It’s not even the end of December and North Carolina badly needed a win.

The schedule was tough, and almost every test resulted in a loss. The promise that came with a top 10 preseason ranking was fading; and the Tar Heels were headed toward spending the rest of the season on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament bubble

But the Tar Heels finally came through with a defeat of UCLA in New York City.

What has hurt North Carolina for much of the season has followed the same script: slow starts that mostly has been too much to overcome. It happened against unbeaten Florida team. UNC managed to lead in the second half before the Gators rallied. 

Against UCLA it looked like it was headed down the same path. The Bruins came out hot, and after the Tar Heels showed some fight, UCLA got the lead to 16 points with 12 minutes left. Then North Carolina stopped making mistakes. The baskets started to go in. Senior guard RJ Davis overcame some earlier mistakes by hitting the game-winning free throws to knock off the Bruins. 

Come tournament time, North Carolina will benefit from playing one of the nation’s toughest non-conference schedules All five losses have been by teams ranked in the top 20. Saturday’s victory was the second Quad 1 win for the Tar Heels. They’ll need more to justify putting a spot in the field. 

Still, there’s most of the ACC schedule to play, and Hubert Davis’ squad has some much-needed momentum heading into January, making North Carolina one of the biggest storylines from the past weekend of hoops.

Auburn looks like the best team in the country

Yes, there’s no No. 1 next to Auburn’s name. Nevertheless, the Tigers are playing like the top team in the nation after another crushing win over a ranked team.

Purdue hung around for about eight minutes before Auburn went on a 16-2 run over a seven-minute span. It was the Tigers’ ninth double-digit victory and sixth against a Quad 1 opponent.

As Auburn has looked like the top team in the country, its big man Johni Broome continues to look like the best player in the country. His 23-point, 11-rebound performance was his eighth double-double of the season, and he did it on a bad shoulder. 

Ohio State plays big against Kentucky

What a Saturday it was in Columbus. Not only did the football team win its first-round game of the College Football Playoff on campus, but the men’s basketball squad went to New York City and handled Kentucky by 20 points. It was the most surprising result of the weekend given how good Kentucky has looked under Mark Pope and how shaky Ohio State has looked. 

It was one of the worst shooting nights for one of the best offenses in Kentucky, but the Buckeyes deserve credit for taking advantage of it by controlling the paint and getting a career-night from junior guard Bruce Thornton. One week prior, Ohio State lost to Auburn by 38 and didn’t look like much. Seven days later, the Buckeyes look capable of competing in a crowded Big Ten.

Connecticut back as a contender

Remember when the sky was falling in Storrs after Connecticut didn’t win a single game in Maui?

It seems like ages ago with the Huskies not faltering since then, winning six-straight that includes wins over Baylor, Texas and Gonzaga. The latest result came with UConn holding off a pesky Butler team on the road to move to 2-0 in Big East play. 

Mississippi State overpowers Memphis

As if the SEC needed another solidified contender, Mississippi State picked up the best win in the conference with a thrashing of Memphis on the road. The Bulldogs went into FedEx Forum and quickly forced turnovers while knocking down their 3-point shots, and by the time Memphis realized what happened, Mississippi State had already had a firm grasp on the game.

The key to Mississippi State’s success has been taking care of the ball and generating steals. While the Bulldogs uncharacteristically turned the ball over more often on Saturday, they were stripping the ball away from Memphis with 15 steals, the fourth time they’ve had at least 10 in a game this season. 

The dominant win over Memphis gives Mississippi State three Quad 1 wins. It’s a crowded SEC, but Mississippi State is looking less like a bubble team and more like one eyeing a top four seed in the tournament.

Creighton shoots its way to much-needed win

Before the season, Creighton was expected to be a squad that could possibly dethrone UConn in the Big East. It hasn’t looked like one to start the season, but the Bluejays got a boost by beating Villanova.

Creighton lives and die by the 3-point shot and they made 14 on Saturday. While both teams could’ve used the victory, the Bluejays needed it with a slate coming up that includes St. John’s and Marquette next and Connecticut in the middle of January. It could be a slate that determines whether Creighton is legit or not. 

Rutgers gets stunned and continues to drop

The arrival of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey gave optimism for Rutgers to be a relevant basketball team. So far, it’s not working out well.

The Scarlet Knights had a win snatched away by Princeton in the final second for their fourth loss in six games. To be fair, Harper and Bailey have been sensational and have lived up to expectations. The problem has been the defense, which is allowing opponents to stick around and capitalize late. It’s those mistakes that currently doesn’t have Rutgers on a trajectory toward the tournament, which would be a massive disappointment for Steve Pikiell given the talent he brought in.

In the 11 days since Bill Belichick officially became the head coach at North Carolina, not much information has surfaced about his coaching staff.

One big — and expected — piece fell into place today.

Via Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Steve Belichick will become the defensive coordinator at UNC. He has spent 2024 as the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington.

During Bill’s courtship by the Tar Heels, reports and speculation emerged regarding an effort to create a succession plan that would make Steve the next head coach after Bill leaves. The contract negotiated and published by North Carolina makes no mention of that.

Still, if things go well and if Belichick remains until he’s ready to retire, he’ll be in position to make a strong case for family continuity. Especially if Bill is poised to become, essentially, coach emeritus of the program with Steve in charge.

In unsurprising news, CBS Sports reported that Washington defensive coordinator Steve Belichick is set to follow his father, Bill, to North Carolina. It is the second lost to UNC for the Huskies after linebacker Khmori House pledged to the Tar Heels earlier this week.

Belichick’s defense was often the highlight for the Huskies throughout the regular season. Washington had the fifth-best pass defense in the nation, allowing just 166.8 yards per outing and 13 touchdowns on the year. It was an obvious strength for the Dawgs leading into the season and was pivotal in all six wins.

Belichick spent just one season on Montlake. He joined Jedd Fisch’s highly touted NFL experience-rich staff. He’ll continue that trend, once again joining forces with a man many consider the greatest NFL head coach of all time. Bill will lead a college program for the first time in his career.

Suddenly, North Carolina is an intriguing destination that the Huskies must be wary of after already losing House. USA Today college football reporter Matt Hayes said on X that UNC would increase its NIL package for football “from 4 million to $20 million in effort to land Belichick.”

On the surface, there isn’t much to fear about UNC on the gridiron. However, the sweet selection of uniforms, a sudden surplus of NIL funds, Power 4 residency and the opportunity to play under the Belichick duo could be very attractive to NFL hopefuls.

Fisch addressed the potential of having to replace Belichick earlier this month.

“If (Steve) joins (Bill) then we’ll have to hire a new defensive coordinator,” Fisch said. “If he stays here then we won’t have to hire a new defensive coordinator. I think they’re separate. Bill Belichick is not on our staff. Steve Belichick is on our staff. So, Bill will determine whether or not he wants to continue. He’s the greatest coach of all time. So, if he goes and coaches somewhere, then he’ll make a decision, and then Steve will make a decision and we’ll figure it out from there.”

As for what’s next on Montlake, our Luke Kemper has you covered.

Click HERE to view his DC replacement scenarios.

Click HERE to view his contingency plan.