The Jarin Stevenson Game, Drake Maye and Chazz Surratt to the Super Bowl
Plus: Maximo Adams shines in Springfield, Women's Basketball's 2-0 week, Smith Center poll, Baseball spring scrimmages, Kate Harpring scores 3,000
Jarin Stevenson had himself a game in UNC’s upset of Virginia, Drake Maye and Chazz Surratt are heading to the Super Bowl, Tar Heel basketball commits Maximo Adams and Kate Harpring are doing big things, Women’s hoops went 2-0 this week, and the Diamond Heels have a week of spring scrimmages in the books. On to the updates…
🏀 Basketball
North Carolina got back on track after losing three of its previous four games by handling Notre Dame, 91-69, on Wednesday (Box Score).
Freshman point guard Derek Dixon got his second straight start and looked sharp, scoring 11 points and going 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar did most of the heavy lifting, though, scoring 22 and 15 points, respectively. Defensively, the Tar Heels were much improved, holding Notre Dame to just 36% shooting.
Leading up to the game, former UNC point guard and 2017 national champion Joel Berry weighed in on the defensive issues plaguing the Tar Heels:
On Saturday at Virginia, it looked like the “bad Tar Heels” had shown up again after falling behind by as many as 16 points in the first half. But Jarin Stevenson came off the bench to score 17 second-half points and lead a massive turnaround that led to an 85-80 upset of the No. 14 Cavaliers (Box Score) and the biggest comeback by a Virginia opponent in the history of John Paul Jones Arena.
Freshman point guard Derek Dixon continued to shine in his starting role, scoring 11 points and finishing the game at +22(!).
UNC is now 3-1 vs. ranked opponents this season:
No. 19 Kansas - W 87-74
No. 11 Michigan State - L 74-58
No. 18 Kentucky - W 67-64
No. 14 Virginia - W 85-80
Off the court, the debate over the future of the Smith Center continues to intensify, with Roy Williams weighing in with his vote to renovate the historic arena rather than build a new off-campus facility:
“I was Coach Smith’s assistant for ten years. We had many discussions about basketball, about life, about the golf course, everything. But I do know, during the conversation about what to get out of this building…that Coach Smith wanted this place on campus. That was his wish. There was no question.”
🏀 Poll
🏈 Football, Recruiting & Transfer Portal
Football season may be over, but the transfer portal apparently never ends. UNC added former West Virginia offensive lineman Brandon Homady this past week. Homady played mostly on special teams his freshman season in Morgantown and has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
And the biggest news of the weekend…former UNC quarterback Drake Maye is heading to the Super Bowl after leading the New England Patriots to a 10-7 victory over the Broncos during a second-half blizzard at Mile High Stadium on Sunday.
