University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Host Virginia At The Smith Center
January 23, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2004
Carolina will play its second game in less than 48 hours when it hosts Virginia on Saturday at noon in the Smith Center. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.
The Tar Heels, currently ranked No. 7 by the Associated Press and No. 11 by the coaches, are 11-4, 1-3 in the ACC this season. Unranked Virginia is 12-4, 2-3 in the ACC.
The Tar Heels are coming off a 90-81 overtime loss at Florida State on Thursday night. The Cavaliers defeated Clemson 61-50 in Charlottesville on Tuesday night.
Following Saturday's game, Carolina will host NC State at 7 p.m. next Wednesday in the Smith Center.
TAR HEEL NOTES & TRENDS
Individual Player Notes
* Rashad McCants leads the ACC by averaging 20.8 points per game against conference teams this season.
* McCants set a career-high with six three-pointers in Thursday's loss at Florida State.
* Raymond Felton leads the ACC and is third in the nation in assists with 8.13 per game.
* In ACC games only, Felton is third in the conference in scoring at 19.0 ppg.
* McCants was named the co-ACC Player of the Week on Tuesday after scoring UNC's last 10 points and hitting a three-pointer with 6.2 seconds left to beat No. 1 Connecticut last Saturday.
* A career 38 percent shooter entering the season, Jackie Manuel is shooting 57.5 percent this year (42 of 73) to rank second on the team.
* McCants is second in the ACC in scoring at 18.3 ppg. May is fourth at 16.1.
* May is second in the ACC with 10.2 rebounds per game. He has the two top rebounding games in the ACC this season -- 21 vs. Akron and 16 vs. Miami.
* Melvin Scott is averaging a career-high 11.9 points per game this season. He hit four three-pointers in Thursday's loss at Florida State.
* McCants has scored in double-figures in 47 of his 50 career games. In his career, Carolina is 20-6 when McCants scores 17 or more points.
Team Notes
* UNC is No. 7 in this week's AP poll and No. 11 in the coaches' poll.
* In Tuesday's NCAA statistics, Carolina led the nation in scoring (88.4 points per game) after averaging 72.1 ppg last season.
* Carolina has forced at least 20 turnovers in five straight games and has caused 11 20-plus turnover games by opponents this year. During the entire 2002-03 season, the Heels caused seven 20-plus turnover games.
* The win over UConn was UNC's 10th over a No. 1-ranked team (AP poll), tying UCLA for first in NCAA history.
* Five Tar Heels are averaging in double figures in scoring.
* UNC has scored 100 points in four games this season, its most since topping 100 points five times in 1993-94.
* The Tar Heels are ranked No. 5 in the nation in the latest RPI rankings and have played the nation's fourth-toughest schedule.
* Carolina is 3-2 against ranked teams in the AP poll in 2003-04, with wins over. No. 1 Connecticut, No. 8 Georgia Tech and No. 11 Illinois.
