University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Gears Up For Conference Opener Against Clemson
January 5, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2000
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - After an erratic start, No. 14 North Carolina will open Atlantic Coast Conference play against Clemson on Thursday night.
North Carolina (9-4) is 106-15 all time against the Tigers, and 45-0 against them at Chapel Hill. But the last time the teams met, Feb. 4, 1999, the Tigers defied history by upsetting then-No. 9 UNC 78-63.
UNC snapped a two-game losing streak Sunday with a 86-53 victory over Howard University. North Carolina was off to its worst non-conference start in a decade.
Despite playing a winless team, the Tar Heels felt a victory against Howard was huge with league play starting.
"We wanted this game to get in good spirits heading into the Clemson game," said Brendan Haywood, who finished with season highs of 21 points and 13 rebounds against Howard.
Joseph Forte added 14 points for North Carolina, which played just its third home game of the season.
Clemson (6-6) is coming off a 74-70 win over Furman on Wednesday.
Will Solomon scored a game-high 27 points, and junior center Adam Allenspach added 19, including the go-ahead basket with just under four minutes remaining.
"For the first time all year, I honestly see our guys gaining in confidence and growing in intellect on both ends of the court," said the Tigers' second-year coach Larry Shyatt. "There was progress made tonight."
The win was Clemson's third in four games which put the Tigers at .500 after a 3-5 start.
North Carolina has defeated Clemson by an average of 21 points per game in the 45 meetings at Chapel Hill.
