UNC basketball drops a couple spots in March 9 AP Poll

It’s officially ACC Tournament week. Your North Carolina Tar Heels, who earned the fourth seed, kick off their conference tournament slate on Thursday at 9:30 p.m.

UNC (24-7, 12-6) finished its regular season slate with a 76-61 loss at Duke on Saturday. North Carolina marched into halftime down just five points, but turnovers proved costly as the deficit swelled in second half action.

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In the March 9 AP Poll, the Tar Heels fell two spots to 19th. UNC is one slot ahead of undefeated, Cinderella story Miami OH) and one behind Purdue, which is fading fast.

North Carolina will go into postseason without superstar freshman Caleb Wilson, who is now out for the season with a broken thumb. Wilson previously broke his left hand in a loss at Miami (FL), aiming for a return against the Blue Devils (29-2, 17-1 ACC), but a Thursday practice mishap was the unfortunate, likely end to his Tar Heel career.

Lucky for UNC, there’s still plenty of talent on the court. Henri Veesaar is back from injury – and he continues playing at a high level. Seth Trimble is the senior leader North Carolina needs. Jarin Stevenson is delivering in his expanded role, Luka Bogavac just hit a career-high against Louisville, Derek Dixon did the same at Duke and Zayden High is a solid backup big.

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Sure, you want to be fully healthy, but the Tar Heels are in a good place. UNC will face added challenges the deeper it goes into NCAA Tournament play, but that goes for any team.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC basketball slides to 19th in March 9 AP Poll

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/unc-basketball-drops-couple-spots-222111423.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-09 22:21:00

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