PORTLAND, Ore. — No. 1 North Carolina played Portland on Thursday to open the Phil Knight Invitational like it won’t be keeping that top ranking much longer.
Had the Tar Heels not played so unevenly in their first four games this season, the 10 a.m. local tipoff time at the Moda Center may have been a reasonable excuse for their lethargic play. But this has been a pretty consistent pattern for Carolina.
The Heels survived their Thanksgiving Day matinee with an 89-81 win, and will face the winner of Iowa State-Villanova at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. But they likely won’t get out of the weekend without a loss unless their execution improves.
