17. North Carolina (23-6)
A few things have gone really well for the Tar Heels this season, including that big win over Duke, but losing Caleb Wilson for several weeks certainly wasn’t one of those positives. The Tar Heels are staying afloat without their young star, even with a few recent tough showings on the road. Fortunately, this week went far better for North Carolina.
They were in a ranked battle in Chapel Hill on Monday night, escaping with a 77-74 win over Louisville. It was the Seth Trimble show as he scored 30 points and was a big part of why the Tar Heels made 54% of their field goal attempts. North Carolina’s resilience continued into the weekend, using a strong second half to win 89-82 against Virginia Tech. Henri Veesaar had 26 points and 7 rebounds while Trimble put up 20 points.
All things considered, North Carolina is keeping afloat without having Wilson out there and it’s hard to complain too much. Sure, the Tar Heels aren’t winning the ACC but they’ve got 23 wins and haven’t lost at home this season and have put together some clutch performances down the stretch. They’ll be hoping for more of that home magic against Clemson, but next weekend’s rematch at Duke will be quite the final test.