Tar Heels Up to No. 3 in Latest AP Top 25 Rankings
North Carolina’s climb up the AP Top 25 rankings continued Monday with the Tar Heels moving up a spot to No. 3 after picking two more ACC wins last week.
UNC beat Louisville at home by 16 and won at Boston College by 10 extending their win steak to eight games and also improving to 15-3 overall and 7-0 in the ACC on the campaign.
Carolina was in a battle in Chestnut Hill over the weekend, and it appeared as if the streak could be in jeopardy. But as that have so many times this season, the Heels closed strong scoring on 10 of their last 11 possessions, and outrebounding the Eagles 14-6 down the stretch as well.
“I think in the last eight minutes, especially in games like this, I think that’s where we’re our sharpest and I think you see us execute,” UNC veteran forward Armando Bacot said after the game at BC. “Harrison’s screen were amazing. You see on the box set we ran where Elliot got the layup. He told me right before that Elliot would be open. I checked and he was open, so just us having that confidence, it’s perfect.”
Carolina has not lost since December 16 when it dropped a four-point decision to Kentucky in Atlanta. The Tar Heels have been much better defensively since then, and significantly improved on the glass since beating Oklahoma in their next game.
Only one opponent has scored as many at 70 points since the UK game, and the last eight opponents have combined to shoot 32 percent from the field, including 23.7 percent from 3-point range. UNC has also outrebounded its last seven foes by a total of 100 boards.
Staying at No. 1 this week is Connecticut, which beat UNC on December 6 at Madison Square Garden, followed by Purdue.