{"id":708395,"date":"2026-04-11T19:36:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T19:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/708395\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T19:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T19:36:30","slug":"former-unc-sharpshooter-records-career-high-in-friday-night-nba-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/708395\/","title":{"rendered":"Former UNC sharpshooter records career-high in Friday night NBA action"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UNC men’s basketball team is the talk of college sports right now, thanks to hiring longtime Denver Nuggets boss Michael Malone<\/a> as head coach.<\/p>\n

As the NBA regular season winds down, a former Tar Heel<\/a> is stealing headlines, due to his career performance for the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.<\/p>\n

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Cormac Ryan<\/a>, a sharpshooter during North Carolina’s 2023-24 Sweet 16 run, exploded for a career-high 28 points in Milwaukee’s 125-108 win over the Brooklyn Nets.<\/p>\n

Ryan drained 10 of his 17 shots, including a 5-of-9 (55.5 percent) mark from deep. Scoring wasn’t the only impressive part of Ryan’s Friday night, as he added five rebounds and dished out three assists.<\/p>\n

In each of the Bucks’ past seven games since March 29, Ryan scored in double figures and played double-digit minutes. Ryan previously reached the 20-point mark twice: first in Milwaukee’s 119-113 loss to the Houston Rockets on April Fool’s Day, followed by 21 points in a 131-115 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.<\/p>\n

Tar Heel Nation quickly became used to Friday’s type of production from Ryan, who averaged 11.5 points per game during his lone season in Chapel Hill<\/a>. Ryan developed into a prominent free throw shooter, leading UNC with an 87.4% mark from the charity stripe, while becoming a 3-point assassin with 75 perimeter makes.<\/p>\n

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There’s too many games to count in a college basketball season, but North Carolina will always remember Ryan for his career-high 31 points<\/a> at Duke<\/a>, a game the good guys won 84-79.<\/p>\n

The Bucks might be out of playoff contention \u2013 and they’ll look different in the 2026-27 NBA season. Ryan proved, however, he deserves to become a full-time NBA starter.<\/p>\n

Follow us\u00a0@TarHeelsWire<\/a>\u00a0on X and like our page on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Former Tar Heel Cormac Ryan scores NBA career-high 28 points on Friday<\/a><\/p>\n