Tar Heels At Louisville For Saturday Night Showdown

CAROLINA AT LOUISVILLE SATURDAY NIGHT
• Carolina begins a two-game road trip at Louisville on Saturday, Feb. 17th. Tip time is 8:16 p.m.
• The Tar Heels are 20-7 overall, 9-5 in the ACC. Carolina is 12-2 at home and 8-5 away from the Smith Center this season. That includes a 5-4 record in road games and 3-1 at neutral sites.
• Carolina has road wins at Stanford, Davidson, Tennessee, Notre Dame and NC State.
• Louisville is 18-8 overall, 8-5 in the ACC and 14-3 at home.
• The Tar Heels have won four in a row with wins over Pitt, Duke, at NC State, and Notre Dame. Louisville has won its last two games against Georgia Tech and Pitt.
• Carolina and Louisville enter the weekend fourth and fifth, respectively, in the ACC. UNC is one-half game behind Clemson and Duke, who are tied for second. The Cardinals trail UNC by a half-game.

SCHEDULE NOTES
• Carolina is No. 8 in the NCAA's RPI (as of 2/15). UNC's Carolina's opponents have an average RPI of 82, which is the fifth highest in the country, and its strength of schedule is the most difficult in the nation. The Tar Heels' non-conference strength of schedule is the ninth most difficult.
• Carolina has seven wins over current Quadrant I opponents, the fifth-most Q1 wins in the country (behind Kansas with nine and Villanova, Virginia and Xavier with eight).
• Carolina's last seven regular-season games include five games against teams in the top 50 in the NCAA's RPI (No. 7 Duke twice, No. 30 Miami, at No. 40 Louisville and No. 50 Syracuse).

RANKINGS
• Carolina is ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press poll (up seven spots from last week). This is the 76th consecutive week and the 892nd time overall the Tar Heels are ranked in the AP poll.
• Carolina has five wins this season over teams in this week's poll – No. 8 Ohio State, No. 11 Clemson, No. 12 Duke, No. 18 Tennessee and No. 22 Michigan. Two of UNC's losses are against the No. 1 and 2 teams – Virginia and Michigan State.
• Carolina is 10th in KenPom's overall rankings – including 10th in offensive efficiency and 35th in defensive efficiency. Louisville is 27th overall in KenPom – 55th in offense and 16th in defense.
• Carolina's first 27 opponents average the eighth-best offensive efficiency and the fourth-best defensive efficiency in the nation.
• Carolina and Oklahoma are the only teams whose opponents rank in the top 10 in the country in efficiency on both ends of the court.
• Carolina's KenPom offensive efficiency of 120.5 is its third highest in the last eight years, trailing only 2015-16 (124.1) and 2016-17 (120.7).
• The Tar Heels have played seven games against teams who are in the top 20 nationally in defensive efficiency. UNC is 4-3 in those games (wins over Tennessee, Ohio State, Clemson and Michigan; losses to Virginia, Michigan State and Clemson).

AWARD LISTS
• Joel Berry II is one of 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard. UNC is the only school with three Cousy Award winners – Raymond Felton (2005), Ty Lawson (2009) and Kendall Marshall (2012).
• Luke Maye is one of 10 finalists for the Karl Malone Award as the nation's top power forward.
• Maye is one of 20 players on the John R. Wooden Award (national player of the year) late-season watch list. Maye and Duke's Marvin Bagley III are the only ACC players on the list.
• Berry and Maye are among 30 players on the Naismith Trophy late-season list (announced 2/14). Berry, Maye, Bagley and Virginia's Kyle Guy represent the ACC. UNC is one of four schools (with Arizona, Purdue and Villanova) with two players on the Naismith list.

TWENTY WINS AGAIN
• Carolina has won at least 20 games for the 60th time in school history and the 14th time in 15 seasons under Roy Williams.
• Williams' teams have won 20 or more games in 28 of his 30 seasons as a head coach and 19 or more in all 30.
• This is the 14th consecutive season UNC has won at least 20 games.
• Carolina's 83-66 win over Notre Dame on 2/12 assures that the Tar Heels will finish at least .500 in ACC regular-season play for the 60th time in 65 seasons.

418²
• Carolina's win over Notre Dame was the 418th for Roy Williams as head coach of the Tar Heels. He also won 418 as head coach at Kansas from 1988-2003.
• Williams is the only coach in NCAA history to win even 300 games at two different schools.
• The win was the 200th for Williams in ACC play. He joins Mike Krzyzewski (468), Dean Smith (422) and Gary Williams (210) as the only coaches with 200 or more ACC wins (includes regular season and ACC Tournament games).
• Williams is 178-70 in ACC regular-season games and 22-11 in the ACC Tournament (combined 200-81).

UNC-LOUISVILLE SERIES
• Carolina leads the series against Louisville, 12-5, including 3-2 since the Cardinals joined the ACC four years ago.
• This is the first meeting since a 74-63 Tar Heel victory on 2/22/17 in Chapel Hill. Justin Jackson led UNC with 21 points. Kennedy Meeks had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Theo Pinson tied his then-career-high with 13 points.
• Carolina is 0-4 against the Cardinals in Louisville (0-2 in the KFC Yum! Center).
• The teams have played 10 of the previous 17 games on neutral sites.
• Carolina was 4-6 in Freedom Hall (0-2 vs. Louisville).
• Roy Williams is 6-3 against Louisville (5-2 at Carolina, 1-1 as Kansas's head coach).
• Carolina is 1-0 against Louisville in the ACC Tournament (2015 quarterfinals) and 3-1 in the NCAA Tournament.

GAME 27: UNC 83, NOTRE DAME 66
• Carolina took a 7-5 lead with 16:09 to play in the first half and kept the lead for the rest of the game.
• UNC led 38-34 at the half and built the lead to 10 (56-46) before an 11-2 run by the Irish cut the margin to one with 9:39 remaining.
• The lead was four with just under six minutes to play when the Tar Heels went on a 13-0 run.
• The Tar Heels shot 56.7 percent from the floor in the second half. It was the fifth time in the last six games UNC shot 50 percent or better (and fourth time at least 56.7) in the second half.
• Carolina shot 53.3 percent from the floor for the game. UNC is 11-1 this year when it shoots 50 percent from the floor.
• Notre Dame shot 37.9 percent from the floor. UNC is 10-1 when the opponents shoot under 40 percent.
• Carolina out-rebounded the Irish, 42-29, including 12-10 on the offensive glass. At Notre Dame on Jan. 13th, the Irish out-rebounded the Tar Heels, 45-37, including 20-13 on the offensive boards.
• UNC out-scored Notre Dame, 14-6 on second-chance points. At Notre Dame, the Irish out-scored UNC, 18-17.
• Four Tar Heels scored in double figures. UNC is 13-1 when four or more players score in double figures.
• Joel Berry II led all scorers with 21 points. It was his 22nd career 20-point game (ninth this season).
• Berry passed Kenny Smith for 21st in UNC career scoring. Berry has 1,651 points (Smith scored 1,636 from 1983-87).
• Theo Pinson had his third double-double in the last eight games and the fourth of his career with 16 points, a game-high 10 rebounds and a team-high five assists.
• Pinson led UNC in assists for the 17th time this year and 38th time overall.
• Luke Maye had eight points, eight rebounds and four assists. He had back-to-back assists on baskets by Pinson that increased UNC's lead from four to nine with five minutes to play. They were the first five points in a 13-0 run that pushed UNC's lead from 67-63 to 80-63.
• Kenny Williams (14 points) scored in double figures for the fourth straight game (15 vs. Pitt, 20 vs. Duke, 11 at NC State and 14 vs. Notre Dame). Williams was 3 for 5 from three-point range and is 14 of 25 over those four games.
• Cameron Johnson scored 13 points, the sixth straight game he has scored in double figures.

MAYE'S BREAKOUT SEASON
• Luke Maye leads UNC with 18.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.
• Maye is the only player in the league to win ACC Player of the Week honors three times this season.
• Maye and Duke's Marvin Bagley III are the only players in the top five in the ACC in scoring (4th) and rebounding (2nd) and the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage (7th).
• Maye is on pace to become the sixth Tar Heel to average a double-double in the last 40 years with Brice Johnson (2016), John Henson (2011), Tyler Hansbrough (2008), Sean May (2005) and Antawn Jamison (1998).
• Maye is the first Tar Heel to have two 30-point/15-rebound games in the same season since Mitch Kupchak in 1976. Maye, Kupchak, Lennie Rosenbluth and Billy Cunningham are the only players to accomplish that multiple times in the same season.
• Maye is seventh in KenPom's national player of the year statistical rankings.
• Maye also averages 2.4 assists. Since 1968, the only Tar Heels to average more points and assists were Charles Scott (twice), Phil Ford, Jerry Stackhouse and Joseph Forte.
• Luke Maye has led UNC in both scoring and rebounding 10 times this season, including at NC State when he scored a career high 33 points and had 17 rebounds. UNC is 9-1 when Maye leads in both categories (the lone loss was at Virginia Tech).
• Maye leads UNC in blocked shots with 34. At 6-8, Maye would the shortest Tar Heel to lead the team in blocks since Danny Green (6-5) in 2006.
• Luke Maye has 13 double-doubles this year (and 14 in his career, including against Butler in the 2017 NCAA Sweet 16). He is tied for the sixth-most double-doubles in a season in the Roy Williams era.
• Maye made 12 field goals in the second half of Carolina's win at NC State, something that UNC players had done in a GAME 15 previous times in the Roy Williams era (including two previous times by Maye).

BERRY CONTINUES TO CLIMB IN RECORDS
• Senior point guard Joel Berry II passed Kenny Smith during the Notre Dame game to move into
21st place in UNC scoring with 1,651 points.
• At NC State two games ago, Berry passed Eric Montross, Justin Jackson, Jawad Williams and Hubert Davis in scoring.
• Berry is 43 points behind 2009 Final Four MVP Wayne Ellington, who is 20th with 1,694 points.
• Berry is second all-time at UNC in three-pointers with 238. Berry has made 65 threes in 24 games this year.
• Berry has attempted 640 three-pointers, second most by a Tar Heel (Paige 798).
• Berry went 3 for 3 from the free throw line against Notre Dame. He leads the ACC in free throw shooting this year at 89.6 percent, second highest in UNC history. Shammond Williams set the record at 91.1 percent in 1997-98, which was also the last time a Tar Heel led the ACC in free throw percentage.
• Berry is the only Tar Heel to have two of the eight-highest free throw percentages in UNC history.
• Berry has played in 55 ACC wins (48 regular season and seven ACC Tournament). That is the ninth most in UNC history.

200 ACC WINS FOR ROY
• Carolina's win over Notre Dame on 2/12 was the 200th ACC win for head coach Roy Williams (regular season and Tournament). He is just the fourth coach to win 200 ACC games and the third with Tar Heel ties to accomplish that.

NOTABLE...
• Luke Maye (18.3) and Joel Berry II (17.5) lead Carolina in scoring. The last time two Tar Heels averaged 17 points or more in the same season was 1983-84, when Michael Jordan (19.6) and Sam Perkins (17.6) were UNC's top scoring duo.
• The Tar Heels lead the country in rebounds per game (43.3) and rebound margin (11.7).
• Carolina has had a plus-10 or more rebound margin four previous times in its history – three of those four seasons have come in the Roy Williams era (2007-08, 2011-12 and 2016-17 under Williams and the undefeated season in 1956-57).
• Roy Williams' teams have finished in the top 10 nationally in rebound margin in 14 of his previous 29 seasons as a head coach, including ninth, ninth and first in the last three seasons.
• Carolina is third in the country in rebounding its own missed shots. The Tar Heels grab 38.7 percent of their own missed shots.
• Carolina has finished first, third and fifth in the country in offensive rebounding percentage in the previous three seasons.
• Carolina is 26th in the country in protecting its defensive backboards. The Tar Heels are rebounding 75.6 percent of the opponents' missed field goals and free throws.
• UNC has made 110 for 194 field goal attempts in the second half in the last six games – 56.7 percent.
• The Notre Dame game marked the fourth time in the last six games UNC shot 50 percent from the floor for the game.
• UNC is 17-2 when Kenny Williams scores in double figures and 7-2 when he makes three or more three-pointers.
• Williams needs three points for 500 in his career.
• Theo Pinson has 24 assists in the last four games (6.0 per game). UNC is 13-1 this season when he has five or more.
• Pinson has 102 assists and 43 turnovers (2.4) in UNC's 20 wins and 19 assists/19 turnovers in the seven losses.
• UNC is 17-3 when Pinson has more assists than turnovers (including at Clemson when he played less than two minutes) and 2-4 when he has more turnovers.
• Pinson has 10 or more rebounds in four of the last eight games – had done that once in his 104 previous games.
• Graduate student Cameron Johnson has scored in double figures in the last six games, his longest such streak in ACC games. He had an 11-game double-digit scoring streak, eight of which came against non-conference opponents, at Pitt last season.
• Johnson has 10 assists and one turnover in the last four games.
• Carolina is making 8.1 three-pointers per game, which is 0.2 behind the 2002-03 team for the highest per game average in school history, and is the most in the Roy Williams era. The previous high under Roy Williams was 7.6 in 2012-13 when UNC started four perimeter players over the final 13 games.
• Carolina has scored 29.3 percent of its points on three-point field goals. That equals the highest percentage in Roy Williams' 15 seasons as UNC's head coach.
• Carolina is attempting 33.8 percent of its field goals from three-point range. That is the highest percentage in the Roy Williams era. The previous high was 31.7 percent in 2005-06.
• This is the fifth time in the last 15 seasons UNC attempted at least 30 percent of its field goals from three-point distance. UNC attempted 39.9 percent from beyond the arc under head coach Matt Doherty in 2002-03.
• The opponents have made 10 or more three-pointers in 18 of 27 games, including 10 of 14 in ACC play. UNC is 13-5 when the opponents make 10 or more threes. The opponents have made 146 threes in league play; no other team has allowed that many.
• Carolina's opponents are scoring 41.8 percent of their points on three-pointers, the third-highest percentage against any team in the country (Charleston Southern and Liberty allow a greater percentage of points from three-point distance).
• In UNC's last three losses, Virginia Tech, NC State and Clemson scored 126 of 257 points from three-point range (49.0 percent).
• The opponents are making 10.2 three-pointers per game, the highest in a season against the Tar Heels.
• Carolina's opponents are shooting 38.4 percent from three-point range, the third-highest percentage in a season by the opponents (39.6 in 1982-83 with the line at 17 feet, 7 inches; 38.7 in 1992-92 at 19'9"; and 38.4 with the current distance at 20'9").
• Virginia Tech, NC State, Clemson and Pitt attempted 30 three-point shots in each game. That was the first time in UNC history the opponents attempted 30 or more three-pointers in four consecutive games. It happened three games in a row one time in 1997-98.
• The opponents have taken 30 or more threes in nine of 27 games. Carolina is 6-3 in games in which the opponents hoist 30 or more three-point shots.
• Three of Carolina's starters are shooting better than 80 percent from the free throw line this season – Joel Berry II (.896), Cameron Johnson (.895) and Theo Pinson (.806).
• This is the first time three UNC starters are shooting 80 percent from the line since 2007-08, when Ty Lawson (.835), Wayne Ellington (.826) and Tyler Hansbrough (.806) accomplished that.
• Carolina is 17-1 this year when it leads at the half and 3-6 when trailing at the break (two of the three wins came on 2/8 vs. Duke and 2/10 at NC State).
• Carolina is 11-1 when the Tar Heels shoot 50 percent or better from the floor and 10-1 when holding the opponents under 40 percent.
• Carolina has out-scored the opponents by 139 points in the first half and by 134 points in the second.
• Carolina has scored more than one point per possession in three of the last four games (1.09 vs. Pitt, 1.02 at NC State and 1.11 vs. Notre Dame). UNC had scored more than 1.0 per possession in only three of the previous 13 games before the Pitt game.

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Players Mentioned

Joel Berry II

Justin Jackson

Cameron Johnson

Luke Maye

Kennedy Meeks

Theo Pinson

Kenny Williams

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