UNC basketball has had it’s ups and downs since Roy Williams retired. Hubert Davis took over the program and immediately found his team get hot in March.
Behind Caleb Love and Armando Bacot, North Carolina made a run all the way to the National Championship game in New Orleans. A game they led at halftime, yet eventually lost to Kansas.
That run in the tournament allowed Davis to take a deep breath and get the negative rumors off of his back, for now.
The next season we watched a UNC basketball team with the same core that went to the National Championship game missed the tournament completely.
North Carolina ended the 2022-23 season with a 20-13 record going 11-9 in ACC play. Which resulted in 7th place in the conference.
UNC Basketball
Before UNC went on that magical run in March the year prior, fans were not sold on Davis being the man of the future. Then after missing the tournament completely the following year, the murmurs of Davis not being the guy became loud again.
Caleb Love took most of the blame as he transferred to Arizona. UNC with RJ Davis and now Senior Armando Bacot took on the challenge of getting UNC back to the cream of the crop.
That they did, going 17-3 in ACC play resulting in a regular season ACC Champion. In his third season, coach Davis had the Tar Heels at the top of the conference and looking to do damage in the NCAA Tournament.
UNC ended the season with a 29-8 record, two losses less than the team two years prior who became runner up in the Championship game.
Coach Davis, It’s Now Completely on You
This season, Bacot has graduated, yet RJ Davis and a few other core guys from last season garnered a preseason ranking of 9th in the AP Poll.
This is now mostly guys that Hubert Davis has recruited, and this is now officially his system. It is now completely on him.
However, only 9 games into the season the Tar Heels are 5-4 and haven’t won a game against a worthy opponent.
Before barely holding off Georgia Tech on Saturday, 68-65 total, UNC lost three games in a row. Those games were against Alabama, Auburn, and Michigan State.
All three teams are top teams in the nation, yet UNC is supposed to be that as well. Those are games the Tar Heels has historically competed in, and mostly won.
Add the Kansas loss from earlier in the season that looks a lot closer than it was from the final score and the truth is, THIS IS NOT YOUR MOTHER’S UNC BASKETBALL TEAM.
Photo Curtesy of Geoff Burke, USA TODAY Sports
Rowan Donaghey, Sports Reporter and Betting Analyst for Stare Down Sports. You can follow him on the X via @RowanDonaghey
Follow Stare Down Sports on the X for all of the latest news and updates @StareDownSports
Kansas Basketball dropped two in a row
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