University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Host Cleveland State Thursday Night
December 30, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2004
CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina men's basketball team will play its second game in three days when it hosts Cleveland State on Thursday Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. in the Smith Center. Thursday's game is the second of three home contests this week for Carolina. The Tar Heels will be back in action again on Sunday, when they host William & Mary in their next-to-last non-conference game of the 2004-05 season (only the Feb. 13 game at Connecticut would then remain).
Thursday's game is Carolina's only non-televised game this season. It will tip off at 8 p.m., instead of 7:30 p.m. as originally scheduled. The change was made to accommodate Tar Heel fans who will travel to Charlotte earlier in the day for Carolina's football postseason contest against Boston College in the Continental Tire Bowl.
The Tar Heels, who are riding a 10-game winning streak, are 10-1 this season after losing their season-opener to Santa Clara. Carolina defeated UNC Wilmington on Tuesday night, 96-75. Jawad Williams led Carolina with a season-high 25 points on 9 of 12 shooting.
For the second consecutive week, the Tar Heels are ranked No. 4 in the nation in the Associated Press poll and No. 5 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll this week.
The Cleveland State game is the third of a six-game home stand for the Tar Heels. The next road game for UNC is Jan. 15, 2005, at Wake Forest.
Jawad Williams Rising to the Occasion as a Senior
Tar Heel senior forward Jawad Williams was not a preseason All-ACC or National Player of the Year choice like teammates Raymond Felton, Sean May and Rashad McCants, but he is having the best season of his career as a Tar Heel.
Williams leads the ACC in field goal percentage at 65.5. He has hit 64 of 86 field goal attempts (74.4 percent) in his last nine games.
Williams is well above his career numbers so far this year in field goal percentage (65.5 this year compared to 46.7 career entering the season), three-point field goal percentage (46.2 this year compared to 33.6), free throw percentage (74.4 compared to 69.6), and scoring (17.3 this year compared to 12.6 career).
But before his concussion last year against UNC-W, he was averaging similar numbers. He was posting 19 points and 8.1 rebounds per game and was making 56.3 percent of his shots through his first seven games as a junior.
In early December, ESPN's Dick Vitale named Williams to his "All-Support Team," honoring five players "who are vital to their ranked teams, yet they don't often see their names in the headlines. The guys on my All-Support Team aren't superstars, but ask their coaches about their importance and you'll hear rave reviews. They do so many things to help their clubs get to the winner's circle. Without their contributions, their teams wouldn't be as successful."
Vitale wrote of Williams: "North Carolina has its terrific trio of Raymond Felton, Sean May and Rashad McCants. But keep an eye on Williams, the 6-9 senior forward."
Felton's Shooting Numbers on the Rise
Thus far this season, junior point guard Raymond Felton has been a much-improved shooter, both from the field and from behind the three-point arc.
Felton is shooting 51.6 percent from the floor this season (33 of 64). His career field goal percentage entering the season was 40.7.
He is hitting 54.8 percent of his three-point attempts (17 of 31) this season. His career three-point field goal percentage entering the season was 34.1. Felton hit 4 of 4 three-point attempts in the first half vs. UNC Wilmington on Dec. 28.
For the second season in a row, Felton is leading the ACC in assists, averaging 7.4 per game in 2004-05.
Shooting by Halves
Carolina has shot 60.0 percent or better in four of its last six halves of play while holding its opponents to below 40.0 percent in four of the last six halves.
The Tar Heels, who lead the ACC in field goal percentage at 51.7 percent in 2004-05, have shot 50.0 percent or better from the floor in 13 of 22 halves of play this season.
UNC has shot 55.0 percent or better in 10 of those halves.
