Two heavyweights in the form of North Carolina basketball and Kansas Jayhawks went at it early in the 2024-25 college hoops season, with the Tar Heels visiting Lawrence.
The North Carolina Tar Heels fell short of beating Bill Self’s Jayhawks but did not look too outclassed, as evidenced by the very close result. The Jayhawks barely escaped with a 92-89 win.
It is not always that North Carolina and the Jayhawks face off in the regular season, especially at Allen Fieldhouse, which the Tar Heels last visited in 1960 prior to Friday’s marquee matchup.
North Carolina basketball head coach Hubert Davis, despite his team’s loss, loved everything else about the game from the atmosphere down to its incredible competitiveness.
Via Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports:
“It doesn’t matter if it’s in March or if it’s in November, it’s going to be highly competitive,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said. “You run through the tunnel, because the last time Carolina played here was 1960, and see that crowd. You see Kansas across the court. If you can’t be fired up to compete and play … something is wrong with you.”
North Carolina basketball’s comeback fell short against Kansas
The Tar Heels were doomed by a slow start. They trailed Kansas by 15 points at the end of the first half. North Carolina responded with a fiery 51-point effort in the second half but that was not enough to complete a comeback. Seth Trimble led the Tar Heels with 19 points while RJ Davis and Elliot Cadeau chipped in 16 and 12 points, respectively.
North Carolina should be able to bounce back right away, as it will face the lowly American Eagles next Friday at Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
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