University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Face Davidson Tonight In Charlotte
November 24, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2003
Monday, Nov. 24, 2003 * Charlotte Coliseum * Charlotte, N.C.
7 p.m. * TV: ESPN2
CAROLINA VS. DAVIDSON IN CHARLOTTE
The Tar Heels will play their second game in three nights on Monday night at 7 p.m. versus Southern Conference foe Davidson in the Charlotte Coliseum. Last season, Carolina beat Davidson, 79-64, on Jan. 8 at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
Davidson is 0-1 this season, coming off an 89-58 loss at Texas Tech on Nov. 18 in the first round of the Preseason NIT. Matt McKillop, son of Wildcat head coach Bob McKillop, had 18 points (including four three-pointers) in a losing effort for the Wildcats.
The Tar Heels are 158-18 all-time in games played in Charlotte and 34-8 at the current Charlotte Coliseum. Carolina has won 21 of its last 24 games played in Charlotte.
Carolina opened its 2003-04 season on Saturday night with a 90-64 win over Old Dominion in the Smith Center (see summary below).
BROADCAST INFO
Saturday's game will be televised nationally by ESPN2. This season, 26 of 27 regular-season Carolina games will be televised (the lone exception is the Dec. 30 game with Coastal Carolina).
The game also will be broadcast live on radio by the Tar Heel Sports Network, for which Woody Durham (play-by-play) and Mick Mixon (analyst) are in their 15th year together calling the action for Carolina Basketball. For the third straight season, former UNC All-America Phil Ford (analyst) joins Durham and Mixon on the broadcast team.
All Carolina men's basketball games may be heard on the Internet at TarHeelBlue.com.
LAST TIME OUT - UNC 90, OLD DOMINION 64
Carolina opened its 2003-04 season with a 90-64 win over Old Dominion on Saturday night in the Smith Center in Chapel Hill. Rashad McCants had 18 points, a career-high eight assists and four steals in the victory. Melvin Scott had 15 points and a career-high six assists and Carolina shot 60.7 percent from the floor vs. Old Dominion, the first time it had shot 60 percent for a game since shooting 71.1 percent against NC State on Jan. 8, 2000.
The Tar Heels led, 40-23, at halftime and went on an 18-0 run over a span of 6:33 early in the second half to blow open the game.
SERIES VS. DAVIDSON
An old rivalry will be renewed on Monday night when Carolina meets Davidson in the Charlotte Coliseum . The Tar Heels and Wildcats have faced off 69 times over the years, with UNC winning 58 of those contests (including 31 of the last 35). From the late 1920s until the advent of the Atlantic Coast Conference in the mid-1950s, Carolina and Davidson met twice per season (from the 1928-29 season until the 1953-54 campaign).
The Wildcats and Tar Heels have only met four times on the hardwood since 1954. In the first two cases, Carolina beat Davidson - in the 1968 and 1969 NCAA Tournament East Regional finals - for back-to-back berths in the Final Four.
In 1968, East Regional Most Outstanding Player Rusty Clark had game-highs with 22 points and 17 rebounds in a 70-66 Carolina win at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.
In 1969, East Regional MOP Charlie Scott had 32 points, including 10 of 14 shooting in the second half, and hit a last-second 20-footer to give Carolina an 87-85 win. The victory in College, Park, Md., gave Carolina a third straight Final Four appearance.
In 2001-02 in the Smith Center, the Wildcats upset Carolina, 58-54. Down by two points with 10 seconds to play, the Tar Heels committed their 20th turnover of the contest. UNC shot just 30.0 percent from the floor. Melvin Scott led Carolina with 15 points.
In 2002-03 in the Smith Center, Carolina beat the Wildcats, 79-64. Rashad McCants led UNC with 19 points, including four three-pointers. Melvin Scott added 15 points on five three-pointers, while Jawad Williams added 15 points and Raymond Felton 13.
NOEL TO MISS 6-8 WEEKS
Sophomore forward David Noel will miss 6-8 weeks of action due to a torn ligament in his right thumb, an injury which occurred in practice on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Noel underwent surgery on Nov. 12 to repair the torn ligament. Last year, the Durham, N.C., native played in all 35 games and averaged 5.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He had career-bests of 21 points and 12 rebounds against DePaul in the first round of the NIT.
"I am so disappointed for David and our team," said head coach Roy Williams at the time of the injury. "David worked hard in the off-season to develop his all-around game and that work had shown well in his play in the first weeks of practice. We look forward to his full recovery and expedient return to the lineup."
FELTON'S HONORS PILE UP
Sophomore point guard Raymond Felton has already won a number of honors and awards this season. Felton's honors in 2003-04 include:
* Preseason ACC Player of the Year
* Preseason first-team All-ACC
* Preseason first-team All-America (AP, ESPN.com)
* Named the nation's third-best player by The Sporting News (Nov. 3)
* Naismith Award watch list
* Wooden Award watch list
TAR HEELS' THANKSGIVING COMMUNITY SERVICE
For the third straight year, Carolina's men's basketball team is joining with former Tar Heel National Players of the Year Antawn Jamison and Jerry Stackhouse to help needy Chapel Hill citizens at Thanksgiving.
Jamison and Stackhouse will purchase turkeys and other Thanksgiving dinner supplies that the current Tar Heels will distribute on Tuesday, November 25, between 7 and 9 p.m. The Tar Heels will deliver food to Chapel Hill's Ronald McDonald House and Interfaith Council Homeless Shelter.
Jamison is in his sixth year in the NBA and his first with the Dallas Mavericks. Stackhouse, a nine-year NBA veteran, is in his second year as a member of the Washington Wizards.
FELTON, McCANTS NAMED AMONG NATION'S TOP PLAYERS
On Nov. 3, 2003, The Sporting News published a list of its choices for the top 10 players in the nation for 2003-04 on its website. Tar Heels Raymond Felton (No. 3) and Rashad McCants (No. 8) were the only ACC players on the list.
Felton and McCants were also both named to the watch list for the Naismith Award and the Wooden Award.
Preseason Review:
EXHIBITION #1: UNC 97, NC CENTRAL 59
Sophomore point guard Raymond Felton had 12 assists and four steals and Rashad McCants led all scorers with 26 points as the University of North Carolina beat North Carolina Central University, 97-59, on Nov. 8 in a men's college basketball exhibition game at the Smith Center.
McCants made 10 of 15 shots from the floor and added five assists and five steals. Felton committed only one turnover and was one of five Tar Heels in double figure scoring with 11 points. Jawad Williams (17), Sean May (15) and Melvin Scott (12) also joined in double figures for UNC. Scott added five assists and had just one turnover.
May added a team-high 10 rebounds, all on the defensive glass. Central out-rebounded the Tar Heels, 22-10, on the offensive boards.
The Tar Heels made 18 of their first 23 shots from the floor in the opening half (78.3 percent) and finished the half 18 for 29 (62.1 percent) in building a 51-28 lead at the break.
Carolina led by 29 at 51-22 with 4:01 left in the first half after a Felton dunk. The biggest lead of the contest was 51 points (97-46) with 4:08 to play after a Damien Price three-pointer.
The Tar Heels had 27 assists on their 36 field goals and committed only a dozen turnovers. NC Central had 24 turnovers, including 13 in the opening half.
EXHIBITION #2: UNC 104, NIKE ELITE 72
Sophomore center Sean May scored 22 points and had 16 rebounds and sophomore point guard Raymond Felton handed out a dozen assists to lead the University of North Carolina to a 104-72 win over Team Nike in a men's basketball exhibition game Thursday night at the Smith Center.
May was 9 for 14 from the floor and 4 for 4 from the free throw line. He had six offensive rebounds among his game-high 16 rebounds. Jawad Williams shared game-scoring honors with 22 points and had six rebounds. Felton scored 13 points in addition to his 12 assists.
Rashad McCants (15) and Jackie Manuel (10) also scored in double figures. Carolina shot 52.7 percent from the floor (39 for 74), including 7 for 15 (.467) from three-point range. The Tar Heels held Team Nike to 36.4 percent from the floor (28 for 77).
randon Watkins led Team Nike with 21 points.
Carolina raced out to an early 17-2 lead, but Team Nike edged ahead, 26-24, on an Elvin Mimms rebound and basket with 7:57 to play in the first half.
Trailing 29-26, Carolina scored 11 straight points, led by Felton, who scored five straight points on a pair of jumpers. The Tar Heels outscored Team Nike, 29-9 in the final 7:30 of the first half. Carolina's biggest lead of the game was 33 points at 102-69 with 1:35 to play.
SMITH CENTER
The Old Dominion game was the 238th game for the Tar Heels in the Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center. The Tar Heels have a 196-41 record in the Smith Center, including a 13-5 mark a year ago. Carolina has an 89-11 record in the Smith Center against non-Atlantic Coast Conference opposition.
Carolina was fourth in the nation in home attendance last season with an average of 18,688 fans per game.
WALK-ONS
Head coach Roy Williams has added four non-scholarship upperclassmen to the roster, including three seniors and a junior who are all veterans of the UNC junior varsity team. Phillip McLamb, a 6-6 forward from Charlotte, Damien Price, a 5-11 guard from Greensboro, and Jonathan Miller, a 6-1 guard from Burlington, made the varsity roster. McLamb and Price are third-year members of the varsity team, while Miller joined the varsity squad last season. Junior C.J. Hooker, a native of Palmer, Alaska, was added to the varsity roster in early Nov. 2003 after two years on the JV team.
ANOTHER PRESEASON TOP-10 RANKING
Carolina was ranked No. 10 in the USA Today ESPN Top 25 coaches' preseason poll and No. 9 in the Associated Press preseason poll. It is the first top-10 preaseason ranking for the Tar Heels since the 2000-01 season, when the Tar Heels returned four starters from their 2000 Final Four squad and were ranked fourth by the coaches and sixth by the AP.
Carolina has been ranked in the top 10 of the AP preseason poll 28 times.
FELTON & McCANTS ARE PRESEASON NAISMITH & WOODEN CANDIDATES
North Carolina sophomores Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants are among the preseason candidates for the Naismith Award and the Wooden Award, two of the most prestigious awards given to the National Player of the Year.
Three Tar Heels have won the Wooden Award - Phil Ford (1978), Michael Jordan (1984) and Antawn Jamison (1998). Two UNC players have won the Naismith Award - Jordan (1984) and Jamison (1998).
CAROLINA-DUKE NAMED NATION'S TOP COLLEGE BASKETBALL RIVALRY
Sports Illustrated on Campus named the Carolina-Duke rivalry the No. 1 "Hottest Rivalry" in college basketball and the No. 2 rivalry overall in its Nov. 18, 2003 issue.
Roy Williams
Roy Williams, the winningest active coach in the country, embarks on his first season as head coach at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina. He is 1-0 as Carolina's head coach.
Williams became the UNC coach on April 14, 2003, just one week after leading the Kansas Jayhawks to the NCAA championship game.
The 1972 Carolina graduate is one of the most respected coaches in the game, in addition to being one of its most successful. In 15 seasons as head coach at the University of Kansas, Williams built a model program that was second to none in the nation. His teams won more than 80 percent of its games, his players were exemplary student-athletes and the program was first-class in all aspects.
The Asheville, N.C., native compiled a 410-101 record - a winning percentage of .806. His win percentage is No.1 among active coaches and third-best in history behind only Clair Bee (.826) and Adolph Rupp (.822). No other active coach in the country has won at least 80 percent of his games. Williams spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach under Dean Smith at Carolina. From 1978-88, he helped coach such Tar Heel standouts as Mike O'Koren, Al Wood, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Matt Doherty, Michael Jordan, Brad Daugherty, Kenny Smith, Joe Wolf, Steve Hale, Jeff Lebo, J.R. Reid and Scott Williams.
He led Kansas to the Final Four in 1991, 1993, 2002 and 2003. Kansas was 34-14 in the NCAA Tournament, a winning percentage of .608 that is the sixth-best active mark in the country. The Jayhawks reached the Sweet 16 nine times and the Final Eight on five occasions.
WILLIAMS INKS FOUR FOR 2004-05
University of North Carolina men's basketball coach Roy Williams signed four high school seniors to National Letters of Intent to attend UNC and play for the Tar Heels.
Carolina inked the following four student-athletes (listed alphabetically) to grants-in-aid: JamesOn Curry, a 6-2 guard from Burlington, N.C.; J.R. Smith, a 6-5 wing from Clarksburg, N.J.; Quentin Thomas, a 6-2 guard from Oakland, Calif.; and Marvin Williams, a 6-8 forward from Bremerton, Wash.
Curry plays for Coach John Moon at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane, N.C. Smith plays for Coach Danny Hurley Jr. at St. Benedict Prep in Newark, N.J. Thomas plays for Coach Hodari McGavock at Oakland Technical Senior High School in Oakland. Williams plays for Coach Casey Lindberg at Bremerton High School.
PRESEASON ACC PREDICTIONS
Carolina was picked to finish second in the ACC in 2003-04 on Oct. 26 in a vote of media at the 2003 ACC Operation Basketball, the conference's annual preseason media day.
Duke was predicted to finish first, receiving 53 of 55 first-place votes and 493 points overall. Carolina received one first-place vote and 422 points overall. Wake Forest had the other first-place vote and 382 points overall, and was followed in the predicted order of finish by No. 4 NC State (300 points), No. 5 Maryland (271), No. 6 Florida State (203), No. 7 Georgia Tech (189), No. 8 Virginia (150) and No. 9 Clemson (65).
Sophomore point guard Raymond Felton was named the Preseason ACC Player of the Year, receiving 29 of 55 votes for the award. Duke's Loul Deng was named the Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year, garnering 49 votes.
Felton was named on 54 of 55 ballots for the 2003-04 ACC Preseason All-Conference Team, tying NC State's Julius Hodge as the leading vote-getter for the team. Felton and Hodge were joined on the preseason All-ACC team by Duke's JJ Redick (48 votes), Wake Forest's Vytas Danelius (27) and Florida State's Tim Pickett (24).
