Michael Malone gets win No. 1 at blueblood North Carolina. It wasn't an easy night

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Michael Malone walked into a room full of reporters waiting to ask him about a tougher-than-expected win in his coaching debut at blueblood program North Carolina, then offered a quip that certainly captured the mood.

“You guys have as much fun as I did?” Malone said. “Welcome to the roller coaster.”

The man who coached the NBA's Denver Nuggets to an NBA championship 3 1/2 years ago had just watched his Tar Heels have to push through the final six minutes to beat Western Carolina 80-72 on Monday night. That opened a tenure that represents the program's first major break from decades of “Carolina Family" coaches rooted in the tenure of late Hall of Famer Dean Smith.

Little came easily, notably with the Tar Heels' preseason rebounding concerns continuing into this game with the Catamounts finishing with a 41-32 edge and nearly doubling the Tar Heels on the offensive glass (13-7) in a performance guard Terrence Brown called “a nasty game.”

"We’ll take a win,” forward Neo Avdalas said. “But I think we can play better. I’m not that happy with the game tonight.”

Maybe that explained why Malone initially wanted to just head back to the locker room afterward when told the school wanted to briefly present him with the game ball in honor of win No. 1. He acquiesced when he saw the presentation wasn't just from athletic director Steve Newmark, but also retired Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams — who had left his customary seat next to the home tunnel and waiting at the foul line nearest North Carolina's bench.

Malone, who shared a pregame handshake with Williams as he emerged from that tunnel, had a hearty hug for Williams during that postgame presentation.

“I looked over and they had grabbed Coach Williams,” Malone said. “I said, ‘Well if Coach Williams is out here, I’m definitely going to do it.”

Malone is first North Carolina coach to lead the program without having played for the Tar Heels or working as an assistant on staff since Frank McGuire took over in 1952. Smith was McGuire’s successor in 1961, starting a coaching tree and lineage that stretched from Bill Guthridge to former player Matt Doherty, Williams and finally Hubert Davis.

“I’m looking forward to having that opportunity to walk through that tunnel,” Malone said Friday as he looked ahead. “And I often reflect on the fact that I am sitting in the same seat that guys like Dean Smith sat in, Bill Guthridge, Roy Williams, Hubert Davis, and other guys as well.”

The school fired Davis in March, then pursued Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd before locking up Malone for his first college head-coaching job.

Davis, a player under Smith and assistant under Williams, lasted five seasons in a tenure with plenty of highs, notably an unexpected run to the NCAA championship game in 2022 and an Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title in 2024. The problem was there were also wild swings of inconsistent results that didn’t align with North Carolina’s status as a basketball blueblood with six NCAA championships and more Final Four trips (21) than any other program.

Malone is in the first stages of tackling that issue.

There's been an aggressive bid to upgrade the Tar Heels’ recruiting with more of a throwback to the program’s days of chasing the biggest names. That approach netted its first big win Friday with the commitment of forward DeMarcus Henry as 247Sports’ No. 4 overall recruit.

This year's roster, however, is a more pressing concern.

The Tar Heels have 11 new players, headlined by bringing in Brown as a scoring guard, Avdalas as a versatile playmaking forward and outside shooter Matt Able from the transfer portal alongside a returning starter in Jarin Stevenson.

“It’s going to be probably a different guy for us every night,” Malone said. “And we have to stop fighting that sometimes. We have to embrace that, that’s who we are. If we can just start trusting, must trust more.

"When we do it, we look really good. When we stop trusting, we look like a team that is just not operating on the same page.”

Yet Malone also said the Tar Heels are starting the year as a team that “takes two steps forward, three steps back” with an inability to sustain good stretches. The rebounding, in particular, stands out as a massive concern with stats like the 6-10 Stevenson and starting freshman big man Sayon Keita, each managing just two rebounds in this one.

“It's not going to happen overnight,” Malone said. “And I have to remind myself constantly that this really is going to be a process. Thankful we got the win tonight, always much easier and better to clean up things after a win. But the emotions were I'm thankful to get that first one.”

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FILE - In this photo taken with a smartphone, North Carolina men's basketball head coach Michael Malone speaks during a news conference Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Aaron Beard,File)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A showdown in Texas between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, one of the marquee U.S. Senate races of the midterms, had Democrats pushing to break a 30-year losing streak in the state on Tuesday and Republicans scrambling to defend both a pivotal stronghold and an increasingly fragile Senate majority.

The campaign has tested voters’ tolerance for past scandals that have shadowed Paxton, Texas' Republican attorney general, and whether Talarico's religion-infused populist message can blaze a path to victory for Democrats in a state that President Donald Trump easily carried two years ago.

Texas has not elected a Democrat to a statewide office since 1994, but a unique cascade of events set the stage for one of the nation's most heated and expensive campaigns, and Republicans fear they could lose.

Paxton defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a combative primary with the help of a late endorsement from Trump, even though Senate Republican leaders feared that Paxton would be far more vulnerable because of his years of legal troubles including accusations of corruption.

At the same time, voters have become increasingly frustrated over high costs — for gas, groceries, healthcare and more — and the war with Iran, sapping Trump's and Republicans' popularity.

Talarico centered his campaign on portraying Paxton as the face of a corrupt political system that allows billionaires to wield outsized political power while prices rise for the rest of the country. He also tried to woo moderate Republicans and independents put off by Paxton.

Paxton pinned his hopes on firing up Republican voters, who have historically outnumbered Democrats in Texas, to turn out at the polls. He campaigned with Trump several times, and the president amplified Paxton's attack that Talarico is too progressive for the Lone Star State because of past statements including that God is “nonbinary.”

The political climate was already favorable for Democrats from coast to coast this year, with many people upset with Trump on issues such as the war in Iran and the soaring costs of living.

Paxton was further weighed down by a string of legal and ethical problems, including being impeached in 2023 and then acquitted by his own party on corruption accusations, along with a federal corruption investigation that was closed with no charges. During the impeachment trial, there were allegations of marital infidelity, and his wife is now divorcing him on “biblical grounds.”

Talarico hammered Paxton on those ethical questions in an attempt to win over Republican and independent voters. But Talarico rarely maligned the Republican Party. The issue is less a question of right versus left, he often said, and more about the uber-rich versus everyone else.

Talarico's argument was supercharged after Elon Musk, the world's richest man and Texas resident, became a major donor in the race. Musk contributed a total of $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the same amount that the fund then gave to Texas PAC, the largest contributor to Paxton’s campaign. Musk also gave $10 million to the Paxton-supporting Lone Star Liberty PAC.

While the investment helped blanket the state in anti-Talarico ads, the Democrat started naming Musk's donation in his stump speech as the epitome of the moneyed influence that he says has corrupted politics.

While Paxton discussed rising costs, he focused more on framing Talarico as too far-left for Texas.

Paxton, considered a culture war pugilist in some conservative circles, pointed to the Democrat naming his favorite drag queen in Texas and previously stating there were six sexes.

Talarico has worked to moderate his past statements on gender questions, calling them “cringey.” He said he opposes transgender athletes playing women’s sports if it “endangers safety or fairness.”

He often took a pastoral approach with voters, presenting himself as an earnest listener to their concerns and pledging to salve them if elected.

Culture war issues have helped propel Paxton to prominence as a state attorney general eager to use his position for partisan aims, including leading a failed lawsuit that sought to overturn the 2020 election after Trump claimed without evidence that it was stolen.

FILE - At left, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks in McKinney, Texas, May 19, 2026, and at right, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, after voting, in Austin, Texas, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero and Eric Gay,File)