Carolina Basketball Media Notes

March 7, 1999

Carolina advanced to the championship game of the 1999 ACC Tournament with an 86-79 victory over fifth-ranked and No. 2 seed Maryland. The Tar Heels, 24-8, meet top-ranked and top-seeded Duke in the finals. Yesterday's win over the Terrapins was Carolina's 12 straight win in the ACC semifinal round.

The Tar Heels are averaging 82.0 points, shooting 53.2 percent from the floor, and allowing the opponents to shoot just 35.0 percent from the field in the first two ACC Tournament games this year.

This is Carolina's 26th championship game appearances in the 46-year history of the ACC Tournament. The Tar Heels have played in the finals more times than any other school and won a record 15 Tournament titles. Duke is second in title game appearances with 20 and NC State is second in titles with 10.

The Tar Heels are 72-29 in the ACC Tournament, 15-10 in the finals.

Carolina's 15 ACC Tournament Championships
1957, Raleigh UNC 95, South Carolina 75
1967, Greensboro UNC 82, Duke 73
1968, Charlotte UNC 87, NC State 50
1969, Charlotte UNC 85, Duke 74
1972, Greensboro UNC 73, Maryland 64
1975, Greensboro UNC 70, NC State 66
1977, Greensboro UNC 75, Virginia 69
1979, Greensboro UNC 71, Duke 63
1981, Landover, Md. UNC 61, Maryland 60
1982, Greensboro UNC 47, Virginia 45
1989, Atlanta UNC 77, Duke 74
1991, Charlotte UNC 96, Duke 74
1994, Charlotte UNC 73, Virginia 66
1997, Greensboro UNC 64, NC State 54
1998, Greensboro UNC 83, Duke 68

The Tar Heels have won eight consecutive ACC Tournament games, the longest streak since winning nine games in a row in claiming the 1967, 1968 and 1969 ACC titles. Current head coach Bill Guthridge was an assistant coach on the 1968 and 1969 teams.

Carolina won the ACC title in 1997 and 1998. A win Sunday would mark the third straight ACC title for the Tar Heels. That has been accomplished only two times in ACC history. Carolina is the most recent school to do that in 1967, 1968 and 1969. NC State also won three in a row from 1954 to 1956.

Carolina has closed out decades in grand fashion. The Tar Heels have won the ACC Tournament championship in 1969, 1979 and 1989. In 1959, UNC lost to NC State in the finals.

UNC is 15-10 in ACC Tournament championship games, including a 4-3 record in the 1990s.

This is Carolina's eighth championship game appearance in the last nine years and 11th in the last 13 years. The only times UNC failed to make the finals in the 1990s were in 1990 and 1996 (lost in the quarterfinals both years).

UNC is 6-2 against Duke in ACC Tournament championship games, including a 2-1 record in the 1990s and a 2-1 mark in Charlotte.

Carolina vs. Duke in the ACC Finals
March 11, 1967, Greensboro #1 UNC 82, #2 Duke 73
March 8, 1969, Charlotte #1 UNC 85, #3 Duke 74
March 3, 1979, Greensboro #1 UNC 71, #2 Duke 63
March 13, 1988, Greensboro #3 Duke 65, #1 UNC 61
March 12, 1989, Atlanta #4 UNC 77, #2 Duke 74
March 10, 1991, Charlotte #2 UNC 96, #1 Duke 74
March 15, 1992, Charlotte #1 Duke 94, #3 UNC 74
March 8, 1998, Greensboro #2 UNC 83, #1 Duke 68

This is the ninth time the teams have played in the finals and the eighth time the game featured the top seed in the ACC Tournament. Carolina was 3-1 against Duke as the top seed. The Blue Devils are 1-2 against the Tar Heels as the top seed.

Carolina is now 11-6 in ACC Tournament history as the No. 3 seed. UNC has still not lost to a No. 2 seed in the event since 1974.

The Tar Heels are 2-6 against the top seed in ACC Tournament history. Both of UNC's wins against No. 1 have been against Duke in 1991 and 1998.

A win Sunday would give the Tar Heels 25 wins this season. That would be the 16 th time in the last 19 seasons that UNC accomplished this remarkable achievement.

Carolina leads the alltime series against Duke, 121-82, although the Blue Devils have won three of the last four meetings. Carolina has won 10 of the last 14 meetings. The Tar Heels lead the series, 14-9, in the 1990s. This is the 104th straight meeting between Carolina and Duke in which at least one of the teams was ranked in the Associated Press poll. This is the fifth time in the last six games that Duke is ranked No. 1.

Today's game features two of the best rebounding teams in the country. Duke out-rebounds its opponents by a margin of 9.5 boards per game. The Tar Heels out-rebound their foes by an average of 9.1 per contest. In the February 27th game at UNC, the Blue Devils out-rebounded the Tar Heels, 52-36. It was the most rebounds Carolina's opponents had grabbed since Massachusetts had 54 in November 1993. (UNC had 52 in that game.) The February 27th matchup marked the first time Duke had out-rebounded the Tar Heels since the 1992 ACC Championship game in Charlotte.

Overall, the Tar Heels are now 153-15 in Charlotte. Carolina has not lost two games in one year in Charlotte since 1969-70. UNC lost to Kentucky, Georgia Tech and Virginia (ACC Quarterfinal) that year. Earlier this year, the Tar Heels lost on a last-second to the College of Charleston, 66-64. The Tar Heels beat Old Dominion, 63-61, in Charlotte in December.

The Tar Heels are 18-4 in Charlotte in ACC Tournament action. Carolina has won four of the eight previous ACC Tournaments contested in Charlotte, including 1968, 1969, 1991 and 1994.

Head coach Bill Guthridge is 5-0 in the ACC Tournament. Last year, in his first year as UNC's head coach, Guthridge led the Tar Heels to wins over NC State, Maryland (in overtime) and Duke to win the title.

Bill Guthridge has won more games in his first two years as a head coach than any other coach in NCAA history. Guthridge is 58-12 in two years. Former NC State coach Everett Case won 55 games in his first two years.

Carolina's win over Maryland in the semifinal assured the Tar Heels of not dropping three straight games to the Terps for the first time since 1965. Carolina has not lost three games in one season to the same opponent since Duke swept three games in 1988. The last of the three games was in the 1988 ACC Tournament final.

Junior point guard Ed Cota handed out nine assists in each of the first two games in the 1999 ACC Tournament. Cota has 725 career assists, the eighth-best figure in ACC history. He passed Tommy Amaker of Duke in the quarterfinal round win over Georgia Tech and moved past Yellow Jacket guard Drew Barry in the semifinal win over Maryland. Cota has 217 assists this year, equaling the fourth-best mark in school history. He already owns the single-season record and the third-highest single-season mark.

Ed Cota has 56 assists in eight ACC Tournament games. In fact, Cota has played in eight games in the event without a loss. Cota is just five assists shy of tying Georgia Tech's Drew Barry for the alltime lead in Tournament assists. Former Duke guard Bobby Hurley is second with 58 career assists.

Sophomore guard Max Owens scored a career-high 23 points in the ACC semifinal win over Maryland. Owens, who came into the game averaging 6.8 points per game, hit 5 of 9 shots from the floor and 11 of 12 from the free throw line. Owens connected on six straight free throws in the final 35.4 seconds.

Prior to his 23-point performance, Owens' career scoring best was 16 against Georgia Tech in the Smith Center on January 31st. He also had 14 against Florida State and 13 at Georgia Tech. It was just his seventh double-digit scoring effort of the season.

Owens was 2 for 3 from three-point range. That snapped an 0 for 8 streak from behind the arc in his previous three contests.

Center Brendan Haywood was 4 for 5 from the field against Maryland. That marked the 23rd time in the last 24 games Haywood has made 50 percent or better of his shots from the floor. He is converting 65.8 percent from the floor this year. That's the second-highest single-season percentage in Carolina history. Bobby Jones holds the UNC record at 66.8 percent in 1971-72. Haywood is second, slightly ahead of Rasheed Wallace, who shot 65.4 percent in 1994-95. ESPN basketball analyst Brad Daugherty, who is covering the Tournament, made 64.8 percent in 1985-86, the fourth-highest mark in UNC history. Haywood is 26 for 35 (74.3 percent) in the last five games.

Haywood had 10 points and 10 rebounds against the Terps, his ninth double-double of the season.

Carolina shot 52.8 percent from the floor against the Terps in the ACC semifinal. That followed a 53.6 percent effort against Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals. It marked the first time UNC shot 50 percent or better from the floor in consecutive games since the Buffalo game on December 8th and the UNC Charlotte contest on December 12th.

After shooting a season-low 37.7 percent from the field against Duke in the regular-season finale, the Tar Heels have made 58 of 109 attempts, a percentage of .532.

UNC has made 50 percent or better from the field just 10 times in 32 games this year.

1999 ACC Tournament Championship * Carolina vs. Duke/4444

The Tar Heels knocked down a season-high nine three-point field goals in the win over Maryland. That's the most since UNC had nine threes against UNC Charlotte in the second round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament. Ademola Okulaja hit four, Jason Capel connected on three and Max Owens made two three-pointers.

Carolina held the Terps to just 38.6 percent shooting from the field yesterday. That's the 19th time in 32 games this year the Tar Heels held the opponents under 40 percent shooting from the floor. Maryland shot 53.6 percent in Chapel Hill and 50.0 percent in College Park in its two regular-season wins over the Tar Heels. Carolina has held its opponents under 40 percent from the floor 55 times in the last 105 games.

Sophomore center Brian Bersticker scored six points in the win over Maryland. That followed his 12-point performance against Georgia Tech in the quarterfinal and 11 points against Duke in the regular-season finale.

Against Tech, Bersticker scored six consecutive points in the second half after the Yellow Jackets had moved to within a point of UNC's lead. Saturday against the Terps, Bersticker scored two dramatic baskets. First, after Maryland cut a 23-point UNC lead to eight with 3:24 to play, Bersticker hit an inside basket to restore Carolina's 10-point lead. Then, after Maryland closed to within four points at 80-76, he took a football-style pass from Ademola Okulaja and dunked.

Bersticker has scored 29 points in the last three games. He scored 30 points total in the first 15 ACC regular-season contests.

Freshman Jason Capel scored 13 points in 15 minutes in the win over Maryland, but left the game and did not return after suffering another severe fall on his back. He was injured while trying to grab a rebound with 14:09 to play in the second half. Capel hit three three-pointers in the first half and added two other field goals. It was just the fourth game this year and the first game since the Maryland game on January 13th that Capel had made five or more field goals. The three three-pointers he made equaled his season high. Capel did not play against Georgia Tech due to a strained back. He fell in practice two days prior to the Duke game, but played against the Blue Devils and practiced on Tuesday, March 2nd. He missed the next two days of practice, however. The Tech game was the eighth game this year he missed. He did not play at Dartmouth due to a family illness and missed six games in January-February due to mononucleosis. He returned to action in the Maryland game on February 13th.

First-team All-ACC forward Ademola Okulaja has played in all 137 games in his four-year career. The Tar Heels are 107-30 in his career. In fact, Okulaja has never even missed a practice in his career. He is the first UNC player to ever lead the team in scoring, rebounding, three-point baskets and steals.

He was 2 for 4 from three-point range against the Yellow Jackets and 4 for 7 from three-point range against Maryland. Okulaja is among the ACC leaders in three-point accuracy at 44.2 percent (53 of 120) this year. He has made at least two three-pointers in nine of the last 10 games.

In the last nine games, Okulaja has made four three-point field goals three times (at Clemson, vs. Wake Forest and Maryland).

Okulaja is the first UNC senior to earn first-team All-ACC honors since George Lynch did in 1993 in leading the Tar Heels to the NCAA championship.

Carolina leads the ACC in rebounding margin at 9.6 rebounds per game. The Tar Heels grab 40.4 boards per game, while the opponents are pulling down 30.8 rebounds per game. UNC's rebounding margin is the highest since the ACC began recording the statistic in 1986.

The Tar Heels have been out-rebounded four times this year (2-2 in those games). Carolina is 20-6 in games in which it out-rebounds the opposition.

Players Mentioned

Brian Bersticker

Jason Capel

Ed Cota

Brendan Haywood

Ademola Okulaja

Max Owens

Related Videos