CBB weekend takeaways: North Carolina, Houston, Kentucky make major statements
With the men’s college hoops regular season now over, it's time to turn our attention to conference tournament action. Before that, though, here are three takeaways from the weekend that was.
North Carolina is just a little bit better than Duke
We start with the biggest game of the weekend. Cameron Indoor Stadium was jumping on Saturday night, as Duke had a chance to split the ACC regular-season title with North Carolina — and exact revenge for its 93-84 loss in Chapel Hill on Feb. 3 — in a titanic Tobacco Road showdown between the conference’s two best teams.
But the Tar Heels, much like the first meeting, proved that they are simply the superior team, jumping out to a 15-4 lead and holding on late for an 84-79 victory. The Blue Devils, led by Kyle Filipowski (23 points, seven rebounds, three blocks) and Jared McCain (19 points, eight boards), battled throughout, even cutting the North Carolina lead to one early in the second half.
Yet the visitors simply would not be denied, as Cormac Ryan (31 points and 6-of-8 from three) was a flamethrower all evening long.
The win clinched the Tar Heels’ first outright ACC regular-season title since 2017 — the year they, coincidentally, last won the national title — and proves that, even if the two meet in the ACC Tournament title game in Washington, D.C., this Saturday, there is a clear top dog in the conference this year.
Houston is the current the No. 1 overall seed
Is it possible that the Cougars are flying under the radar? That might be slight hyperbole, but given that the other national title contenders feature Purdue (and the soon-to-be two-time National Player of the Year, Zach Edey), defending champion UConn, Tennessee (and its own superstar, SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht) and perennial powers in North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky and Duke, Houston may not be the sexy pick with less than a week to go before Selection Sunday, with after a dominant home win over Kansas on Saturday, a 28-3 season (15-3 in the Big 12) in the best conference in the country must be rewarded.
How so? Well, the metrics don’t lie; Houston is first in KenPom, Bart Torvik and the NET Ranking, while sitting second (to Purdue) in KPI. Things could change based on what the Cougars, Boilermakers and Huskies do in the Big 12, Big Ten and Big East Tournaments, respectively.
Right now, though, it’s fairly clear that the top No. 1 seed hails from the Lone Star State.
Kentucky has put it together
Well, well, well, if it isn’t John Calipari and the Wildcats peaking at the right time. With its 85-81 road win over the SEC regular-season champion Volunteers on Saturday, Kentucky heads into the conference tournament in Nashville on a roll — Calipari and company have won seven of eight, with the lone loss coming at the buzzer to LSU on the road.
The Wildcats offense (sixth nationally in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom) has remained stellar; with perimeter scorers like Antonio Reeves, Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham, it's hard not to.
But the more encouraging development for Kentucky is on the other end of the floor. Over their last eight games, the Cats are 49th nationally in Bart Torvik’s adjusted defensive efficiency rating, a modest standing but one that shows growth on that end.
And that ultimately may be all Kentucky needs, as its offensive proficiency is often enough to beat any team in the country.
That’s all to say one thing. Look out, folks, the Wildcats are coming.
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