North Carolina and Arizona. One is blue blooded, the other is as close to that distinction as you can get without actually possessing the label. Anyway: two of 13 Most Important and Successful Programs in College Basketball History. When they are really good, the sport seems stronger, more attractive.
This season, neither has been good – certainly not consistent – despite expectations. In October, they were both honored in the top 10 of the preseason AP Top 25 after earning top spots last March.
Through the first 60 days of the season, they had combined to go 15-11, making the two most disappointing non-conference tours of any school in the preseason rankings. North Carolina had a terrible habit of slow starts (falling far behind in the first half of almost every game), while Arizona strangely failed to show up in every battle against a good opponent, having not beat a top 60 team, going 0-5 in those chances.
Saturday offered a possibility against the backdrop of what was arguably Saturday’s best slate thus far. North Carolina and Arizona found themselves relegated to the back burner on a day filled with plenty of highly anticipated cases. Their matchups didn’t seem to matter as much when matched against the pulpy potential of: No. 6 Florida vs. No. 10 Kentucky, No. 25 Baylor vs. No. 3 Iowa State, No. 23 Arkansas vs. No. 3 Iowa State. 1 Tennessee, No. 4 Duke at two-loss SMU, No. 15 UCLA at two-loss Nebraska and No. 12 Oklahoma at No. 5 Alabama.
But I would argue that none of those games that day had more urgency and overall importance than the Tar Heels’ test at Notre Dame and the Wildcats’ tilt at No. 16 Cincinnati. With UNC entering the day at 8-6 and Arizona at 7-5, both faced tough road tests, the kind of program opportunities that can breathe new life into the conference season …or reinforce disenchantment and set a dark tone for a long pending league list. (Also a nod to Louisville, which beat UNC earlier this week and then beat Virginia on the road at 20 on Saturday, but unlike the Heels and Wildcats, Pat Kelsey’s Cardinals have yet to been classified.)
Carolina and ‘Zona looked at their opportunities and both narrowly won (UNC 74-73, Arizona 72-67), giving their season hope in what otherwise would have been a blow to their respective tournament chances NCAA. (It’s way too early to worry about bracketology predictions, but still: losses on either Saturday would have knocked them out of the field for now.)
These are the two most important results of the day.
North Carolina’s victory came first, on CBS, its latest close result and only the third loss to a top 100 opponent for Hubert Davis’ program this season.
The path to victory was not easy, as there was also a twist before the match. UNC found out shortly before the announcement that Notre Dame’s best player (Markus Burton) was back after missing more than a month. The Fighting Irish are not a tournament team this year, but they are much improved from last season and they are even more dangerous with Burton available to play, which he did to the tune of 23 points off the bench. .
Yet, Carolina somehow got through it. He did it the only way he knows how to achieve notable victories this season: spectacularly. Sophomore point guard Elliott Cadeau and -1 3-pointer (fouled by Matt Allocco) with 4.8 seconds left was the 17th lead change of the game. That allowed UNC to escape Houdini-style and, critically, helped the 9-6 Tar Heels avoid a 1-2 start in a mediocre ACC.
Meanwhile, UNC freshman Ian Jackson has emerged as the team’s go-to scorer. He had more than 23 for the fourth straight game, finishing with a college-record 27 points. That’s the most by the Tar Heels since Cole Anthony had 28 against Wake Forest in 2020. With four straight games of 20 or more points, Jackson is also the first Tar Heel to do that since Tyler Hansbrough during the 2005-06 season. A highly touted recruit turns into a special player.
The Tar Heels are a frustrating team, but damn if they don’t put in a lot of ultra-watchable games. Saturday was their seventh this season, decided in two possessions. It’s clear that, for the second time in three years, UNC was grossly overrated in the preseason. But I think this team is talented enough and the ACC is weak enough to fight and avoid the calamity of 2022 (missing the NCAAs entirely).
Intense drama, improbable results, fun but still erratic basketball. Few teams are as compelling, for reasons good or bad, as North Carolina.
Arizona (8-5) is not like that.
The Cats haven’t been as attractive or as threatening as UNC. Saturday’s win at Cincinnati was U of A’s first road win and only its second road win — but also its fourth straight victory. The Wildcats were strong enough to pull themselves up to 19 in Cincy’s house at one point, which is encouraging, but they also let that lead completely melt away and flirted with their worst collapse under Tommy Lloyd.
These guys desperately needed a result to make them believe that this season could amount to anything substantial, because there hasn’t been much evidence to the contrary. Think of it this way…the Big 12 has a clear No. 1 in Iowa State and a close No. 2 in Houston. Who will be number 3? Kansas, Baylor, West Virginia, Texas Tech, BYU, Cincinnati: good teams with flaws and still finding a lot to understand. Arizona is talented enough to join this group, or possibly move up, provided they can find a rhythm of tenacity (and much better 3-point shooting, sheesh) in the coming weeks.
It was almost a requirement that Arizona win on Saturday; After the first three years of regular season dominance under Lloyd, few thought the team would be there during the first week of January. The Wildcats got 15 points from Jaden Bradley, 14 from Caleb Love, and what is this here? Fourteen more from freshman forward Carter Bryant on the bench? A great development. Before the day started, I wanted to know if Arizona would stand up right now against a Cincinnati team that hasn’t had to play much with a target on its back under Wes Miller. It wasn’t pretty, but it did it.
Did Saturday bring clarity for Carolina and Arizona? I can’t say that. This gave some respite. This yielded victories that will be vital in March. A loss for either would have caused real panic. Instead, a reason to believe and a chance to change their futures, provided they look more like this and less like what we saw for most of November and December.
