University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Basketball Game Notes
February 6, 2001 | Men's Basketball
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Feb. 6, 2001
Date & Time: Tuesday, February 6, 2001, 9 p.m.
Site: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Records: Carolina 19-2 overall, 9-0 ACC, Wake Forest 15-6 overall, 4-5 ACC
Rankings: Carolina 1st in Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today, Wake Forest 19th Associated Press, 15th ESPN/USA Today
Series Record vs. Wake Forest: Carolina leads 145-57 overall, 50-26 in Winston-Salem and 6-5 at Lawrence Joel Coliseum
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: Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot (Steve Martin, Billy Packer)
TOP-RANKED, FIRST-PLACE TAR HEELS TRAVEL TO WAKE FOREST
No. 1 ranked North Carolina brings a 16-game winning streak and a 9-0 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference to Winston-Salem on Tuesday, February 6, for a rematch with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The Tar Heels won the first matchup this year, a 70-69 thriller in Chapel Hill, when Brendan Haywood picked up a loose ball under the basket and scored with 3.3 seconds to play.
The Tar Heels are 19-2 overall. Carolina defeated No. 2 Duke, 85-83, in Durham last Thursday night, and beat Georgia Tech, 82-69, at home on Saturday afternoon.
The Demon Deacons are 15-6 overall and 4-5 in the ACC. The Deacs opened the season with 12 straight wins before the loss at Carolina. Wake Forest has lost six of its last nine contests. The Deacs are ranked No. 15 by the coaches and No. 19 by the media. The game will be televised by Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot.
Carolina has won 16 games in a row since losing back-to-back games to Michigan State and Kentucky. The 16-game winning streak is UNC's longest since beginning 1997-98 with 17 straight wins. Carolina's last winning streak longer than 17 games was in 1985-86, when the Tar Heels started the season 21-0.
UNC's nine-game ACC winning streak is its longest since winning 16 consecutive ACC contests over a two-year period in 1987-88 (Carolina went 14-0 in 1986-87 and won its first two ACC games in 1987-88).
Carolina's 16-game winning streak is the longest in the nation. Stanford's season-best 20-game streak was snapped on February 3 by UCLA.
The 19-2 Tar Heels have already surpassed their regular season win total from the 1999-2000 season. Carolina entered the 2000 NCAA Tournament with a record of 18-13.
UNC returns to action on Saturday, February 10, against Maryland at the Smith Center at 1 p.m. That contest will be televised by CBS.
BACK AT NO. 1 Carolina is ranked No. 1 in the nation in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls. This is the first time the Tar Heels have been ranked No. 1 in the nation in those polls since late in the 1997-98 season, Bill Guthridge's first as UNC's head coach.
This is Carolina's first time atop either poll since March 8, 1998. UNC was ranked No. 1 in both polls that day. They were released after the Tar Heels beat previously No. 1 Duke in the ACC Tournament championship game. It was the final AP poll released that season. Carolina finished third behind NCAA champion Kentucky and Utah in the final coaches poll released on April 1.
DOHERTY AND CREMINS ONLY PLAYER-COACH NO. 1s IN ACC HISTORY Matt Doherty is just the second person in Atlantic Coast Conference history to play for a No. 1 ranked team and be the head coach of a No. 1 ranked team. Bobby Cremins also accomplished the feat. In 1969-70, South Carolina was No. 1 in the preseason poll, but fell out of the top spot the next week. In 1985-86, Georgia Tech was No. 1 in the preseason poll, but fell out of the top spot the next week.
CAROLINA AND THE NO. 1 RANKING BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS * This is the 15th different season in which the University of North Carolina has been ranked No. 1 in the nation since the Associated Press began its rankings in 1948-49. The previous seasons include 1957, 1958, 1959, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998.
* This is the 80th week the Tar Heels have been ranked No. 1. Carolina is third alltime in weeks ranked No. 1 in the country behind only UCLA (128) and Kentucky (87).
* Matt Doherty is the fourth different Carolina head coach to have his team ranked No. 1 in the nation and the second to accomplish this in his first season as UNC's head coach. Frank McGuire had teams ranked No. 1 in 11 weeks, Dean Smith had teams ranked No. 1 60 times and Bill Guthridge led the Tar Heels to the No. 1 ranking for eight weeks.
* Matt Doherty spent 29 weeks as a Tar Heel player ranked No. 1 in the nation. Carolina was 52-5 with Doherty in the lineup as the No. 1 team in the country, winning the NCAA title in 1982 and finishing No. 1 in the final poll in 1982 and 1984.
* This week's poll marks the 499th appearance in the Top 10. That is the second-highest figure in NCAA basketball history (Kentucky is first with 520 Top 10s). Carolina has appeared in the AP poll 642 times, more than any other school in history.
* Carolina has a 136-23 record as the No. 1 team in the AP poll. That included a 30-10 record in the 1990s. The Tar Heels are 47-5 at home as No. 1, 35-10 on the road and 54-8 at neutral sites.
* The Tar Heels are 8-1 vs. Wake Forest as No. 1 in the nation. This is the first meeting against Wake Forest with Carolina ranked No. 1 since March 3, 1993, an 83-65 UNC win in Chapel Hill. Wake Forest beat No. 1 ranked UNC, 55-48, in Chapel Hill on January 21, 1982. That was the first of two Carolina losses that season, but the Tar Heels went on to win the NCAA championship.
* Carolina has not played a game as the No. 1 team in the country since the 1998 NCAA semifinal loss to Utah in Indianapolis, Ind. The Tar Heels were 9-3 that season ranked No. 1 in the country.
CAROLINA AND THE COACHES POLL * This is the 13th season in which the Tar Heels have been ranked No. 1 in the nation by the coaches (UPI, CNN/USA Today or ESPN/USA Today). Those seasons include 1957 (eight weeks), 1958 (two weeks), 1959 (one week), 1982 (nine weeks), 1983 (two weeks), 1984 (nine week), 1986 (12 weeks), 1987 (three weeks), 1993 (three weeks), 1994 (two weeks), 1995 (six weeks) and 1998 (eight weeks).
* This is the 66th week the Tar Heels have been ranked No. 1 in the nation in the coaches' poll.
CAROLINA AND THE DEMON DEACONS The Tar Heels lead the series with Wake Forest, 145-57, including a 70-69 win in Chapel Hill earlir this year. Carolina is 6-5 against the Deacons at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum since the building opened in 1989-90.
The Tar Heels actually have an 10-5 record in Joel Coliseum, including a pair of wins in both the 1993 and 1997 NCAA Tournaments. In 1997, the No. 1 ranked Tar Heels won Coach Dean Smith's 876th and 877th games in this building, establishing Smith as the winningest coach in Division I basketball history.
The Tar Heels have won eight of the last 10 meetings with the Deacons, although the two losses came in 1999-2000.
UNC's six victories over Wake Forest in the Joel Coliseum have come in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1998 and 1999. Carolina's six wins in the building have come by an average of 7.5 points (5, 10, 11, 1, 6 and 12), while the Deacons' five victories here have been by an average of 18.0 points (7, 26, 24, 24 and 9).
EARLIER THIS SEASON IN CHAPEL HILL Brendan Haywood scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead Carolina to a 70-69 win over No. 4 ranked and previously undefeated Wake Forest. Haywood picked up a loose ball in the lane and scored off the glass with 3.3 seconds to play to give the Tar Heels the victory. Haywood's basket was the fourth lead change in the final 1:22 and gave Carolina the win after Darius Songalia's 30-footer missed at the buzzer.
oth teams played well defensively as the teams combined to shoot less than 40 percent from the floor. Carolina shot 39.7 percent and Wake Forest, which came into the game fourth in the nation in shooting at 51.9 percent, made just 26 of 70 shots for 37.1 percent. It was the Deacons' lowest percentage of the season.
Joseph Forte had 15 points, three assists, two blocks and two steals, including a huge steal and layup to give Carolina a 68-67 lead with 37 seconds to play. Ronald Curry had seven assists (matching his career high) and just two turnovers in 35 minutes. He missed his first five field goal attempts, but drilled a three-pointer with 4:30 remaining to give Carolina a 62-59 advantage, its first lead in nearly nine minutes.
One of Curry's assists was an alleyoop pass to Julius Peppers, who slammed home a dunk with 8:19 to play to tie the game at 55 and send the crowd into near hysteria. The play was selected as CNN's Play of the Day. Peppers finished with five points, six rebounds and an assist, Kris Lang added eight points and nine rebounds, Jason Capel had seven assists and Max Owens had seven points.
The Deacons led 27-18 with 6:10 to play in the first half, but the Tar Heels ended the half on a 19-7 run to lead by three. Capel and Forte hit consecutive three-pointers and Haywood scored six points in a row to give Carolina the lead heading into the break. Neither team led by more than five points in the second half. Craig Dawson gave Wake Forest a 67-66 lead with 1:22 to play, but Forte's steal and layup with 37 seconds left put UNC back on top. Dawson scored again with 17 seconds to play to put Wake back on top. With six seconds to play, Capel drove and was blocked by Josh Shoemaker, but the ball bounced to straight Haywood and he scored off glass for the lead and the win.
LAST TIME IN WINSTON-SALEM WAKE FOREST 66, CAROLINA 57 - JANUARY 12, 2000 Carolina led by seven at halftime and had a 35-25 lead with 13:30 to play in the game, but managed to score only 22 points the rest of the game and the Deacons won, 66-57. Wake Forest went on a 16-5 run to take a 41-40 lead with 9:25 to play. Wake Forest also scored the next five points to extend its run to 21-5. The Deacs built as large as an 11-point lead in the final minutes and the Tar Heels could get no closer than seven in the final six minutes.
Robert O'Kelley and Darius Songaila led the Deacs with 18 and 16 points, respectively, and Rafael Vidauretta had nine rebounds and four steals. Kris Lang led the Tar Heels with 14 points and 11 boards and made six of nine shots from the floor. Joseph Forte was 1 for 10 from the floor and finished with eight points. Carolina shot 38.2 percent from the floor for the game, and made just 10 of 28 shots in the second half (.357). The Tar Heels also committed 18 turnovers, 11 more than Wake Forest.
PEPPERS, BOONE KEY IN WIN OVER YELLOW JACKETS Joseph Forte led all scorers with 23 points, Jason Capel had 11 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and the Tar Heels got key contributions from Julius Peppers and Adam Boone in Carolina's 82-69 win over Georgia Tech on February 3 in the Smith Center. Peppers tied his career scoring high with 14 points and added four boards and two assists in just 22 minutes. Boone, playing a season-high 28 minutes due to Ronald Curry's foul trouble, had season highs with 10 points and five rebounds and turned the ball over just three times against the Yellow Jackets' full court pressure.
Carolina held Tech to 35.1 percent shooting from the floor and out-rebounded the Yellow Jackets, 50-38. Tech center Alvin Jones had 18 rebounds, but Brendan Haywood and Kris Lang limited Jones to 5 of 15 shooting from the field. Jones attempted nine free throws, more than five below his average.
Playing less than 48 hours after the emotional win at second-ranked Duke, Carolina trailed 13-7 with 14:06 to play in the first half. The Tar Heels scored 23 points in a row, however, over the next 6:52. Boone was on the floor for all but the first four points in the 23-0 run. Peppers scored eight points in the run.
Lang had 15 points and seven rebounds and Haywood blocked five shots. Forte added nine rebounds, all on the defensive glass.
PEPPERS EQUALS SCORING HIGH AGAINST YELLOW JACKETS Sophomore forward Julius Peppers has scored a career-high 14 points twice as a Tar Heel and both of those games were against Georgia Tech in the Smith Center. Last year, he filled in for an injured Kris Lang and made six of seven field goal attempts en route to his 14-point night in a game Carolina won in overtime. Saturday, Peppers went five for eight from the floor and made four of six free throws for his 14 points.
Peppers is averaging 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game this season and is shooting 51 percent from the floor. He scored two second-half field goals in the win at Duke. The first came after he battled for a pair of offensive rebounds and it tied the game at 55, the second gave the Tar Heels a 74-71 lead with 2:28 to play.
HAYWOOD MAKING STATEMENT AS NATION'S BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER Senior center Brendan Haywood is playing as though he may be the best defensive player in college basketball. As evidenced by the shot-blocking tear he is currently on, he certainly is one of the most influential players in the game. Haywood has blocked 79 shots in 21 games, including five or more blocks in six of the last eight games.
Led by Haywood altering and blocking shots, rebounding misses and creating havoc for offenses in the paint, the Tar Heels are playing outstanding team defense. The Tar Heels have not allowed the opponents to shoot 50 percent in 16 straight games, all of which UNC has won.
Haywood already has the fifth-most blocked shots in UNC single-season history. Rasheed Wallace set the record with 93 in 1994-95 and Haywood came within two of that total a year ago. Warren Martin blocked 81 shots in both 1984-85 and 1985-86.
FORTE ON FIRE Sophomore guard Joseph Forte made a major move in the National Player of the Year chase in the last 10 days with some extraordinary performances against Virginia, Duke and Georgia Tech. Forte is now being considered among the favorites for the National Player of the Year awards along with Duke's Jason Williams, Notre Dame's Troy Murphy, Stanford's Casey Jacobsen and Duke's Shane Battier.
CBS Sportsline's Dan Wetzel wrote after Forte scored 23 points against the Yellow Jackets that he had become the best overall player in the game. ESPN's Jay Bilas said Forte was the best two-guard in college basketball.
Forte scored 33 points at home in the win over Virginia, had 24 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and three steals in one of the great all-around performances in Carolina history in the 85-83 win over Duke, and had 23 points and nine rebounds as UNC defeated Georgia Tech.
Forte has scored 20 or more points 13 times this season, including 11 times in the last 15 contests. Forte has made 50 percent or more of his shots from the floor in 11 of his 13 20-point scoring games this season.
He also leads the Tar Heels this season with 74 assists. The plast Carolina player to lead the team in scoring and assists was current L.A. Clipper point guard Jeff McInnis, who accomplished the feat in 1995-96.
"Forte is a sensational player," John Kresse, College of Charleston's head coach. "He is very opportunistic. I would pay admission to see him play. He's a ballerina. He makes the game look easy. He's so smooth, he's poetry in motion. He has a mid-range game and a go-to-the-hoop game."
Said Virginia coach Pete Gillen: "Forte is an unbelievable player, a tremendous two guard, the best I have seen in college in a long time."
Said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski: "Forte is one of the premier players in the country. He steps forward when they need him. I like the fact he doesn't need to have the ball all the time, nor does he have to take shots all the time. He just plays the game, and all of a sudden he hits you with flurries. I really love the way he plays."
Said Florida State guard Delvon Arrington: ``Great players sprout when their team needs them. He does it often. He's one of those players who can't wait for the big play. He's waiting always for the big play and he comes out on top. We were trying to keep the ball out of his hands. We wanted the other players to take the shots to give us more of a chance. He made that 3 and got his game going and after that it turned the game around. He quieted the crowd and got the crowd out of it and Carolina went from there.''
FORTE FASTEST TO 1,000 POINTS SINCE CHARLIE SCOTT Joseph Forte scored his 1,000 point in his 56th career game when he scored 24 at Duke on February 1. He became the 51st player in Tar Heel history to score 1,000 career points.
Forte reached 1,000 points faster than any Tar Heel player since freshmen became eligible in 1972-73, surpassing the former record held by Phil Ford (57 games). The last Tar Heel to reach 1,000 points faster was Charlie Scott (52 games) in 1968-69.
Lennie Rosenbluth (40 games) reached 1,000 points faster than any player in Carolina history, followed by Billy Cunningham (41), Bob Lewis (42), Larry Miller (46), Scott (52) and Forte (56).
Forte has 1,040 points, 48th in UNC history.
CAPEL'S ALL-AROUND GAME CONTINUES TO SHINE Junior forward Jason Capel had 11 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in the 82-69 win over Georgia Tech on February 3. That followed a 20-point, six-rebound, five-assist performance at Duke.
Capel has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games, grabbed 10 or more rebounds foue times this year, had five or more assists seven times this year, hit at least two three-point field goals nine times this year, and is shooting 82.8 percent from the free throw line.
TAR HEELS WIN BATTLE OF TOP-FIVE RIVALS AT DUKE No. 4 Carolina won its 15th game in a row on Feb. 1, topping No. 2 Duke, 85-83 in Durham, N.C. In the first-ever game between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils when both teams were 7-0 in the ACC, Joseph Forte led UNC in scoring (24), rebounding (16), assists (six) and steals (three). Forte's 16 rebounds were a career high and the most ever by a Carolina guard. He led the Tar Heels in points, rebounds, assists and steals for the second consecutive game (he also did so at NC State on Jan. 28).
The contest was the ninth time in series history that both teams were ranked in the top five in the nation in the AP poll at the time of the game. Carolina is 6-3 versus Duke in those games and has won five of the last six. The Tar Heels hold an 11-10 series advantage against Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devil teams in games played in Cameron Indoor Stadium and have won 30 of 64 games overall in Cameron. With the victory, Carolina ended its five-game losing streak to Duke. The win was the Tar Heels' first in Cameron Indoor Stadium since the 1995-96 season.
Brendan Haywood recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds and went 6 for 8 from the free throw line. Haywood, who entered the game hitting 48.6 percent from the line, connected on a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds left to break an 83-83 tie.
Jason Capel scored a season-high 20 points and also finished with six rebounds and five assists.
UNC won the rebounding battle, 47-40, including a 38-27 edge on the defensive boards. Carolina held Duke to 39.7 percent field goal shooting and just 12 of 35 three-pointers. Duke made just 13 of 27 free throws for a season-low 48.1 percent.
DOHERTY OFF TO FASTEST ACC COACHING START IN CONFERENCE HISTORY Carolina head coach Matt Doherty is 9-0 thus far in Atlantic Coast Conference competition. That 9-0 record is the best start ever by a first-year ACC head coach.
UNBEATEN IN JANUARY Carolina's 60-52 win over NC State was UNC's eighth in as many games in the month of January. That was Carolina's first unbeaten month with as many as eight games played since going 8-0 in December 1997.
FORTE ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR FOURTH TIME Sophomore guard Joseph Forte was named the ACC Player of the Week on Feb. 5 after averaging 23.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in wins over No. 2 Duke and Georgia Tech last week.
Forte was named co-ACC Player of the Week honors with Alvin Jones for January 22-28. Forte earned the award for his play in Carolina's wins over Virginia and NC State. Forte scored 33 points on 13 of 23 shooting against the Cavaliers and had 21 points in the win at NC State.
This was the fourth time in the last seven weeks that Forte received ACC Player of the Week honors. He was also honored by the ACC on December 25 (following the UCLA game) and January 1 (following his MVP performance in the Tournament of Champions in Charlotte). Forte is the only player to have won the award four times this season. Duke's Shane Battier is a two-time recipient. Eight other players have been named one time this year. Last year, Clemson's Will Solomon was the only three-time recipient.
Forte is the first Carolina player to earn at least four ACC Player of the Week awards in one season since Antawn Jamison set the single-season record with seven honors in 1997-98.
CAROLINA LEADS ACC IN FIELD GOAL DEFENSE Carolina's 16-game win streak coincides with the fact the Tar Heels have not allowed a team to shoot 50 percent from the floor in any of those 16 games.
Over the last 16 games, UNC's opponents have made just 36.0 percent of their shots from the floor (380 of 1055). By comparison, the Tar Heels have shot 48.7 percent from the floor in those 16 games.
Carolina leads the ACC and was fifth in the nation (through January 29) in field goal percentage defense. The Tar Heels have held their opponents to 37.8 percent from the field this season.
Dating back to last season, Carolina has held its opponents to under 50 percent shooting for the game in 37 of the last 38 games (the only exception since last January was Kentucky).
NC State made only six of 31 shots in the first half of Carolina's 60-52 win in Raleigh. For the game, the Wolfpack shot 31.3 percent. Duke connected on just 39.7 percent of its field goals, tying its season-low, in UNC's win in Durham.
The Tar Heels have held two teams under 30 percent. Miami shot just 23.4 percent to set a Smith Center record for lowest field goal percentage, and Marquette made only 29.5 percent. In the 84-70 win at Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets went 7 of 30 in the second half, a percentage of .233.
Carolina held Wake Forest to 37.1 percent shooting from the floor in its 70-69 win. That was the Deacons' lowest shooting performance of the season. The Tar Heels followed that effort by holding Maryland to 36.4 percent shooting in an 86-83 victory. Clemson shot 37 percent in the first half and made just four of their first 20 shots in the second half.
Only three teams - Michigan State, Kentucky and Charleston - have shot better than 45 percent against the Tar Heels. Kentucky shot a season-high 50.7 percent in its win over UNC and the Spartans made 46.6 percent from the floor in their win at East Lansing, Mich. Charleston led the Tar Heels by a point at the half and had the game tied with less than a minute to play before Carolina pulled out the victory.
UNC opponents have shot 50 percent or better from the floor in five of 42 halves played this year. Kentucky and Michigan State shot 54.5 and 52.9 percent in a half, respectively, in their wins over the Tar Heels. Buffalo, Florida State and Virginia all shot at least 50 percent in a half in losses to UNC.
In 42 halves, the opponents have shot 50 or better five times, 40-49.9 percent 11 times, 30-39.9 percent 20 times and less than 30 percent six times.
THREE TAR HEELS REPEAT AS NBA ALL-STARS For the second consecutive year, Carolina will be represented in the NBA All-Star game by a trio of former Tar Heel stars, Toronto's Vince Carter, Detroit's Jerry Stackhouse and Portland's Rasheed Wallace.
Carolina was the only school in the country to have three alumni named to the original NBA All-Star teams. After the late addition of Dikembe Motumbo to the East roster due to an injury to Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown now also has three selections.
"You look at the NBA and you look at Carter and Jamison, Stackhouse and Wallace, what they are doing at the NBA level. It just blows you away," said Dick Vitale on the February 3, 2001 ESPN telecast of the UNC-Duke game. "Their numbers have gotten so much better because at Carolina, they learned how to play the team concept, they learned how to be unselfish, they learned fundamentals and they transformed that into the NBA to where they are standouts."
Carolina has as many NBA All-Stars as does the rest of the ACC combined (Duke's Grant Hill, Georgia Tech's Stephon Marbury and Wake Forest's Tim Duncan).
Carter received more votes than any other NBA player in fan balloting for the second consecutive year. Carter will start for the East. Stackhouse and Wallace were selected to the teams by the NBA.
Antawn Jamison, who is averaging 25.1 poinst per game for Golden State, was named by ESPN as one of the "Most Notable Ommisions" from the NBA All-Star teams.
76ers forward George Lynch was named to ESPN.com's All-Unsung All-Star Team.
HAYWOOD CAROLINA'S ALLTIME LEADING SHOT BLOCKER Senior center Brendan Haywood is in the midst of his most prolific shot-blocking streak and became the University of North Carolina's alltime leader when he swatted away seven Florida State shot attempts in UNC's 80-70 win on January 20 in Tallahassee. Haywood moved past former All-America Sam Perkins in the UNC record book. Perkins blocked 245 shots in his 135 games as a Tar Heel. Haywood has now blocked 263 in 129 contests.
He also has moved into the Top 10 in ACC history in blocks, passing Maryland's Cedric Lewis and Georgia Tech's John Salley in the game at Florida State. Haywood is now ninth in ACC history. Clemson's Sharone Wright is eighth with 288. Only one other active ACC player has more blocked shots than Haywood. Yellow Jacket Alvin Jones is fourth alltime with 393.
The Greensboro, N.C., resident blocked 91 shots last year and 60 as a sophomore. He has 79 blocked shots in the first 21 games (including 40 in the last eight contests) this season to lead the ACC. He had a then-career-high eight in the win over Tulsa, a school-record 10 versus Miami, six versus Clemson at home, seven at FSU and six at NC State.
Haywood has blocked five or more shots nine times this year, including six of the last eight contests.
Haywood twice this year set the Smith Center record for blocked shots in a game. The previous mark was seven by Clemson's Wright (February 17, 1993) and Rony Seikaly of Syracuse (March 17, 1988, in an NCAA Tournament game against North Carolina A&T).
HAYWOOD HOLDS RECORDS ON BOTH ENDS OF THE COURT, ONLY ACC PLAYER TO ACCOMPLISH THIS FEAT Brendan Haywood is the only player in ACC history to lead his school in both career field goal percentage and blocked shots. He currently is the alltime ACC leader in field goal percentage at 64.5 percent and has 263 career blocked shots, a UNC record. No other school in the ACC has one career leader in both of those categories.
SMITH CENTER VOTED NO. 1 ARENA IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL In a recently published survey of Division I head coaches, The Sporting News ranked the Dean E. Smith Center as the No. 1 Game Venue in all of college basketball. The Smith Center beat out Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse and Madison Square Garden. The Sporting News wrote that "packing more than 21,000 people who bleed Tar Heel blue into the Smith Center is a sure thing for creating that warm glow that college sports fans flock to in the dead of winter."
Carolina also was selected by the coaches to have the best NBA Alumni Association of former players, the best two-sport athlete in the country in defensive end/forward Julius Peppers and the best rivalry in the country with Duke. Carolina's uniforms were voted the second-best in the country behind Cincinnati and UNC was tied with Duke for the third-best on-campus visit behind Pepperdine and UCLA.
CURRY POINTS THE WAY TO VICTORY In the last 11 games, sophomore point guard Ronald Curry has played 309 minutes. In that time, Curry has handed out 43 assists and committed only 25 turnovers. That is one miscue every 12.4 minutes.
Curry had a season-high 11 points in the win at Maryland and a season-best seven assists against both Wake Forest and the Terps. Curry has made 12 of 31 from behind the arc. As a freshman, he went 6 for 42 from three-point range.
Curry joined the starting lineup in the Buffalo game. The Tar Heels are 14-0 with Curry in the starting lineup this year and 15-0 in his career.
He had eight second-half points against Duke, all on drives to the basket. Those eight points included six in a 46-second span.
FORTE IN THE ACC RANKINGS Joseph Forte is on pace to become the first Tar Heel to average 20 points per game since Antawn Jamison averaged 22.2 en route to being named National Player of the Year in 1997-98. Forte is averaging 21.0 points a game.
Only five Carolina players have averaged 20 points a game in the last 30 years. (Phil Ford, 20.8 in 1978, Michael Jordan, 20.0 in 1983, Brad Daugherty, 20.2 in 1986, Hubert Davis, 21.4 in 1992, and Jamison, 22.2 in 1998).
Forte is third in the ACC in scoring, tied for fourth in steals, fifth in free throw percentage, 11th in assists, 11th in field goal percentage and 17th in rebounding.
Forte is the leading rebounder in the ACC for guards at 6.0 per game.
Forte's scoring is up this year from 16.7 to 21.0, his field goal percentage is up from .459 to .479, his free throw shooting is up from .752 to .825 and his assists have increased nearly one a game from 2.6 to 3.5 per game.
CAPEL THIRD ALLTIME AT UNC IN FT PERCENTAGE Junior guard Jason Capel is third alltime at Carolina in free throw shooting at 83.6 percent. He trails only guards Shammond Williams and Jeff Lebo as UNC's best free throw shooter. This year, Capel is fifth in the ACC in free throw percentage at .828. He was second in the ACC in free throw percentage in each of his first two seasons.
He has made 39 of 45 free throws in the last 13 contests (86.7 percent).
ON THE GLASS Carolina is out-rebounding its opponents by 5.2 per game. However, over the last 16 games, all UNC wins, the Tar Heels have 122 more rebounds than the opponents (+7.6 rebound margin). Carolina has out-rebounded its opponents by at least 11 rebounds in seven of those 16 games.
As a team, Carolina leads the ACC with 42.0 rebounds per game and is second in rebound margin (+5.2). Virginia is the only team in the league with a better rebounding margin.
DOHERTY RETURNS TO COACH 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 41-17 record as a head coach at Notre Dame and Carolina.
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