During its 10-game winning streak from late December to late January, which helped UNC basketball jump to No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the team did not have an easy ride. But throughout that time, the team led by third-year coach Hubert Davis repeatedly answered the punches of their opponents with knockout strikes.
Now, after losing 86-79 on the road to Syracuse, a team that had defeated them by 36 points at Chapel Hill a month earlier, the No. 7 Tar Heels (19-6, 11-3 ACC) have now dropped three of their last five games. And after their victory over bitter rival Duke at home on February 3, they are just four points away from going on a three-game losing streak.
In light of this, the Tar Heels have made room for the No. 9 Blue Devils (19-5, 10-3), who are now tied with Virginia for the top spot in the ACC standings and who have a winning streak of three games following their meeting with UNC in the Dean E. Smith Center two weeks ago.
Despite their Tuesday night 74-63 home loss to Pitt, the No. 21 Cavaliers (19-6, 10-4) still have a chance to win and take the tiebreaker against either Duke or UNC, who they will play for the first and only time this regular season in the upcoming weeks. On February 24, they play host to UNC, and the following Saturday, they go to Duke.
In the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the Duke basketball team was ranked second at the start of the season. Basketball at UNC was ranked No. 19. However, the Tar Heels (20-6, 12-3 ACC) have been rated higher than the Blue Devils (20-5, 11-3), as well as the whole ACC, since the initial December edition.
However, UNC’s 11-week run as the top-ranked ACC club ended this week. The Tar Heels dropped three spots to No. 10 in the AP Poll that was issued on Monday afternoon, while the Blue Devils moved up one spot to No. 8. The Tar Heels fell at Syracuse on Tuesday night before winning at home against Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon.
