.png&width=36&height=36&type=webp)
University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Host No. 1 UConn
January 16, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2004
Carolina will play its final non-conference game of the season when it hosts top-ranked Connecticut on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in a game televised by CBS.
The Tar Heels are tied with Notre Dame for second place in NCAA history with nine wins over No. 1-ranked teams in the Associated Press poll. Only UCLA (with 10) has more wins over No. 1 teams. The Huskies are the top-ranked team in the nation in both the AP and the coaches polls. Carolina is ranked No. 9 in the AP poll and No. 11 in the coaches poll.
Saturday's game will be UNC's fifth this season against top-15 teams in the AP poll. The Tar Heels are 2-2 thus far in those matchups, having defeated No. 11 Illinois and No. 8 Georgia Tech and lost to No. 14 Wake Forest and No. 8 Kentucky. Carolina's schedule is rated as the toughest in the nation in the RPI poll.
The Tar Heels are coming off a 90-84 loss at Maryland on Wednesday night. The Huskies are coming off a 94-70 win at Georgetown on Wednesday.
Following Saturday's game, Carolina will visit Florida State next Thursday night in the first of 13 consecutive ACC games to close the 2003-04 regular season.
Broadcast Information
Saturday's game will be televised by CBS. Verne Lundquist (play-by-play) and Billy Packer (analyst) will have the call.
This season, 26 of 27 regular-season Carolina games will be televised (the lone exception being the Dec. 30 game vs. Coastal Carolina). Fifteen UNC games will be nationally broadcast, not including ACC and NCAA Tournament contests.
The game 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 (for a fee) at TarHeelBlue.com.
Jawad Williams Injury Update
Junior forward Jawad Williams was limited to 12 minutes of action in Wednesday's game at Maryland, finishing with five points on 2 of 7 shooting. Williams suffered a broken nose and had a post-traumatic headache following a collision with Georgia Tech's Jarrett Jack in last Sunday's win over the Yellow Jackets.
Williams suffered a concussion in Carolina's Dec. 28 game against UNC Wilmington when he took an elbow to the side of his face. He also received three stitches in his right eyelid after being elbowed in the win over Miami on January 7. Williams was injured with 18:21 left in the second half of Sunday's game against Georgia Tech and did not return to action.
The Cleveland, Ohio, native is third on the Tar Heels in scoring at 15.3 points per game and is second in rebounding at 7.2 per contest. He missed one game (Dec. 30 against Coastal Carolina) due to the concussion he received on December 28.
Carolina vs. AP No. 1-Ranked Teams
Carolina is 9-14 all-time against teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll.
UNC is tied for second in the nation with nine wins against teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. UCLA leads the nation in all-time wins vs. No. 1-ranked teams with 10. Carolina and Notre Dame are second with nine, followed by Georgia Tech, Maryland and Duke (all of which have eight).
The ACC has 45 all-time wins vs. No. 1 teams, more than any other conference in the nation. Each of the nine ACC teams has beaten a No. 1 team at least once.
The Series with UConn
Carolina leads the all-time series against Connecticut, 3-1. Saturday's game will be the third in the series to be played in Chapel Hill (UNC beat UConn in Chapel Hill in 1990-91 and 2002-03).
On December 6, 1990, 10th-ranked Carolina beat 14th-ranked UConn, 79-64, in Chapel Hill in the ACC-Big East Challenge. Rick Fox led UNC with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the game, while George Lynch added 12 points and 14 boards. Carolina out-rebounded UConn, 59-32, in the contest.
On March, 21, 1998, No. 1 rated UNC topped No. 6 Connecticut, 75-64, in the NCAA East Regional Final in Greensboro to advance to its second straight Final Four. The win was Carolina's 34th of the season, giving head coach Bill Guthridge the NCAA record for most wins by a first-year head coach. Antawn Jamison (20 points, 11 rebounds) posted his fifth straight double-double and Shammond Williams had 19 points for UNC. Khalid El-Amin had 24 points for the Huskies.
In 2001-02, Caron Butler scored 29 points, 19 in the first half, to lead Connecticut to an 86-54 win over the Tar Heels in Storrs, Conn. Carolina played without Jason Capel, who was out with a concussion. UNC led 11-2 five minutes into the game, but the Huskies ended the first half on a 22-6 run and led by 18 at halftime.
Last season, Carolina beat UConn 68-65 (see summary below).
Last Season in Chapel Hill - Carolina 68, Connecticut 65
Jawad Williams hit the go-ahead jumper with :56.9 remaining in the second half and Rashad McCants hit two late free throws as Carolina beat No. 6 Connecticut, 68-65, in the Smith Center on Jan. 18. Prior to Williams' big shot, Emeka Okafor's dunk had given the Huskies their first lead of the game with 1:16 to play.
Carolina jumped out to a 23-4 lead with 10:39 left in the first half before UConn fought back to cut the UNC lead to 11 at the break. The Huskies gradually chipped away at the Tar Heel lead throughout the second half before Okafor's dunk gave them their only lead of the game.
McCants led all scorers with 27 points, as he hit 7 of 11 shots overall (4 of 5 three-pointers), hit 9 of 10 free throws and grabbed six rebounds.
Raymond Felton had 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds for UNC.
Carolina's defense limited Ben Gordon to 5 of 19 shooting (0-8 three-pointers) and held Okafor to 13 points and seven rebounds (both below his season averages).
