University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Basketball Gears Up to Battle Buffalo
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
December 7, 1998
North Carolina vs. Buffalo
QUICK FACTS
NORTH CAROLINA (8-1, 0-0 ACC)
Carolina Coach: Bill Guthridge
Alma Mater: Kansas State '60
Guthridges Record at UNC: 42-5 (2nd year)
Guthridge's Overall Record: same
Assistant Coaches: Phil Ford, Dave Hanners
BUFFALO (3-3)
Head Coach: Tim Cohane
Alma Mater: Navy '67
Cohane's Record at Buffalo: 76-69 (6th year)
Cohane's Overall Record: 220-214 (17th year)
Assistant Coaches: Frank Valenti, Pat Sullivan Eric "Rock" Eisenberg, Dean Cooper
ON THE AIR
Television: None
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (Woody Durham, Mick Mixon)
TOP 25 RANKINGS (as of Dec. 7)
AP: North Carolina 3rd
USA Today/ESPN: North Carolina 6th
SERIES INFORMATION
Carolina vs. Buffalo: First Meeting
CAROLINA HOPES TO BOUNCE BACK VS. BUFFALO
After sufferring its first defeat of the season, North Carolina (8-1) looks to get back in the win column on Tuesday evening at home vs. Buffalo (3-3). The non-televised contest is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. This is the only Carolina game not on TV all season.
Carolina's loss vs. College of Charleston on Saturday evening in Charlotte was only UNC's sixth in the last 64 games. The Tar Heels are 58-6 dating back to February 1, 1997. n Carolina has not lost two consecutive games since dropping three straight and starting 0-3 in ACC action during the 1996-97 season. The Tar Heels lost at Wake Forest (Jan. 4, 1997), at home to Maryland (Jan. 8) and at Virginia (Jan. 11).
What to Look for this tonight:
BACK HOME
After playing six games on the road in 13 days, Carolina finally returns home for Tuesday's game against Buffalo. The Buffalo game is the first of three straight home games within 10 days. Carolina also faces UNC Charlotte on Dec. 12 and Louisville on Dec. 17 at the Smith Center.
The last time Carolina played three straight home games was the start of this season with games against Appalachian State, Florida International and Georgia.
CAROLINA VS. BUFFALO
Tuesday's game against Buffalo is the first meeting between the two schools. The last time Carolina played a team that is currently in the Mid-American Conference was Marshall in 1994. The Tar Heels beat the Thundering Herd, 116-62.
52 CONSECUTIVE OVER NON-CONFERENCE FOES AT HOME
Carolina has won 52 consecutive home games vs. non-conference opponents, including a 65-58 win over Georgia on Nov. 18. The Tar Heels' non-conference record in the Smith Center is 67-2. Carolina's only losses came to Temple in 1988 (83-66) and Iowa in 1989 (98-97).
The Tar Heels have non-conference home games remaining this season with Buffalo, UNC Charlotte and Louisville.
CAROLINA HAS WON 58 OF 64
Carolina has won 58 of its last 64 games dating back to Feb. 1, 1997. That run includes a 16-game winning streak in 1996-97 and a 17-game win streak to open the 1997-98 campaign. The only five losses were to Arizona in the 1997 Final Four, Maryland on Jan. 14, 1998, N.C. State on Feb. 21, 1998, Duke on Feb. 28, 1998 and Utah in the 1998 Final Four. n Carolina has won 27 of its last 30 ACC games, including the 1997 and 1998 Tournaments.
HEAD COACH BILL GUTHRIDGE
Guthridge is 42-5 as the Tar Heels' head coach. No other UNC coach has reached 40 wins faster than Guthridge. He is in his second year as head coach, but 32nd as part of the UNC program. He was an assistant coach for Dean Smith for 30 seasons before taking over last year following Smith's retirement.
Guthridge, the 1998 National Coach of the Year, has won a total of 828 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 922 collegiate victories.
Last year, Guthridge set the NCAA record for most wins by a first-year head coach with 34 and was named the National Coach of the Year by NABC, the Atlanta Tipoff Club, CBS/Chevrolet and The Sporting News. He was also selected the ACC coach of the Year after leading the Tar Heels to a 13-3 regular-season record and the ACC Tournament title.
IN THE POLLS
Carolina is ranked 3rd in both the Associated Press Poll and 6th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. n The Tar Heels have been ranked by the Associated Press in 148 consecutive polls. That is the longest active streak in the country and is the fourth-longest overall streak. Marquette had the third-longest poll streak with 166 weeks in the AP rankings.
A LOT OF GAMES EARLY
Carolina will play a record 14 games before the Christmas Holidays. The most games Carolina had played prior to Christmas before the season was 12 games last year. n For the first time since 1953-54, Carolina played its first three games of the season at home, posting wins over Appalachian State, Florida International and Georgia.
TAR HEEL TRENDS
The Tar Heels are averaging 68.4 points per game through the first nine games of the season. The last time UNC averaged less than 70 points per game in a season was in 1981-82 when the Tar Heels averaged 66.7 points. Of course, that squad did have James Worthy, Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins and went on to win the NCAA title. Prior to 1981-82, you have to go back to 1956-57 to find a Carolina team that scored less than 70 points per game. The 1957 Tar Heels averaged 65.5 points per game and won the NCAA title. Carolina's other NCAA title team in 1992-93 averaging 86.1 points per game.
The Tar Heels are holding their opponents to just 57.6 points per game, the lowest opponent average on record since 1981-82 when Carolina allowed 55.4 points a game. n Carolina is shooting just under 50 percent from the field this season (48.7). The opponents are shooting just 37.6 percent from the field. That is the lowest opponent field goal shooting percentage for the season since 1959-60 when UNC opponents shot 37.5 percent. Hampton and Middle Tennessee State are the only opponents to shoot better than 40 percent against the Tar Heels this year. The Pirates made 47.5 percent in a UNC victory and Middle Tennessee State shot just 40.4 percent. Five of the seven opponents have shot less than 40 percent, including FIU who shot a season-low 26.5 percent.
In the last 82 games (beginning with the first game of the 1996-97 season), only four opponents have made 50 percent or better from the field against the UNC defense. The Tar Heels have played 21 games since Maryland shot 51.5 percent against UNC in College Park, Md., last January. Three teams (South Carolina, No. 2 Wake Forest and Florida State) shot 50 percent or better against UNC in 1996-97.
In the last 82 games, Carolina has limited its opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the field on 41 occasions.
Carolina has made 147 of 199 (.739) free throws this year. The opponents have made 61 of 94 (.649). Carolina has made 53 more free throws than its opponents have attempted.
POINT-PRODUCTION
Carolina scored a season-high 87 points in the season opener against Appalachian State. The last time the Tar Heels played at least the first nine games of the season without scoring 90 points was in 1984-85. In that season, UNC played the entire 36-game schedule without reaching 90 points. The season high was 89 against Boston University in the second game of the season.
TAR HEELS WIN NIT IN NEW YORK
Carolina won its first preseason NIT in its third attempt as the Tar Heels knocked off No. 11 Purdue, 54-57, and No. 2 Stanford, 57-49, en route to the Chase Preseason NIT Championship last week. Point guard and Brooklyn native Ed Cota was named MVP and Ademola Okulaja and Brendan Haywood earned all-tournament honors.
Cota, playing in his first two games in Madison Square Garden, scored 11 points and had eight assists and four rebounds in the Tar Heels' win over Purdue. Two days later he netted 17 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds to propel the Tar Heels past Stanford. In the two games, Cota averaged 14 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists while shooting 50 percent (8 of 16) from the field.
Against Purdue, Cota played all 40 minutes. He is the first Tar Heel to play an entire game since Rasheed Wallace played 40 minutes at Wake Forest on Jan. 28, 1995. Cota had five assists and scored seven points in the second half to rally Carolina past Purdue. Carolina trailed by seven points at halftime against the Boilermakers but shot 52.6 percent in the second half and held Purdue to just 32.0 percent.
In the final vs. Stanford, Carolina led nearly the entire game and was up by nine points at halftime. Carolina held the Cardinal to just 28.6 percent field goal shooting and forced Stanford's starting frontcourt to go a combined 7 of 27 from the field. Ademola Okulaja had 14 points and Brendan Haywood swatted away six shots. Max Owens came off the bench to score seven points.
Carolina improved to 22-6 in games played in the current Madison Square Garden. The Tar Heels have played in three preseason NITs (1988-89, 1993-94, 1998-99), three postseason NITs (1969-70, 1970-71 and 1972-73), two ECAC Holiday Festivals (1968-69 and 1983-84) and regular-season contests against Notre Dame, Florida State, Seton Hall, Rutgers and Fordham.
GOOD START
For the 17th time in school history, Carolina started the season with at least eight straight wins. Last year, Carolina rattled off 17 straight victories before falling at Maryland.
REGULAR-SEASON TOURNAMENT TITLES
The Tar Heels won their third consecutive regular-season title by beating Stanford in the final of the Preseason NIT. Carolina won the Carrs Great Alaska Shootout last season with wins over UCLA, Seton Hall and Purdue and captured the Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions in 1995 with victories over Tulane and Stanford.
Carolina has now won a total of 35 regular-season titles, including seven in the 1990s. The Tar Heels also won the Red Lobster Classic in 1990 and Tournament of Champions in Charlotte in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995.
COTA AT IT AGAIN
Junior point guard Ed Cota leads the ACC with 7.3 assists per game. n Cota is sixth in school history and 21st in ACC history with 574 career assists. He needs just seven assists to move past Jeff Lebo (580) into fifth place on the UNC career assist chart. He needs just two assists to pass Derrick McQueen of Wake Forest and Quin Synder of Duke who are tied for 19th place in ACC history with 575 career assists. Wake Forest's Skip Brown is 18th in ACC history with 579 assists and Lebo is 17th.
In 80 career games, Cota is averaging 7.18 assists per game. That is the third-highest averaging in ACC history behind N.C. State's Chris Corchiani (8.37 from 1988-91) and Duke's Bobby Hurley (7.68 from 1990-93). The previous career assist per game high by a Carolina player was 6.1 by Phil Ford.
Cota is 10th in the ACC in free throw shooting at 76.2 percent. Since missing three free throws in Carolina's win over Georgia, Cota has made 22 of 25 (.880) from the charity stripe in the last six games. Last season, he was second on the team with an 82.4 free throw shooting percentage. Cota has missed 10 free throws this year, but seven of those misses came in the first three games of the year.
Cota was sensational in UNC's 63-61 win over Old Dominion. He hit the game-winning basket on a left-handed drive with 1.5 seconds to play. Cota scored a career-high 20 points, had six assists, six rebounds and three steals. He made 7 of 12 shots from the floor, including both of his three-point attempts) and was 4 of 4 from the free throw line in 39 minutes of action.
Cota's 20-point game topped his previous career scoring high of 17 he accomplished three times. He had 17 at Florida State last year and 17 against Appalachian State and Stanford earlier this year. He has scored in double figures in five of the nine games this year.
Cota averaged 14 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists to earn MVP honors and lead North Carolina to the NIT Championship with wins over Purdue and Stanford. Cota scored 11 points and had eight assists to help Carolina overcome a 7-point halftime deficit to Purdue. He then posted his eighth career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds against No. 2 Stanford. It was the first time Cota had ever posted a points-rebounds double-double. He has seven career double-doubles of points and assists.
Cota had a season-high 13 assists (just one off his career high) and just one turnover in 37 minutes in Carolina's 86-75 victory at Hampton on Nov. 23. Cota also had eight points and was 5 of 6 from the free throw line. n Against Georgia, Cota recorded his seventh career double-double with 14 points and 11 assists.
Cota is now tied with former UNC standout Phil Ford for the most double-figure assist games in UNC history with 16. Cota posted double-figure assist games six times as a freshman, eight times as a sophomore and twice this year.
Last year, Cota set the single-season school record with 274 assists, passing Smith's record of 235 in 1984-85. n Cota is scoring more this season while at the same time keeping his assist average high. After averaging 8.0 and 8.1 points per game in the last two seasons, Cota is scoring 11.8 points per game.
Cota is tied for the team lead with Ademola Okulaja with 15 steals.
COTA EARNS PRESEASON RECOGNITION
Point guard Ed Cota was named to the 1998 preseason All-ACC team along with Duke's Elton Brand and Trajan Langdon, Maryland's Laron Profit and Clemson's Terrell McIntyre. UNC forward Ademola Okulaja was named honorable mention all-conference.
Cota is a preseason candidate for the John Wooden Award, which is presented to the nation's best collegiate player and was won last season by UNC forward Antawn Jamison. n The Sporting News named Cota the ACC's Best Playmaker in their 1998-99 preseason publication.
KRIS LANG
Tar Heel freshmen Kris Lang is shooting 57.9 percent from the field, which would rank third in the league if he had enough attempts. He is averaging 9.3 points per game and 3.8 rebounds. He has scored in double figures four times this year, including two of the last three games.
A native of Gastonia, N.C., Lang scored 21 points in Carolina's 65-58 win over Georgia in the Preseason NIT quarterfinal. With just 40 seconds remaining in the game vs. UGA, Lang scored one of the game's biggest buckets dunking Ed Cota's perfect pass for a four-point UNC lead. Lang played great defense and had seven rebounds in the Tar Heels' 57-49 victory over Stanford in the Preseason NIT final.
CAPEL CONTRIBUTIONS
Freshman Jason Capel scored a season-high 16 points in back-to-back games against Old Dominion and the College of Charleston and was named the MVP of the Food Lion MVP Classic. The Chesapeake, Va., native was 6 of 7 from the field against ODU, where his father, Jeff, is the head coach, and 4 of 5 against College of Charleston. In the last two games he is shooting 83.3 percent from the field. n Capel leads the team and is sixth in the ACC in free throw shooting. He is shooting 82.9 percent from the charity stripe and has converted 29 of 35 attempts.
CURRY MIXED IN
Freshman Ronald Curry, who also plays quarterback for the UNC football team, has played four games with the basketball team (Hampton, Middle Tennessee State, ODU and College of Charleston) and is expected to play against Buffalo on Tuesday and UNC Charlotte on Saturday, Dec. 12. Curry will also play football in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 19 against San Diego State. It is not known if he will play basketball against Louisville on Dec. 17. n Curry will be making his first playing appearance in the Smith Center on Tuesday night against Buffalo.
OKULAJA'S GREAT START
Forward Ademola Okulaja is fifth in the ACC with 8.1 rebounds per game and has grabbed at least seven rebounds in all but three games this season.
He has scored in double figures in all but three games this season and leads the team with 12.6 points per game.
Okulaja played a remarkable game against ODU on Dec. 4, especially when you consider he was playing despite a stomach illness. Okulaja grabbed 13 rebounds, scored nine points and had two steals in 38 minutes of playing time. It was the second time this year Okulaja grabbed more rebounds in a game than he did his first three years as a Tar Heel. He came into the season with a career-high 12 rebounds on two occasions in his first 105 games. Okulaja had a career-high 17 against Florida International earlier this year.
Okulaja has never missed a game in his four years as a Tar Heel. He has played in 114 consecutive games at UNC. The Tar Heels are 91-23 in his career. n In Carolina's 65-44 win vs. Florida International in the first round of the Preseason NIT, Okulaja grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds. He also added 15 points to post his sixth career double-double.
Okulaja had 18 points at Hampton, just one shy of his career high.
HAYWOOD IMPRESSIVE EARLY
Sophomore center Brendan Haywood is second on the team in scoring (12.1) and rebounding (7.1). He leads the team with 23 blocked shots and is fourth in the ACC with 2.6 blocks per game. Last year, as the Tar Heels' seventh man, Haywood averaged 2.9 points and 2.4 rebounds. n Four times this season, Haywood has surpassed his former career-high of eight rebounds entering the 1998-99 season. He had nine rebounds against Appalachian State, 10 vs. FIU, 11 vs. Purdue and 10 at Middle Tennessee State. n Haywood is shooting 56.3 percent from the field (40 of 71), which would be fourth in the ACC if he had enough attempts, and 70.7 percent (29 of 41) from the free throw line.
Haywood scored a career-high 21 points and pulled down a career-best 11 rebounds in Carolina's 54-47 win over Purdue in the NIT semifinal. Haywood made 8 of 10 shots from the field and was five of seven from the free throw line against the Boilermakers. He also blocked two shots, one of which was a critical block at the end of the game that resulted in a shot clock violation by Purdue with 1:19 to play. n In the NIT final victory over Stanford, Haywood had six blocked shots and seven points. He helped hold Stanford's starting frontcourt to 7 of 27 from the field.
In the Tar Heels' opening win vs. Appalachian State, Haywood was 6 of 11 from the floor and had a career-high 19 points and nine rebounds. He followed that performance with his first career double-double, registering 12 points and 10 rebounds against Florida International. He was held under double figures for the first time this season with nine points at Hampton.
EVTIMOV OUT FOR A TOTAL OF 11 GAMES
North Carolina sophomore forward Vasco Evtimov must sit out a total of 11 games as a result of playing in 16 games in the French National A League as the tryout for the French National Team, it was determined by the NCAA. n Evtimov played at Carolina in 1996-97, but spent 10 months in the French Military beginning in July 1997 to fulfill a mandatory stint in the armed forces. While in France, Evtimov played for a club team near his base. The NCAA said it was a violation of the NCAA Bylaw which states student-athletes are not allowed to play with a professional team, even if the student-athlete is not getting any compensation, which Evtimov was not. n Evtimov is eligible to return to action against Louisville on Dec. 17.
CAPEL NAMED ACC PRESEASON ACC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Freshman swing man Jason Capel led all balloting for the 1998-99 Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year with 48 votes. Duke's Corey Magette and Georgia Tech's Tony Atkins tied for second with eight votes.
