University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Wind Up Three Game Homestand
January 7, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2000
NO. 14 CAROLINA CONCLUDES HOMESTAND AGAINST WOLFPACK
North Carolina winds up a three-game homestand Saturday when it hosts NC State in the second Atlantic Coast Conference game for each team this season. The Tar Heels play at Wake Forest on Wed., Jan. 12, before taking a brief respite from conference play to host UCLA next Saturday afternoon at the Smith Center.
Junior center Brendan Haywood has connected on 33 of his last 40 field goal attempts (82.5 percent) over the last six games. Haywood leads Carolina in field goal percentage at 73.4 percent this season and would lead the ACC if he had one more made field goal. He is the alltime leader in Carolina history with a career field goal percentage of 64.9 percent.
Senior point guard Ed Cota has 19 assists and just two turnovers in the last two games.
Freshman shooting guard Joseph Forte has hit 13 of 20 shots in the last two games (65.0 percent) after shooting 39.3 percent (22-for-56) in his previous four games. Forte has scored in double figures in all but one game this season and leads ACC freshmen in scoring at 16.2 ppg.
Since moving into the starting lineup on Jan. 2 versus Howard, Kris Lang has hit 7-of-13 field goals (53.8 percent) and scored in double figures both games (10 versus Howard and 12 versus Clemson).
Carolina is 7-0 when leading at halftime this season and 3-4 when trailing at intermission.
Senior point guard Ed Cota leads the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.12 (128-to-41).
In the latest NCAA statistics (as of Jan. 3), Brendan Haywood led the nation in field goal percentage (73.3 percent) and was 21st in blocked shots (2.9 bpg). Ed Cota was second in the nation in assists (9.3 apg). As a team, UNC was third in field goal percentage (.510) and 23rd in scoring offense (82.2 ppg)
Carolina has been ranked in 626 Associated Press polls since the poll*s inception in 1949, more than any other school in the nation. Kentucky is second with 615.
TAR HEELS AND WOLFPACK
Carolina and NC State will meet for the 195th time on Saturday. The Tar Heels lead the series, 124-70, and have won seven of the last eight meetings. The only loss in that span came in 1997-98 at the Smith Center. The Wolfpack finished the game by making 25 consecutive free throws and 30 of 32 overall to claim an 86-72 victory and end UNC*s 19-game home winning streak.
Carolina is 10-3 vs. NC State in the Smith Center and 60-20 overall in Chapel Hill. NC State posted wins at the Smith Center in 1990 (88-77), 1992 (99-94) and 1998 (86-72).
Last year, Carolina evened its record vs. NC State at Reynolds Coliseum at 29-29 with a 59-56 victory in the Tar Heels
last game in the storied arena. State*s Adam Harrington, who made five second-half three-point field goals, missed a potential game-winning three with eight seconds remaining. Brendan Haywood, who did not play for the first 10 minutes of the game, came off the bench to score 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting and grab six rebounds. Ademola Okulaja recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Last year in Chapel Hill, Kris Lang and Jason Capel each scored 15 points to lead Carolina to a 62-53 win. UNC trailed by as many as seven points in the second half but rallied and scored nine straight points in the final two minutes.
TAR HEEL INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS VS. NC STATE
Ed Cota: Hit the game-winning shot with 4.6 seconds remaining in Carolina*s 45-44 win at Reynolds Coliseum as a freshman on Feb. 12, 1997 ... Recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 assists and added five rebounds in a 74-60 UNC win on Jan. 21, 1998, in Raleigh ... Finished with six points, six assists and four rebounds in a 62-53 UNC win on Feb. 17, 1999, in Chapel Hill.
Brendan Haywood: Did not start but came off the bench to tally 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, six rebounds and four blocked shots in a 59-56 UNC win at Reynolds Coliseum on Jan. 16, 1999 ... Had 13 points and six rebounds in a 62-53 win in Chapel Hill on Feb. 17, 1999.
KRIS LANG: Tied Jason Capel for the game high with 15 points in a 62-53 Carolina win on Feb. 17, 1999, in Chapel Hill ... Hit two free throws with 9:49 left to play to give Carolina a 43-42 lead after it had trailed by as many as seven points in the second half.
JASON CAPEL: Tied Kris Lang for the game high with 15 points in a 62-53 UNC win on Feb. 17, 1999, in the Smith Center ... After Carolina had trailed by as many as seven in the second half, Capel hit a three-pointer with 9:49 remaining to cut the NCSU lead to one .... Also grabbed six rebounds in the win.
HEELS EXTEND HOME WINNING STREAK VS. CLEMSON
Carolina improved its alltime record against Clemson in Chapel Hill to 46-0 with a 65-45 win over the Tigers in the Smith Center on Thursday night. UNC is now 18-2 alltime against Clemson in ACC openers and 15-0 against the Tigers in the Smith Center. Carolina has won 19 of the last 22 games between the two schools.
Freshman Joseph Forte led the Heels with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Forte also added five rebounds. Junior center Brendan Haywood just missed his third consecutive double-double, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds. Redshirt freshman Julius Peppers had six points and a career-high 13 rebounds, and senior point guard Ed Cota had eight points, seven assists and just one turnover.
Carolina held Clemson to just 31.7 percent shooting from the floor, and outrebounded the ACC*s top rebounding team by a 43-34 margin. The Tar Heels limited Tiger guard Will Solomon, the ACC*s leading scorer entering the game at 21.8 ppg, to 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
UCLA GAME SET FOR 4:00 P.M.
Carolina*s home game on Jan. 15 versus UCLA has been set for 4:00 p.m. and will be televised by CBS. The starting time was announced Jan. 3, following the release of the National Football League playoff schedule.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Carolina is ranked No. 14 by the Associated Press and No. 14 by ESPN/USA Today this week. The Tar Heels have been ranked in the AP poll for 170 consecutive weeks, dating back to the 1990-91 preseason poll. That is the longest active streak in the country and the third-longest streak overall. Carolina also holds the second-longest streak alltime, having been ranked for 171 consecutive weeks from Dec. 5, 1972, to Dec. 14, 1982. UCLA holds the alltime record with 221 consecutive weeks in the AP poll.
CAROLINA POURS IT ON IN WIN OVER HOWARD
The Tar Heels shot .679 from the floor while holding Howard to a .250 clip in the second half as Carolina rang in the year 2000 with an 86-53 win over the Bison Sunday afternoon at the Smith Center. UNC shot .611 for the game, winning after a nine-day layoff.
Carolina blocked 11 Howard shots, with Brendan Haywood and Julius Peppers each swatting three. The Heels dished out 28 assists on 33 total baskets (84.8 percent) in the game.
Haywood tallied 21 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in just 24 minutes of action to lead Carolina. Ed Cota had five points, 12 assists and just one turnover to pass Clemson*s Grayson Marshall and move into third place in ACC history in career assists. Kris Lang made his second start of the season, finishing with 10 points in 19 minutes.
COTA*S CAREER NUMBERS IN EXCLUSIVE COMPANY
Senior point guard Ed Cota has 1,044 points, 874 assists and 412 rebounds in his career. He is just the fourth player in Carolina history to score 1,000 points and have 500 assists (joining Phil Ford, Kenny Smith and Jeff Lebo).
Cota is the first player in ACC history to compile 1,000 points, 800 assists and 400 rebounds in a career.
Cota ranks third in ACC history with 874 career assists. Bobby Hurley of Duke is first in conference history with 1,076 career assists and Chris Corchiani of NC State is second with 1,038.
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.
OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
In the latest ACC statistics (as of Jan. 7) Carolina led the ACC in field goal percentage (.505), was third in three-point field goal percentage (.371) and third in scoring (80.9 points per game).
Carolina is averaging 80.9 points per game thus far in 1999-2000 and has scored more than 80 in eight of 14 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.
BERSTICKER UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL SURGERY
Director of Sports Medicine Dr. Tim Taft said surgery on Dec. 6 on 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 should be out of action for approximately 10 weeks, putting a possible return in mid- to late-February.
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 College of Charleston before his injury.
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 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.
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).
HEAD COACH BILL GUTHRIDGE
Guthridge is 68-18 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 won more games (58) in his first two seasons than any coach in NCAA history and reached 50 wins faster than any coach in UNC history.
In 1997-98, Guthridge set the NCAA record for most wins by a first-year head coach with 34.
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.
