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Heel Tough Blog: Virginia Tech Recap
Bob Donnan- Imagn Images The Tar Heels entered yesterday’s game against Virginia Tech with a chance to remain undefeated in the Smith Center this season and control their own destiny in the fight to get the double bye in the ACC Tournament and while it may not have been easy, they were able to do just that. The Tar Heels got off to a slow start defensively, but that was in large part due to the turnover issues that cropped up once again. The team turned the ball over eight ti

Anthony Pagnotta
Mar 15 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Tar Heels Set to Send RJ Davis' Jersey to the Rafters on Monday
Jared C. Tilton- Getty Images After the athletic department announced yesterday that it would welcome Mack Brown back to Chapel Hill on Monday night, it was revealed that he won’t be the only big name that will be honored that night. As first reported by Jacob Turner of TarHeel247, the Tar Heels will be sending RJ Davis’ number to the Smith Center rafters on Monday night during the team’s game with the Louisville Cardinals. His number will join the other legends after he earn

Anthony Pagnotta
Feb 202 min read


Heel Tough Blog: NC State Preview
@UNC_Basketball It’s game day for Carolina Basketball, as they are set for the first of two road games this week, with a trip to Raleigh tonight, followed by a road game at Syracuse on Saturday. Carolina won on Saturday at home against Pittsburgh, 79-65, in a game that UNC was without Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar. In the absence of their top two scorers and rebounders, Carolina had four starters score in double figures, led by Seth Trimble and Jarin Stevenson, on the way to

Joshua Marlow
Feb 174 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Pittsburgh Recap
Bob Donnan- Imagn Images No Caleb Wilson. No Henri Veesaar. No problem. After coming into the game against Pittsburgh without Wilson because of a fracture in his left hand that was revealed earlier in the week, the Tar Heels found out in pregame that they were also going to be without Veesaar due to an illness and a lower-body extremity injury. Without their top two scorers and rebounders, it would have made sense if the Tar Heels had struggled in the game against Pittsburgh,

Anthony Pagnotta
Feb 144 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Duke Preview
@UNCMBB As the second half of the ACC season is set to begin, it does with the first of two matchups between North Carolina and Duke, as the greatest rivalry in sports is ready to write another chapter in a legendary story. The Tar Heels enter tonight’s matchup riding a four-game winning streak after a win over Syracuse earlier this week, giving Carolina a respectable 18-4 record, including being 6-3 in the ACC. But Duke enters as the team with the better record, as the Blue

Joshua Marlow
Feb 74 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Syracuse Recap
Bob Donnan- Imagn Images Well, that was a little too close for comfort wouldn’t you say. After leading by 32 points, the Tar Heels had to hold off a furious late rally from the Syracuse Orange for an 87-77 victory that extended their home win streak to thirteen to start the season. The night started a little sloppy with neither team getting off to a hot start, but it wasn’t long before the bigs started making their presence felt on both sides. For the Tar Heels, it was the co

Anthony Pagnotta
Feb 34 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Syracuse Preview
@UNCMBBStats After dispatching Georgia Tech 91-75 on Saturday, the Tar Heels are back in action later tonight, as they host Syracuse, in the first of two home games this week at the Smith Center. After going 0-2 out west back in the middle of January, Carolina has won three straight games, to get to 17-4 on the season, and 5-3 in the ACC, with the schedule set to heat up over the back half of the season, the team is in position to compete for a top-4 seed in the ACC Tournamen

Joshua Marlow
Feb 24 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Virginia Preview
@UNCMBBStats After blowing out Notre Dame at home on Wednesday, the Tar Heels are on the road today, as they are set to take on #14 Virginia in a top-25 matchup. The win over Notre Dame snapped a two-game losing streak and got Carolina back to .500 in the ACC. Now the challenge is to take that level of play on the road, where the Tar Heels are just 1-3 so far this season, if they have any hopes of getting back into the ACC regular season race. Ryan Odom has done as good a jo

Joshua Marlow
Jan 244 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Notre Dame Recap
Bob Donnan- Imagn Images That’s more like it. After an 0-2 trip to the West Coast last week, the Tar Heels returned to the Smith Center looking to bounce back as they faced the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In what was their most complete game of the conference season so far, the Tar Heels would blow out Micah Shrewsberry’s shorthanded squad 91-69. It started in the first half where the team navigated some more bumps guarding the perimeter shots to lead by nine at the break. A b

Anthony Pagnotta
Jan 224 min read


Heel Tough Blog: California Recap
@UNCMBBStats Looking to bounce back after a midweek loss to Stanford, the Tar Heels suffered their second straight defeat, and their third loss in four games, with an 84-78 loss to California, to fall to 14-4 on the season, 2-3 in the ACC, and 3-4 in Quad 1 games. Carolina, which trailed 54-37 at the half and by as much as 20 in the second half, did make it a two-possession game late in the second half, but poor shot selection denied them a chance at completing the comeback,

Joshua Marlow
Jan 185 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Wake Forest Recap
Cory Knowlton- Getty Images The Tar Heels picked up their 500th win in Smith Center, but it was far from as easy as it should have been against Wake Forest. The Tar Heels got off to a fast start, racing out to a 14-4 lead early in the game, causing Wake to call timeout. Behind big halves from their two big men, the Tar Heels were able to control the first half despite allowing eight threes and turning the ball over eight times and led the game 49-38 at the half. After both te

Anthony Pagnotta
Jan 114 min read


Heel Tough Blog: SMU Recap
Sam Hodde- Getty Images The Tar Heels came into Saturday’s second road game of the entire season with a chance to match the 14-1 start that the team got off to in the 2008-09 season and instead will leave Dallas with their most disappointing performance of the season and a second loss. It started early for the Tar Heels with some crucial turnovers that led to easy finishes at the basket for SMU and gave the Mustangs an early nine point lead. The Tar Heels were able to settle

Anthony Pagnotta
Jan 35 min read


Heel Tough Blog: SMU Preview
Sports Illustrated For the first time in ACC play, and just the second time this season, the Tar Heels hit the road, as they are set to take on SMU later this afternoon at the Moody Center. Carolina’s lone road game prior to today was a win at Kentucky back in the first week of December in the annual ACC/SEC Challenge, which gave confidence to a team, playing without Seth Trimble at the time. The Tar Heels opened conference play earlier this week, with a 79-66 win over Florid

Joshua Marlow
Jan 34 min read


Heel Tough Blog: East Tennessee State Recap
Scott Kinser- Imagn Images On a night where ranked teams around college basketball were being tested by mid-major opponents, the Tar Heels messed around with East Tennessee State for the first half in the Smith Center before running away from the Buccaneers in the second half. The first half looked very similar to what we saw from the team against USC-Upstate, where the Buccaneers were able to get to their spots on the floor and score the ball while also ripping down offensiv

Anthony Pagnotta
Dec 17, 20254 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Georgetown Recap
Bob Donnan- Imagn Images The Tar Heels welcomed the Georgetown Hoyas to Chapel Hill on Sunday afternoon as they looked to build on the momentum they built with a win in Lexington against Kentucky earlier this week. The first half of the game was a back-and-forth affair between the two teams with the Tar Heels closing the half strong to take a 44-39 into the break. In the second half, they would put their foot on the gas, though, starting with the play of the big men and conti

Anthony Pagnotta
Dec 7, 20254 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Georgetown Preview
GoHeels.com After starting the season with a five-game homestand, the Tar Heels return to the friendly confines of the Smith Center for three straight games, beginning this afternoon against Georgetown. Earlier this week, Carolina secured a road win at Kentucky, 67-64 in the ACC/SEC Challenge, behind the heroics of freshman Derek Dixon, who scored 5 points in the final minute to help propel Carolina to a win. It was the first road win for UNC against a ranked opponent since w

Joshua Marlow
Dec 7, 20254 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Navy Recap
David Jensen- Getty Images It wasn’t the type of performance coaches or players could be, or should be proud of, but the Tar Heels managed to win 73-61 last night over Navy, to complete a five-game homestand to begin the season, with a perfect record. After the win, the assembled media had to wait nearly 30 minutes to have access to the players, as there was a team meeting called after the game to address the lack of energy, effort, and concentration against an overmatched bu

Anthony Pagnotta
Nov 19, 20255 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Kansas Recap
@UNC_Basketball Last night, inside a raucous Dean Dome, the Tar Heels took down the Kansas Jayhawks, in a battle of college basketball heavyweights, giving Carolina their first win over KU since 2002, and giving Hubert Davis arguably his biggest non-conference win of his coaching career. It wasn’t always pretty for Carolina, who actually trailed Kansas 37-29 at the half, after turning it over 10 times, leading to 17 Kansas points, combined with just 3-15 shooting from the out

Joshua Marlow
Nov 8, 20255 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Central Arkansas Recap
@UNC_Basketball The Tar Heels opened the 2025-26 season in a big way, earning a 94-54 win over Central Arkansas, in the only tuneup before the showdown with Kansas later this week. Carolina did what it was supposed to do against a team preseason picked to finish in the bottom of the ASUN, and was preseason ranked 346th according to KenPom, but don’t let that overlook how good the new look Tar Heels looked, on their way to their 21st straight season-opening win. Five players s

Joshua Marlow
Nov 4, 20254 min read


Heel Tough Blog: What 2 Watch 4 - Winston-Salem State Exhibition
@UNC_Basketball Tonight, the Tar Heels will play in their final preseason exhibition ahead of the 2025-26 season, which gets started on Monday against Central Arkansas. Last Friday, Carolina lost on the road against #8 BYU, 78-76, in a game that they played without projected starter Luka Bogavac. Freshman Caleb Wilson went toe to toe with BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, totaling a 22-point, 10-rebound, double-double. Seth Trimble added 17 in the loss, but Carolina more than looked the par

Joshua Marlow
Oct 29, 20253 min read
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