Tar Heels’ Caleb Love plans to enter name in transfer portal

caleb love transfer portal
Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports
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North Carolina guard Caleb Love says he will enter his name into the transfer portal after three seasons with the Tar Heels.

The 6-foot-4 Love announced his decision with a social media post Monday. He had big moments during an unexpected run to last year’s national championship game though he also wrestled with inconsistency for most of his college career.

At his best, Love has game-changing scoring potential and is fearless in taking a big shot. That included scoring 28 points with a huge late 3-pointer to help the Tar Heels beat Duke in the Final Four for the first NCAA Tournament meeting between the rivals and the final game for Blue Devils Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.

This season he led the team by averaging 16.7 points. but his shooting percentages all dipped after showing gains in 2022. He never shot 40% from the field for a season and twice failed to shoot 30% on 3s.

UNC returns Armando Bacot, the program’s career leading rebounder and an Associated Press third-team All-American, and guard R.J. Davis at the core of an expected roster revamp. That comes after the Tar Heels became the first team to go from No. 1 in the AP preseason poll to missing the NCAA Tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Armando Bacot says he’s returning for fifth season at North Carolina

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – North Carolina forward Armando Bacot is returning to play a fifth season for the Tar Heels.

Bacot announced his decision Wednesday, giving North Carolina fans a bit of good news after the Tar Heels failed to reach the NCAA Tournament.

The 6-foot-11 Bacot is North Carolina’s career leader in rebounds, double-doubles and double-figure rebounding games.

Bacot led North Carolina to a runner-up finish in last year’s NCAA Tournament, and his decision to return was a major reason the Tar Heels were ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25.

The Tar Heels didn’t come close to meeting those expectations. They went 20-13 and opted against playing in the NIT. Bacot earned Associated Press All-America third-team honors and averaged 15.9 points and 10.4 rebounds.

He averaged 16.3 points and 13.1 rebounds in 2021-22. He capped that season by becoming the first player ever to have six double-doubles in one NCAA Tournament.

Bacot participated in North Carolina’s Senior Night festivities this year. He has a fifth year of eligibility because of the waiver the NCAA granted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

No. 3 Ohio State beats No. 6 UNC 71-69, advances to Sweet 16

Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jacy Sheldon made a tiebreaking jumper in the lane with 1.8 seconds left to lift No. 3 Ohio State to a 71-69 win over No. 6 seed North Carolina and help the Buckeyes advance to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.

With the game tied, Sheldon took the pass from Eboni Walker and floated in the game-winning score. North Carolina had one final chance, but turned it over with a second remaining.

“Eboni did a great job,” Sheldon said. “It didn’t go as planned and she made a great play there, and that’s what led to that bucket. So I think keeping our composure in that situation was huge, keeping possession of the ball. And that was all Eboni.”

Ohio State (27-7) saw its 12-point lead with 7:02 to go erased as the Tar Heels went on a 13-2 run midway through the fourth quarter. The Tar Heels did most of that run without star Deja Kelly, who exited midway through the final quarter with a leg injury. She went to the locker room, but returned to the court a short time later.

Trailing 66-63, Kelly made two free throws before Paulina Paris made a layup in transition to give the Tar Heels (22-11) its first lead of the game with 2:09 left.

Sheldon scored to give the Buckeyes the lead back with 1:07 left. She added a free throw 29 seconds later to make it a two-point game.

Kelly, who finished with 22 points to lead North Carolina, hit a jumper to tie the game at 69 with 9 seconds left.

“I asked them to be what they have been all year, which is a group of fighters,” North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said. “We asked them to be hard to beat, and we thought those things would get us to a Sweet 16. They did all of those things, right, but you got to be so good to win in March, so good, and we just were not quite good enough.”

Ohio State led the entirety of the first half, including by as many as nine points in the first quarter, on 46% shooting. Taylor Mikesell went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc in the first half.

Sheldon finished with 16 points, Walker added 15 and Cotie McMahon scored 14. Taylor Mikesell had a team-high 17.

“This is a great win for us because it puts us in the Sweet 16 but also just I have so much respect for North Carolina,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “We beat a great opponent today.”

X’S AND O’S

McGuff said Ohio State’s final play design was intended to give Sheldon the basketball, but it didn’t unfold according to plan.

Walker, who averaged over 14 minutes and 4 1/2 points per game this season, took the inbounds pass from Rikki Harris, looked toward Sheldon after catching the ball, dribbled to the top of the key and hooked it back to Sheldon for the game-winning score.

“Eboni made a great decision not passing the initial one to Jacy because she really wasn’t open, and then we swung the ball back around and got it back in her hands,” McGuff said. “I told her in the locker room sometimes it’s about X’s and O’s and sometimes it’s about having the best player on the court.”

BIG PICTURE

North Carolina: The Tar Heels allowed an opposing team to shoot at least 50% for the third time all season and first time since December. North Carolina allowed the Buckeyes to shoot 54.2% in the second half.

Ohio State: The Buckeyes have made second-half comebacks in all four of their postseason victories, including a 24-point resurgence that broke the Big Ten Tournament record March 4. Ohio State advances to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time since the 2015-16 season.

UP NEXT

Ohio State will play the winner of No. 2 seed UConn and No. 7 seed Baylor in the Seattle 3 Regional.

Edey, Jackson-Davis, Wilson headline AP All-America Team

Alex Martin/Journal and Courier/USA TODAY NETWORK
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Purdue’s Zach Edey and Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis gave the Big Ten Conference a third straight year with multiple first-team Associated Press All-America picks, while Kansas had a second straight first-teamer in Jalen Wilson.

The 7-foot-4, 305-pound Edey appeared on all 58 ballots as a first-team selection from AP Top 25 voters as the lone unanimous pick.

The selections of the Boilermakers’ Edey and the Hoosiers’ Jackson-Davis came a year after the Big Ten had three first-team picks. And it gave the league seven through the last three seasons; no other league has more than three.

The Big Ten has had at least one first-teamer for five straight years and eight of the last nine.

Houston’s Marcus Sasser and Alabama’s Brandon Miller joined Edey and Wilson on the first team in representing each of the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 seeds.

Edey has commanded the national spotlight all year. The Big Ten player of the year ranks sixth nationally in scoring (22.3), second in rebounding (12.8) and first in double-doubles (26).

“Everybody goes: ‘You go to him so much,’” Purdue coach Matt Painter said after the Big Ten Tournament title win against Penn State. “If they call it by the rules, they’re fouling him on every possession. So why shouldn’t we get it to him and just try to get in that bonus early and steal points?

“Obviously he can make tough post-ups and he can get at the rim, and he gets offensive rebounds when you take him away.”

Jackson-Davis, a 6-9 fourth-year forward, is Indiana’s first first-team selection since Victor Oladipo in 2013. He’s averaging 20.8 points and 10.9 rebounds while taking a leap with his passing (4.1 assists, up from 1.9 last year).

“I probably have pushed him harder than any player on this team and I know there’s been days that he’s walked out of here thinking that, ‘Hey, is this guy really in my corner, based on how he’s pushing me?’” coach Mike Woodson said. “But at the end of the day, he’s gotten better as a player.

“We have benefited from it, you know, with our ballclub, in terms of how we played as a team. And he’s been the driving force behind it.”

Wilson, a 6-8 fourth-year forward, was a returning complementary starter from last year’s NCAA title run. He thrived in an expanded role, becoming Big 12 player of the year and nearly doubling his scoring average (20.1, up from 11.1) to go with 8.4 rebounds.

It marked the fourth time in seven seasons that the Jayhawks had a first-team pick going back to national player of the year Frank Mason III in 2017.

“He’s an elite competitor,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said after a Big 12 Tournament loss to the Jayhawks. “He gets to the glass. He makes cuts. He makes it hard. He does so many things.”

Sasser, a 6-2 senior, was a starter on the Cougars’ Final Four team two years ago and is the star of another title threat this year. He’s averaging 17.1 points as the program’s first first-team selection since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984 during the “Phi Slama Jama” era.

Miller, a 6-9 freshman, was a McDonald’s All-American who became an immediate star on the way to being named the Southeastern Conference player of the year. He’s averaging 19.6 points and 8.3 rebounds for the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed.

Miller has been involved in a murder case that has overshadowed the Crimson Tide’s successful run, leading to capital murder charges against former Alabama player Darius Miles and another man for the January shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris. A police investigator testified last month that Miles texted Miller to bring him his gun that night, though authorities haven’t charged Miller with any crime.

SECOND TEAM

Pac-12 player of the year Jaime Jaquez Jr. of UCLA was the leading vote-getter on the second team that included Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, last season’s AP national player of the year.

Gonzaga’s Drew Timme was a second-team selection for the third straight year, while Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis and Penn State’s Jalen Pickett rounded out the second quintet.

THIRD TEAM

Kansas State’s surge led to the Wildcats earning third-team selections in Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson, their first AP All-Americans since Jacob Pullen in 2011.

Big East player of the year Tyler Kolek of Marquette, Iowa’s Kris Murray and North Carolina’s Armando Bacot rounded out the third team.

HONORABLE MENTION

National scoring leader Antoine Davis of Detroit Mercy, who averaged 28.2 points and fell three points shy of tying “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s all-time career scoring record, was the leading vote-getter among players who didn’t make the three All-America teams.

Players earned honorable-mention status if they appeared on multiple voters’ ballots. This year’s list includes Memphis’ Kendric Davis, Xavier’s Souley Boum and Miami’s Isaiah Wong.

North Carolina beats BC 85-61, keeps NCAA hopes alive

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Caleb Love scored 22 points, RJ Davis hit four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points and North Carolina kept alive its NCAA Tournament hopes with a 85-61 win over Boston College Wednesday night in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

Armando Bacot had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes for No. 7 seed North Carolina (20-12). The 6-foot-11 senior left the game with about five minutes left in the first half due to an apparent ankle injury. He started the second half before returning to the bench for good with 14:27 to play and the Tar Heels leading 58-31.

Bacot, Love and Davis scored eight points apiece in a 29-12 first-half run that gave the Tar Heels a 33-16 lead with 7:45 left before intermission and Boston College trailed by double figures the rest of the way.

Makai Ashton-Langford scored 16 points, Jaeden Zackery added 15 and Quinten Post 13 for 10th-seeded Boston College (16-17).

UNC hit 10 3-pointers, shot 55% (34 of 62) from the field and committed just seven turnovers.

North Carolina, which lost 72-69 to Kanas in the 2022 national championship game and was ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll, is likely in need of an ACC championship – or at least an appearance in the title game – to earn a tourney bid. The Tar Heels have won four of their last five games.

UP NEXT

Boston College is likely done for the season

North Carolina plays No. 2 seed Virginia in the quarterfinals Thursday. UNC split the season series with the Cavaliers with each team winning on its home court.

Tyree Appleby is Wake Forest’s 2nd straight ACC AP Player of the Year

William Howard-USA TODAY Sports
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Wake Forest guard Tyree Appleby is The Associated Press men’s player of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the second straight season a Demon Deacons player took the honor after Alondes Williams earned it a year ago.

Pitt coach Jeff Capel was named coach of the year and Duke freshman Kyle Filipowski was named newcomer of the year.

Appleby, a 6-foot grad transfer guard from Florida, led the ACC with in scoring at 18.8 points a game and assists at 6.2 per contest. He was second in ACC steals.

Appleby received seven votes for player of the year from the 15 journalists who cover the ACC. Appleby finished ahead of Miami’s Isaiah Wong (four), North Carolina’s Armando Bacot (two), and Filipowski and Clemson’s Hunter Tyson, who each received a vote.

Appleby came to Wake Forest this past offseason and helped the team go 18-13 and win 10 games in ACC play.

Capel’s future at Pitt was clearly in doubt when the season began after four straight losing seasons. But the Panthers turned things around this season, going 21-10 and 14-6 against league opponents. Pitt will be the fifth seed in this week’s ACC Tournament.

Capel received 11 votes from panel while Miami coach Jim Larranaga picked up the other three. One voter abstained.

Filipowski, the Blue Devils’ 7-foot freshman, averaged 15 points and 9.2 rebounds this season. He received nine votes from the panel with Appleby getting four and North Carolina State’s Jarkel Joiner the other two.

The rest of the AP’s first team included Wake Forest’s Appleby, North Carolina’s Bacot and Duke’s Filipowski.

FIRST TEAM

Isaiah Wong, Miami, 6-4, 185, Jr., Piscataway, New Jersey.

Tyree Appleby, Wake Forest, 6-0, 175, Gr., Jacksonville, Arkansas.

Terquavion Smith, North Carolina State, 6-4, 165, So., Greenville, North Carolina.

Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 6-10, 240, Sr.., Richmond, Virginia.

Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 7-0, 230, Fr., Westtown, New York.

SECOND TEAM

Norchad Omier, Miami, 6-7, 248, So., Bluefields, Nicaragua.

Jarkel Joiner, North Carolina State, 6-1, 180, Gr., Oxford, Mississippi.

Hunter Tyson, Clemson, 6-8, 217, Gr., Monroe, North Carolina.

Jamaruius Burton, Pitt, 6-4, 200, Gr., Charlotte, North Carolina.

Kihei Clark, Virginia, 5-10, 167, Gr., Woodland Hills, California.

Coach of the year – Jeff Capel, Pitt

Player of the year – Tyree Appleby, Wake Forest

Newcomer of the year – Kyle Filipowski, Duke

AP All-ACC voting panel: Mike Barber, The Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch; Mark Berman, The Roanoke (Virginia) Times; Rick Bozich, WDRB-TV, Louisville, Kentucky; C.L. Brown, The (Raleigh) News & Observer, North Carolina; Jordan Crammer, WNCN CBS 17, Raleigh, North Carolina; Donna Ditota, The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York; Jerry DiPaola, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Chapel Fowler, The State of Columbia, South Carolina; Ehsan Kassim, Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee, Florida; Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald; Kevin McNamara, WPRO, Providence, Rhode Island; Tom Noie, South Bend (Indiana) Tribune; Ken Sugiura, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Lauren Walsh, WXII-TV, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Steve Wiseman, The Herald-Sun of Durham, North Carolina.