University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Basketball Faces Buffalo And No. 1 Cincinnati
December 7, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 7, 1999
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina, which has played five of six games away from Chapel Hill so far this season, takes a two-game road trip this week. The Tar Heels, ranked No. 7 in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches' polls this week, will play at Buffalo on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. and versus No. 1 Cincinnati on Wednesday in the Great 8 Basketball Challenge at the United Center in Chicago.
Carolina scored 102 points in its win over UNLV on Dec. 4, the first time it had scored 100 points or more since scoring 107 in a double-overtime win at Georgia Tech on Feb. 8, 1998. The last time the Tar Heels topped 100 points against a non-ACC foe was on Nov. 27, 1997, when it had 109 points versus UCLA in the Great Alaska Shootout. The most points Carolina scored in a game last year was 98 against Buffalo and at home versus Florida State.
Senior point guard Ed Cota tied the school single-game record with 17 assists in the 102-78 win over UNLV on Dec. 4. Jeff Lebo also had 17 assists on Nov. 18, 1988 versus Tennessee-Chattanooga. Cota dished out 24 assists and committed just two turnovers in Carolina's wins over College of Charleston and UNLV at the Food Lion MVP Classic on Dec. 3-4 in Charlotte. He passed the 800-assist mark for his career against the Runnin' Rebels and has 805 for his career, good for fourth-best in ACC history (Clemson's Grayson Marshall is third with 857).
TAR HEELS AND BULLS
Carolina leads the alltime series with Buffalo, 1-0. The Tar Heels won the only matchup between the two schools, 98-49, on Dec. 9, 1998, in Chapel Hill. After struggling in the first 15 minutes, the Tar Heels went on a 51-9 run to win convincingly. Ademola Okulaja had 17 points and 14 rebounds while Orlando Melendez had a career-high 11 points for UNC. Brendan Haywood led all scorers with 20 points and Carolina held Buffalo to 28.6 percent shooting.
TAR HEELS AND BEARCATS
Carolina leads the alltime series with Cincinnati, 7-0, including three wins in the 1990s. The Tar Heels won the first four games in the series during the 1958-59, 1977-78, 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons. In the fifth matchup between the two schools, George Lynch had a team-high 21 points and a game-high 14 rebounds as Carolina downed Cincinnati, 75-68 in overtime on March 28, 1993 in the NCAA East Regional Final to advance to the 1993 Final Four. UNC went on to win the 1993 national championship. In the most recent meeting between Carolina and Cincinnati, the Tar Heels defeated the Bearcats, 86-76, on on Dec. 3, 1994, in the Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions in Charlotte.
CAROLINA VS. NO. 1 TEAMS
Carolina has nine wins over No. 1-ranked teams in its history, tied for the most in the nation with Notre Dame. Georgia Tech and Ohio State are tied for the third-most wins over No. 1-ranked teams with seven. Overall, the Tar Heels are 73-36 in the 1990s against ranked teams.
CAROLINA DOMINATES BOARDS TO WIN FOOD LION MVP CLASSIC
Carolina outrebounded the College of Charleston and UNLV by a combined 92-68 margin on Dec. 3-4 in Charlotte to capture the championship of the Food Lion MVP Classic. UNC had not won the battle of the boards in its three previous games entering the tournament. The Tar Heels downed the College of Charleston, 72-54, in the semifinals and UNLV, 102-78, in the finals.
Junior forward Jason Capel led Carolina in scoring with 16 against the Cougars and tied for the team lead with a career-high 23 against the Runnin' Rebels. Junior swingman Max Owens also had 23 points against UNLV, tying his career high set in the 1999 ACC Tournament in Charlotte against Maryland.
Senior Ed Cota dished out 24 assists and committed just two turnovers in the two wins. Cota's 17 assists in the win over UNLV tied the school record set by Jeff Lebo against Tennessee-Chattanooga on Nov. 18, 1988.
Kris Lang was named tournament MVP after scoring 31 points and grabbing seven rebounds in 35 minutes of limited action due to shin splints. Capel (19.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Cota (5.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 12.0 apg) were also named to the all-tournament team.
Junior center Brendan Haywood blocked 11 shots in the two victories, including a career-high seven against College of Charleston.
Junior forward/center Brian Bersticker fractured his left fifth metatarsal (the outside bone in his left foot) in the first half of Friday's win over College of Charleston. It is the same foot and same bone he broke in the summer of 1999, but the location of the fracture is different. UNC Director of Sports Medicine Tim Taft performed surgery Monday in Chapel Hill and Bersticker should be out of action for approximately 10 weeks.
COTA'S STELLAR ASSIST-TO-TURNOVER RATIO
Senior point guard Ed Cota dished out 24 assists and committed just two turnovers in Carolina's wins over College of Charleston and UNLV in the Food Lion MVP Classic on Dec. 3-4. His 17 assists against UNLV tied the school single-game record set by Jeff Lebo versus Tennessee-Chattanooga on Nov. 18, 1988.
Cota now has tallied 59 assists and just 19 turnovers this season, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.11-to-1. He leads the ACC in assists with 9.8 per game this season and led the conference in each of the previous three years.
COTA FOURTH IN ACC HISTORY IN ASSISTS
Senior point guard Ed Cota dished out seven assists against Purdue on Nov. 24 to pass Kenny Smith (768 career assists) and move into first place in Carolina history. Cota had 17 assists versus UNLV and now has 805 for his career, good for fourth place alltime in Atlantic Coast Conference annals. Clemson's Grayson Marshall is third in ACC history with 857 assists.
Cota led the ACC in assists in each of his first three collegiate seasons and is vying to become the only player in conference history to lead the ACC in assists four times. Virginia's Ralph Sampson and Wake Forest's Tim Duncan both led the ACC in blocked shots four times and are the only players in ACC history to lead the league in a statistical category four times.
A preseason candidate for the Naismith and Wooden Awards, Cota needs 21 points to become the 49th player in UNC history to score 1,000 career points.
CAPEL STARS IN FOOD LION MVP CLASIC -- AGAIN
Junior forward Jason Capel was named to the all-tournament team at the Food Lion MVP Classic after averaging 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in Carolina's wins over College of Charleston and UNLV on Dec. 3-4. Capel, the MVP of the 1998 Food Lion MVP Classic, now is averaging 17.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in his four career games in this event.
Capel set career highs for points (23) and field goals (nine) against UNLV and tied his career highs with four offensive rebounds and three steals versus the Runnin' Rebels.
Capel has scored in double figures in each of the last five games, 15.2 ppg in those five contests.
OWENS LOVES TO PLAY IN CHARLOTTE
Junior swingman Max Owens has scored 20 points or more three times in his career, and all three games were in the Charlotte Coliseum. Owens tied with Jason Capel for the game-high with 23 points in the 102-78 win over UNLV on Dec. 4. He scored 23 in the 1999 ACC Tournament semifinals against Maryland and 22 in the 1999 ACC finals the next day against Duke.
Owens hit 8 of 13 shots from the floor, including 2 of 4 three-pointers, against UNLV. He currently ranks second among Tar Heels (and 15th in the ACC) in scoring at 13.8 ppg. He is averaging 16.4 ppg in his last five games in the Charlotte Coliseum (three games at the 1999 ACC Tournament and two at the 1999 Food Lion MVP Classic).
FORTE NAMED OFF TO FAST START
Freshman guard Joseph Forte has gotten off to a quick start to his college career, leading Carolina in scoring and ranking fourth in the ACC with 17.3 points per game. In the latest ACC leaders (as of Dec. 6), he ranks first in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.478), ninth in field goal percentage (.468), fourth in free throw percentage (.792), sixth in three-point field goals per game (1.8) and sixth in steals (2.0 per game). He ranks second among Tar Heels with 6.0 rebounds per game and 15 assists.
Forte was named MVP of the 1999 Maui Invitational and ACC Rookie of the Week (Nov. 30) after averaging 20.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in three Tar Heel wins Nov. 22-24. He shot 56.4 percent from the floor (22 for 39), 70.0 percent (7 for 10) from three-point range and 91.7 (11 for 12) from the free-throw line in the tournament.
He scored 24 points versus USC, the most ever by a UNC freshman in his first college game and the most by any Tar Heel in his first game since Lennie Rosenbluth scored 30 in the first game of his sophomore year versus Clemson on Dec. 4, 1954. Rosenbluth's 30 points came in the era before freshman eligibility.
Forte became the 15th Tar Heel player overall and fifth in the last four seasons to start his first career game. Ed Cota, Brendan Haywood, Kris Lang and Jason Capel all started their first career games as well.
HAYWOOD IS CAROLINA'S CAREER FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE LEADER
Junior center Brendan Haywood has shot 27 for 36 from the floor thus far this season and would lead the ACC in field goal percentage (.750) if he had enough attempts. His career field goal percentage is now .636, the best in Carolina history. Rasheed Wallace held the old record with .635. Haywood would have the best field goal percentage in ACC history if he had enough attempts.
Haywood leads the ACC in blocked shots this season with 3.7 per game (as of Dec. 6). He had a career-high seven blocks versus College of Charleston and was named Carolina's defensive player of the game by the UNC coaches.
Haywood was named to the Maui Invitational all-tournament team, averaging 14.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in three Tar Heel wins. Haywood had 15 points and five rebounds against USC, 20 points and seven rebounds versus Georgetown, and eight points and six rebounds in the win over Purdue.
OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
In the latest ACC statistics (as of Dec. 6) Carolina led the ACC in scoring (84.5 ppg), field goal percentage (.527), three-point field goal percentage (.393) and was second in free throw percentage (.714).
Carolina is averaging 84.5 points per game thus far in 1999-2000 and has scored more than 80 in four of six games. Last year, Carolina averaged 71.4 points per game and scored 80 points or more just six times all season. UNC's 102 points versus UNLV were the most in a single game since scoring 107 in a double-overtime win at Georgia Tech on Feb. 8, 1998.
Carolina is shooting 52.7 percent from the floor this season, best in the ACC, after hitting 47.1 percent from the floor last year. The Tar Heels' 65.4 percent field goal percentage in the Southern California game was its highest in a single game since shooting 66.3 percent against VMI on Dec. 17, 1994.
BERSTICKER UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL SURGERY
Director of Sports Medicine Dr. Tim Taft said surgery Monday on University of North Carolina basketball center/forward Brian Bersticker was "successful." Taft inserted a screw and performed a bone graft on Bersticker's left foot as a result of a fracture he suffered in Carolina's Dec. 3 victory over the College of Charleston in the Charlotte Coliseum. Bersticker spent Monday evening at UNC Hospital and was released Tuesday. He will spend a week on crutches and should be out of action for approximately 10 weeks.
The Virginia Beach, Va., native was averaging better than five points and three rebounds per game in the four games before he was injured. Bersticker had four points in five minutes against the Cougars.
TAR HEELS WIN MAUI INVITATIONAL TITLE
North Carolina outscored Purdue, 56-26, in the second half and defeated the Boilermakers, 90-75, to win the 1999 Maui Invitational on Nov. 24 in Lahaina, Hawaii. The Tar Heels earlier had defeated Southern California, 82-65, and Georgetown, 85-79, to advance to the finals.
Ed Cota had 15 points and seven assists in the Purdue game and broke the UNC record for career assists in the contest. Cota now has 770 career assists, topping the old school record of 768 previously held by Kenny Smith (1984-87), and ranks fifth in Atlantic Coast Conference history. Tyrone Bogues of Wake Forest is fourth in ACC history with 781 career assists. Cota averaged 16.7 points, 8.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds in three games in Maui and was named to the all-tournament team.
Freshman guard Joseph Forte was named MVP of the Maui Invitational and to the all-tournament team after averaging 20.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in the three Tar Heel wins, hitting 22 of 39 field goals (.564) and 7 of 10 three-pointers (.700) in the tournament. Forte led Carolina in scoring against Southern California (24 points) and Purdue (21 points) and scored 17 in the semifinal win over Georgetown. His 24 points in his collegiate debut against USC were the most ever by a UNC freshman in his first college game and the most by any Tar Heel in his first game since Lennie Rosenbluth scored 30 in the first game of his sophomore year in 1954-55 before the days of freshman eligibility.
Junior center Brendan Haywood was named to the Maui Invitational all-tournament team, averaging 14.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in three Tar Heel wins. Haywood had 15 points and five rebounds against USC, 20 points and seven rebounds versus Georgetown, and eight points and six rebounds in the win over Purdue.
INJURY UPDATE
Carolina has been hampered by injuries throughout the preseason. Sophomore guard Ronald Curry ruptured his right Achilles tendon in a football game at Georgia Tech on Oct. 9 and is expected to miss the 1999-2000 season.
Junior forward/center Brian Bersticker suffered a stress fracture to the fifth metatarsal in his left foot over the summer but had healed enough to play in Carolina's first five games. He broke the same bone in a different location in the win over College of Charleston and is expected to miss approximately 10 weeks of action. UNC Director of Sports Medicine Dr. Tim Taft performed surgery on Monday in Chapel Hill.
Sophomore forward Kris Lang missed most of preseason workouts while suffering from a viral infection and has been bothered by shin splints that have caused him to miss practice time, including Thursday's practice prior to the Food Lion MVP Classic.
Junior center Brendan Haywood tore a ligament in his left thumb in offseason workouts and had surgery in late August.
Junior swingman Michael Brooker twisted his right ankle in Carolina's first practice in Maui on Nov. 20 and did not see action in any of Carolina's first three games.
TAR HEELS PICKED TO WIN ACC IN 1999-2000
Carolina received 74 of the 90 first-place votes and 792 points overall as it was picked to win the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1999-2000 in a vote of ACC media. Duke finished second with 16 first place votes and 712 points. Wake Forest (577 points) was picked third, followed by Maryland (481), NC State (442), Georgia Tech (396), Virginia (358), Florida State (179) and Clemson (113).
COTA NAMED PRESEASON ALL-ACC
Point guard Ed Cota was named to the preseason All-ACC first team along with Maryland's Terrence Morris, Wake Forest's Robert O'Kelley, Duke's Shane Battier and Georgia Tech's Jason Collier. UNC center Brendan Haywood was named to the second team while Kris Lang and Max Owens were honorable mention all-conference. Cota was the fourth-leading vote-getter for preseason ACC Player-of-the-Year honors.
Cota is a preseason candidate for the John Wooden Award and the Naismith Award, both of which are presented to the nation's best collegiate player.
HEAD COACH BILL GUTHRIDGE
Guthridge is 63-15 as the Tar Heels' head coach. He is in his third year as head coach, but 33rd as part of the UNC program. He was an assistant coach for Dean Smith for 30 seasons before taking over in 1997-98 following Smith's retirement.
Guthridge, the 1998 National Coach of the Year, has won a total of 846 games as a member of the Tar Heel staff. Including 93 wins as an assistant coach at Kansas State, Guthridge has been on the sidelines for 939 collegiate victories.
Guthridge won more games (58) in his first two seasons than any coach in NCAA history and reached 50 wins faster than any coach in Carolina history.
In 1997-98, Guthridge set the NCAA record for most wins by a first-year head coach with 34.
GUTHRIDGE NOW 21-3 IN TOURNAMENT GAMES
Carolina head coach Bill Guthridge improved his record as a head coach in tournament games to 21-3 with the Tar Heels' wins over College of Charleston and UNLV on Dec. 3-4 at the Food Lion MVP Classic in Charlotte. Guthridge picked up three victories as UNC won the Maui Invitational championship Nov. 22-24. In 1997-98, Guthridge went 3-0 to win the Great Alaska Shootout, 3-0 to win the ACC Tournament and 4-0 at the NCAA East Regional before losing in the NCAA Final Four. In 1998-99, he went 4-0 to win the Chase Preseason NIT, 2-1 to reach the finals of the ACC Tournament and 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament.
IN THE POLLS
Carolina is ranked No. 7 in this week's Associated Press poll and second in the latest ESPN/USA Today poll (as of Dec. 6).
The Tar Heels have been ranked by the Associated Press in 166 consecutive polls. That is the longest active streak in the country and is tied as the third-longest overall streak with Marquette.
TAR HEELS ON TV
North Carolina annually is one of the top draws on college basketball television broadcasts. This season, all but one of the Tar Heels' 30 regular-season games will be televised. All of UNC's Atlantic Coast Conference games will be broadcast. Only the Howard games (Jan. 2) will not be televised this season.
THIRTEEN FORMER TAR HEELS IN THE NBA
Thirteen former Carolina players were on 1999-2000 NBA opening day rosters: Vince Carter (Toronto), Pete Chilcutt (Utah), Hubert Davis (Dallas), Rick Fox (L.A. Lakers), Antawn Jamison (Golden State), George Lynch (Philadelphia), Eric Montross (Detroit), Sam Perkins (Indiana), J.R. Reid (Milwaukee), Jerry Stackhouse (Detroit), Rasheed Wallace (Portland), Scott Williams (Milwaukee) and Shammond Williams (Seattle).
In addition, seven former Tar Heels are in NBA administration this season: Larry Brown (Head Coach, Philadelphia), George Karl (Head Coach, Milwaukee), John Kuester (Assistant Coach, Philadelphia), Mitch Kupchak (General Manager, L.A. Lakers), Bob McAdoo (Assistant Coach, Miami), Mike O'Koren (Assistant Coach, New Jersey) and Donnie Walsh (President, Indiana).
