftime to blowing out the Demon Deacons 85–64 Monday night at the Smith Center for their ninth consecutive victory.
The sixth season of Coach Mack Brown’s second stint as North Carolina’s coach will begin on the road with a game on Thursday night, Aug. 29, against Minnesota. That matchup was previously announced and is part of the ACC’s Week 1 schedule that the league announced Monday on ACC Network.
North Carolina moved up one spot to No. 3 in the latest Top 25 men’s basketball poll, the Tar Heels’ highest January rank since the 2016 Final Four team was No. 2 in the last two polls that month.
With a share of the ACC lead, North Carolina also is moving up in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll. The Tar Heels (14–5, 6–1 ACC) jumped three spots to No. 20 in the poll released Monday afternoon.
Kennedy Todd-Williams’ first season at Ole Miss hasn’t always gone smoothly, but she put it all together Sunday. Nearly a year after she scored a career-high 22 points for Carolina in a win at Pittsburgh, Todd-Williams matched that in the Rebels’ 69–59 road win over Georgia.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina sent a loud message Sunday that it’s one of the best women’s teams in the ACC and better than its No. 23 ranking. Deja Kelly sent the Tar Heels into overdrive with nine of her game-high 23 points in the third quarter, when they took control with a 9–0 run, ending No. 13 Louisville’s six-game losing streak Sunday in a physical 79–68 win before 6,073 fans at Carmichael Arena.
No. 4 North Carolina’s third Quad 2 victory of the season was enough to move the Tar Heels up two spots to 7 in Sunday’s updated NET rankings.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — No. 4 North Carolina again made an opponent pay for putting the Tar Heels on the free throw line. UNC didn’t shoot that well from the floor in the second half but made 14 of 15 free-throw attempts after halftime, as the Heels extended their win streak to eight with a workman-like 76–66 victory Saturday over Boston College at Conte Forum.
CHAPEL HILL — There was plenty that Coach Hubert Davis didn’t like about how No. 4 North Carolina let Louisville pull within five points in the second half of Wednesday’s 86–70 victory. But Davis said he was happy to see his team’s response, as the Tar Heels took control to earn their seventh straight win. It was just the latest time that his team has reacted strongly in a tough moment.
Justin McKoy’s best game of his career wasn’t enough to carry Hawaii on Thursday night. McKoy scored 22 points and six 3-pointers (both career-highs) but took only one shot in the second half as the Rainbow Warriors lost 79–71 at Long Beach State.
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