More Top 10 carnage

North Carolina couldn’t pull out a victory vs. Ga Tech, while Tennessee was the latest to fall to South Carolina. We break those down, and have more from Tuesday. Plus, Four Questions with Wisconsin coach Greg Gard

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Sean Paul & Mike Miller
January 31, 2024

Life for Top 10 teams is no cakewalk. That’s the story of this season.

Let's get to it.

1. North Carolina’s perfect ACC start is over

Entering Tuesday, Top 10 teams were just 23-29 on the road against unranked teams. Georgia Tech had already beaten one Top 10 team earlier this season.

So why not another?

Kyle Sturdivant scored 18 points and Naithan George hit the game-winning layup with 7.7 seconds remaining in a wild 74-73 win over No. 3 North Carolina, the first league loss for UNC this season.

“I told the guys whenever we play a Top 25 team it feels like we put on our big boy drawers, so let’s do that,” Sturdivant said.

The Yellow Jackets (10-11, 3-7 in ACC) certainly didn’t flinch on Tuesday. They trailed by eight midway through the first half, but made big play after big play in the second. They led by 8 with 5:12 to play after a Tyzhaun Clause 3-point play.

But it’s not like UNC (17-4, 9-1) went away.

It took the lead with 34 seconds remaining thanks to RJ Davis doing RJ Davis things. He finished with a game-high 28 points, and even had a shot at a game-winner of his own, but didn’t get a clean look — and was probably fouled in the process.

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