The ACC/SEC Challenge features a battle of the blue bloods with No. 16 North Carolina Tar Heels traveling to No. 18 Kentucky Wildcats for a highly-profile matchup on Tuesday night in Lexington, Ken.
The Tar Heels (6-1) opened the season with six straight victories by double figures before falling 74-58 to No. 11 Michigan State last week. North Carolina had a forgettable night, going just 4 of 23 from 3-point range and struggling defensively as the Spartans shot 51.7% (31 of 60) from the field.
The Tar Heels’ bench also produced just five points.
“There are a number of things we have to clean up,” Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis said. “And that comes from everybody.”
North Carolina has plenty of talent on its roster.
Freshman forward Caleb Wilson, who is averaging team bests of 19.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, led the Tar Heels with 18 points and seven rebounds in the loss to Michigan State.
Luka Bogavac, the team’s leading 3-point shooter, finished with 11 points after going 1 of 6 from deep.
Bogavac said there is plenty to be gained from an early-season loss of that nature.
“This is the first team we’ve played that was really physical for 40 minutes,” he said. “They play like us — transition, pushing the ball, switching. I think we should be happy we gave 100% effort, but even that isn’t enough against teams like this. We relaxed for two or three minutes and, against teams like this, you can’t do that. It’s good it happened early so we can learn.”
Similar to North Carolina, Kentucky (5-2) also has suffered a loss to Michigan State, 83-66 on Nov. 18 in New York.
The Wildcats have rebounded with routs of Loyola Maryland (88-46) and Tennessee Tech (104-54). In the victory over the Golden Eagles on Wednesday, Kentucky’s Trent Noah and Denzel Aberdeen shined with four 3-pointers apiece.
Malachi Moreno, a 7-foot freshman center, has also provided a solid inside presence averaging 10.6 points and 7.6 rebounds in seven games (two starts).
Kentucky, however, has yet to play up to its full potential.
This is a team that has been short-handed with projected starters Jaland Lowe (right shoulder) and Jayden Quaintance (right ACL) missing time.
“We’re not there yet,” Wildcats coach Mark Pope said recently. “We don’t deal with the physicality of the game well. We don’t deal with the intensity of the game well yet. Those are yets. Yet is the most powerful three-letter word in the world, right? We’re not doing those things yet, but we will. And it’s going to be fun. I can’t wait till we get there.”
The Wildcats would like to “get there” with the Tar Heels in town. UNC leads the all-time series 25-18, although the last time these teams met in Rupp Arena was an 84-70 victory by Kentucky on Dec. 3, 2014.
Kentucky also won the last matchup, 87-83, on Dec. 16, 2023 at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta.
