University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels and Wildcats to Battle on Saturday
December 1, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2000
UNC-Kentucky Release (PDF Format)
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North Carolina Tar Heels
Date & Time: Saturday, December 2, 2000, 3:50 p.m.
Site: Smith Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Records: Carolina 3-1, Kentucky 1-3
Rankings: Carolina #6 AP and USA Today/ESPN, Kentucky not ranked
Series Record vs. Kentucky: Carolina leads, 16-6
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Radio Network, a division of Learfield Communications. Woody Durham (play-by-play) and Mick Mixon (color) provide the call. A live broadcast also is available on the University of North Carolina's official athletic website, TarHeelBlue.com
Television: CBS (Jim Nantz, Billy Packer)
Websites: North Carolina (TarHeelBlue.com), Kentucky (ukathletics.com)
Two Winningest Programs Do Battle
Carolina and Kentucky, the top two programs in wins in college basketball history, meet each other on Saturday at the Smith Center. Carolina is coming off a 77-64 defeat to Michigan State on Wednesday in East Lansing, Mich. The Tar Heels trailed by 13 at the half and rallied to within seven with 13:30 to play, but could get no closer to the defending champions. Kentucky will be taking to the court for the first time since a 73-68 loss to Penn State at Rupp Arena on November 25.
Kentucky is first alltime in wins with 1,772. The Tar Heels are second with 1,758. Kansas, Duke and St. John's round out the top five.
Carolina leads the alltime series with Kentucky, 16-6. In fact, UNC leads the alltime series against three of the top four programs in the nation (16-6 vs. Kentucky, 5-2 vs. Kansas, 121-85 vs. Duke). The Tar Heels have won six in a row and 12 of the last 14 meetings against Kentucky.
The teams last met on March 25, 1995, in Birmingham, Ala., in the NCAA Southeast Region championship game. Jerry Stackhouse and Donald Williams led the No. 2 seeded Tar Heels to a 74-61 win over the No. 1 seeded Wildcats. Stackhouse had 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Williams also scored 18 and Rasheed Wallace added 12 points. Tony Delk (19) and Walter McCarty (14) led Kentucky.
This is just the second meeting in history between the two programs in Chapel Hill and the first meeting since December 10, 1990, an 84-81 Carolina win. Dean Smith and UK's Rick Pitino were the respective head coaches in each of the last three UNC-Kentucky matchups. In the 1990 meeting, senior Pete Chilcutt, Rick Fox and King Rice led the Tar Heels with 14 points apiece as Carolina rallied from a 41-33 halftime deficit. John Pelphrey and Jamal Mashburn led UK with 24 and 15 points, respectively.
Kentucky has not defeated the Tar Heels since a 90-78 decision in Louisville on December 9, 1974.
Carolina head coach Matt Doherty played in one game against the Wildcats. He scored eight points, had eight assists and five rebounds in UNC's 82-69 win in the Meadowlands on December 26, 1981. The Tar Heels went on to win the NCAA title that season.
Carolina-Michigan State
Jason Richardson (16), Charlie Bell (15) and Andre Hutson (14) combined for 45 points and 20 rebounds to lead the defending NCAA champion Michigan State Spartans to a 77-64 win over the Tar Heels on November 29th.
Carolina shot 42.6 percent from the floor (29 of 61), 20 percent from three-point range (4 of 20) and 42.1 percent from the free throw line (8 of 19) in the loss. Kris Lang scored a career-high 22 points and had four steals to lead the Tar Heels.
Brian Morrison played well in 22 minutes off the bench at the point with eight points and four assists. Joseph Forte was 5 of 16 from the floor, including 1 of 7 from three-point range. He finished with 11 points. Lang and Forte were joined in double figures by Brendan Haywood, who added 10 points.
Michigan State out-rebounded Carolina, 43-29, but had only four more offensive rebounds than UNC. Michigan State had 17 turnovers, three more than the Tar Heels.
Doherty Returns to Lead Alma Mater
Matt Doherty is the second former UNC player in history to serve as head coach of his alma mater. He is the only active Atlantic Coast Conference head coach who won a national championship as a player. Doherty, a 1984 UNC graduate, is in his first season as Carolina's head coach. He took over the program on July 11, 2000, following Bill Guthridge's resignation. Guthridge led the Tar Heels to an 80-28 record in his three seasons as head coach.
He has a 25-16 record as a head coach.
Doherty was head coach at the University of Notre Dame last year and led the Irish to a 22-15 record and a berth in the NIT championship game.
He was the starting small forward in 1982 when the Tar Heels won the NCAA championship by beating Georgetown, 63-62. In 1984, he tri-captained UNC to a 14-0 record in the ACC and a No. 1 berth in the final regular season Associated Press poll. The East Meadow, N.Y., native began his coaching career with a three-year stint at Davidson College and then spent seven years alongside Roy Williams at the University of Kansas. He served as an assistant coach at KU in 1993 when the Jayhawks advanced to the Final Four.
Doherty played in four NCAA Tournaments and has coached in seven, all at Kansas. As a player, he was part of Carolina teams that posted an overall record of 117-21. He averaged 9.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game and totaled 1,165 points, 446 rebounds and 446 assists in 129 games played.
Lang Off to a Fantastic Start
Junior Kris Lang scored a career-high 22 points on 11 of 16 shooting from the floor in the 77-64 loss at Michigan State. Lang previously had scored 21 points as a freshman against both Georgia and Florida State.
Lang is second on the team in scoring at 16.0 points per game and leads the team with a field goal percentage of .612. He has converted 30 of 49 attempts from the floor in the first four contests.
The Gastonia, N.C., native also had a career-high four steals against the Spartans.
Defensive Effort
Carolina has held its opponents to 41.8 percent shooting from the floor in the first four games. Michigan State shot the highest percentage by any of the four teams and that was just 46.6 percent. Winthrop (40.0), Tulsa (37.5) and Appalachian State (44.6) each shot below 45 percent in Carolina's three wins.
The four opponents have turned the ball over and average of 17 times a game.
At the Smith Center
Carolina is 2-0 at home this season and 166-25 alltime since the building opened on January 18, 1986. That is a winning percentage of .869. The Tar Heels are 72-4 in the Smith Center against non-ACC opponents. The four non-ACC losses include Temple (2/2/88), Iowa (1/7/89), Michigan State (12/1/99) and UCLA (1/15/00).
Carter Jersey Honored Today
NBA superstar Vince Carter will have his jersey honored and raised to the rafters of the Smith Center in a halftime ceremony Saturday. Carter qualified to have his jersey honored by meeting two criteria: 1. by being named a first- or second-team All-America (in 1998), and 2. by being a member of a gold medal winning Olympic Team (2000).
Carter, an NBA All-Star with the Toronto Raptors, played at Carolian from 1995-98 and helped lead the Tar Heels to two ACC titles and two Final Four appearances. His is the 37th jersey to hang in the rafters.
Forte Preseason All-America
Sophomore guard Joseph Forte was one of five players named to the Associated Press Preseason All-America Team. Last year, Forte led the Tar Heels in scoring with 16.7 points per game, was the ACC Rookie of the Year and the MVP of the NCAA South Regional. He had 28 points against Tulsa in the regional final.
Forte is joined on the AP Preseason All-America squad by Iowa State's Jamaal Tinsley, Notre Dame's Troy Murphy, Duke's Shane Battier and Arizona's Loren Woods.
Despite an off-shooting night at Michigan State (5 of 16), Forte leads the Tar Heels in scoring at 19.8 points per contest. He had a Smith-Center record 38 points against Tulsa on November 11.
Forte named National Player of the Week by ESPN.com
Joseph Forte earned Most Valuable Player honors at the NABC Classic and was named the first recipient of ESPN.com's National Player of the Week award. Forte scored 48 points in the two wins in the NABC Classic, including a career-high 38 against Tulsa. His previous scoring high also came against the Hurricanes. Last year, he had 28 in the NCAA South Regional final.
Capel, Forte, Haywood Among National Candidates
Three Carolina players earned mention among the preseason candidates for National Player of the Year, including Joseph Forte, center Brendan Haywood and forward Jason Capel.
All three players were named to the preseason watch list for the John Wooden Award and Forte and Haywood were among the players to watch for the Naismith Award.
Carolina is the only school in the nation to have three different winners of the Wooden Award. Phil Ford (1978), Michael Jordan (1984) and Antawn Jamison (1998) were previous Tar Heel recipients.
Tar Heels in the Rankings
Carolina is ranked No. 6 in the country in both the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and Associated Press poll.
The Tar Heels play seven teams this year which were ranked in the preseason Top 25, including Duke, Michigan State, Maryland, Kentucky, UCLA, Wake Forest and Virginia. UNC was No. 6 in the country in the preseason AP poll. This is the 16th consecutive season the Tar Heels were ranked in the Top 20 or Top 25 in the preseason AP poll. The last time UNC was not ranked to open the year was 1984-85, but the Tar Heels joined at No. 19 in the second week and remained ranked the rest of the year. This is the 27th time in the last 35 years that the Tar Heels have been ranked in the Top 10 in the country in the preseason Associated Press poll.
UNC has been ranked in the preseason Top 10 17 times in the last 20 years. The only exceptions were 1984-85 (not ranked), 1995-96 (ranked No. 20 after Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace left early for the NBA), and 1998-99 (ranked No. 11 after Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter left early for the NBA).
Carolina's average preseason ranking in the AP poll in the last 20 years is No. 6.
ACC Media Tabs Carolina Third
Ninety-three (93) members of the Atlantic Coast Sportswriters Association voted on the ACC finish on October 29th at Operation Basketball and the Tar Heels were selected third in the league behind Duke and Maryland. Wake Forest was fourth, followed by Virginia, NC State, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Florida State.
Sophomore guard Joseph Forte received the third-highest number of votes for the preseason All-ACC team behind Duke's Shane Battier and Maryland's Terence Morris.
Fingleton Has Missed Early Season Action
Freshman center Neil Fingleton has not played yet due to August surgery to repair disks in his back. The Durham, England, native has begun practicing and is expected to be able to compete later this season. At 7-5, Fingleton is one of the tallest players in ACC basketball history.
Peppers, Curry Join Squad
Red-shirt sophomores Ronald Curry and Julius Peppers, starters on Carolina's 6-5 football team this fall, have begun practicing with the basketball team. Curry first practiced with UNC on Monday, November 20, and played the final four minutes in the exhibition win over the EA California All-Stars the following evening.
Peppers began practicing with the basketball team on Saturday, November 25. Curry played in 26 games as a backup to point guard Ed Cota in 1998-99. The Hampton, Va., native averaged 2.8 points and 1.5 rebounds per game and amassed 43 assists and 38 turnovers. In his first collegiate start against Georgia Tech (Cota was out sick) he posted career highs with 13 points, five rebounds and seven assists. He received a medical red-shirt last year due to a ruptured right Achilles' tendon.
Peppers, a second-team All-America defensive end this fall, was a key player for Carolina in its postseason run to the Final Four last spring. The Bailey, N.C., native joined the basketball team in late November 1999 and played in 31 games. He averaged 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, and was one of the first players off the bench. His interior defense, shot blocking and rebounding were keys to Carolina's NCAA South Regional title.
He led he ACC this fall with 15 quarterback sacksd and set a school record with 24 tackles for losses. He was named first-team All-ACC.
Haywood Moves into ACC Lead
Senior center Brendan Haywood is currently the ACC's alltime leader in field goal percentage. Haywood has made 405 career baskets in 619 attempts, a percentage of .654. That is the highest percentage in ACC history, ahead of former Tar Heel and current NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace (.635).
Wallace held the ACC alltime record until Haywood became officially qualified for consideration with 400 career field goals. (Players must have a minimum of 5.0 field goals made per game or 400 total field goals.)
Haywood led the nation last year with a field goal percentage of .697, the highest in ACC history.
He averaged 15.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots in Carolina's five games in the NCAA Tournament last season.
Haywood Closing in on Blocks Record
Brendan Haywood is second alltime at Carolina with 202 blocked shots and needs just 44 more blocks to become the school's alltime leading shot blocker. Sam Perkins holds the record with 245.
The Greensboro, N.C., resident blocked 91 shots last year and 60 as a sophomore. He has 18 blocked shots in the first four games. He had five in the opener against Winthrop and a career-high eight in the win over Tulsa. That was just one off the Carolina record held by Warren Martin. Haywood passed Martin in that contest to move into second place in school history.
Haywood did set the Smith Center record for blocked shots in a game with eight. The previous mark was seven by Sharone Wright of Clemson (February 17, 1993) and Rony Seikaly of Syracuse (March 17, 1988, in an NCAA Tournament game against North Carolina A&T).
Forte Sets Smith Center Scoring Mark
Sophomore guard Joseph Forte scored 38 points against Tulsa to break the Smith Center record for most points in a game. The previous record was 37 by Lionel Simmons of LaSalle against the Tar Heels on January 9, 1988. The previous record for a Tar Heel in the Smith Center was 36 by Antawn Jamison. Jamison scored 36 against Pittsburgh on November 29, 1996, and against Maryland on February 14, 1998.
Forte's 38-point performance marked the 11th time a Carolina player scored 30 or more points in the Smith Center.
Forte made 12 of 13 free throws in the contest. The 12 free throws equaled the single-game record for the Smith Center. Terrance Jacobs of Towson State (November 30, 1991) and Ademola Okulaja (December 17, 1998, vs. Louisville) also made a dozen free throws in a game.
Freshmen Starters
Adam Boone started at point guard in the first four games. He became the 16th Tar Heel to start in his first game as a freshmen since first-year players became eligible to play in 1972-73. Current UNC players Joseph Forte (1999), Kris Lang (1998), Jason Capel (1998) and Brendan Haywood (1997) also started in their first games as a Tar Heel. Other UNC players to do this include Phil Ford, Mike O'Koren, James Worthy, Michael Jordan, Kenny Smith, J.R. Reid, Pete Chilcutt, Rick Fox, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison and Ed Cota.
