University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Face Florida Friday
November 28, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Essential Info: North Carolina vs. Florida • Battle 4 Atlantis
Thursday Nov. 28, 2014 • 8 p.m. ET • Imperial Arena, Paradise Island, Bahamas
Rankings: Carolina is No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and No. 6 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. Florida is No. 18 and No. 16, respectively, in the same polls.
TV: AXS TV. Kenny Rice, Seth Davis and Tom Walsh will have the call. AXS TV is available in the Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham and Fayetteville, N.C., areas on the following channels: AT&T U-verse (Channel 1106), CenturyLink Prism (Ch. 1105), Charter (Ch. 857), Comporium Communications (Ch. 1136), DirecTV (Ch. 340, DISH (Ch. 167), Morris Broadband (Ch. 812), Suddenlink (Ch. 203) and Windstream (Ch. 570). For additional listings outside of North Carolina, visit http://www.axs.tv/subscribe.
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (list of affiliates). Jones Angell (play-by-play), Eric Montross (analyst), Sean May (analyst) and Dave Nathan (host) will have the call. GoHeels TV subscribers can listen online.
Game Notes: Carolina | Florida
UNC 2014-15 Digital Game Program: Download Now
On The Web: GoHeels.com | GatorZone.com | Live Stats
Twitter: @UNC_Basketball | @GatorZoneMBK
Smith Center Information: Tickets | Parking Information | Tar Heel Express | Smith Center Info (Directions, Policies, etc.)
North Carolina (4-1) will try to defeat its second ranked opponent in two days when it faces Florida (3-2) in the fifth-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis at the Imperial Arena on Paradise Island on Friday. Tipoff is slated for just after 8 p.m.
Florida is No. 18 in the AP poll and No. 16 in the coaches poll and advanced to Friday's game with a 56-47 win over UAB. On Thursday, the Tar Heels beat No. 22/23 UCLA, 78-56.
Friday's game will be televised by AXS TV, with Kenny Rice, Seth Davis and Tom Walsh on the call. AXS TV is available in the Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham and Fayetteville, N.C., areas on the following channels: AT&T U-verse (Channel 1106), CenturyLink Prism (Ch. 1105), Charter (Ch. 857), Comporium Communications (Ch. 1136), DirecTV (Ch. 340), DISH (Ch. 167), Morris Broadband (Ch. 812), Suddenlink (Ch. 203) and Windstream (Ch. 570).
For additional listings outside of North Carolina, visit http://www.axs.tv/subscribe.
The Tar Heel travel party will return to Chapel Hill on Saturday afternoon to begin preparation for next Wednesday's ACC/Big Ten Challenge game against Iowa in the Smith Center.
Florida enters Friday's game with a record of 3-2 after its 56-47 win over UAB on Thursday. The Gators went 36-3 and reached the NCAA Final Four before losing to eventual national champ Connecticut in the semifinals.
The Gators return one starter from their 2013-14 squad that won a program-record 30 consecutive games for head coach Billy Donovan.
Carolina leads the all-time series with Florida, 3-2, but the teams have met just once since 1965.
That most recent meeting was a 71-59 Gator win in the 2000 NCAA semifinals in Indianapolis. That loss ended Carolina's Cinderella run to the Final Four as a No. 8 seed and was the final game of Bill Guthridge's tenure as the Tar Heel head coach. He retired three months later. Matt Doherty replaced Guthridge from 2000-03, and Roy Williams took over in Chapel Hill in April of 2003.
Carolina beat the Gators in Dec. 1965 in Charlotte and in 1923 and 1926 in Chapel Hill. Florida beat UNC in Gainesville in Dec. 1964. Roy Williams is 2-1 as a head coach against Florida (all at Kansas).
Carolina rebounded from its first loss of 2014-15 with a 78-56 win over No. 22 UCLA on Thursday in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The Tar Heels closed the first half on a 32-11 run to take a 14-point lead at the break after trailing 18-11 early, then went on a 15-0 run after the Bruins had cut it to 47-38 with just over 16 minutes left in the game.
Carolina forced a season-high 23 turnovers and held a 31-6 advantage in points off turnovers. UCLA, which entered the contest ranked third in the nation in assist/turnover ratio, had just seven assists against its 23 miscues.
UCLA entered the game shooting over 39 percent from three-point range as a team but went 1 for 14 from long range against UNC. Bruin starting guards Norman Powell, Isaac Hamilton and Bryce Alford combined to shoot 7 for 25 (.280) with five assists and 18 turnovers.
The Tar Heels limited UCLA to nine offensive rebounds after giving up 29 offensive boards in Wednesday's loss to Butler. The Bruins did out-rebound UNC 38-35 overall, partly because UNC took 23 more shots than did the Bruins.
Carolina attempted 67 shots in the game (hitting 28 for 41.8 percent). UCLA attempted 44 shots and made 17 (.386).
The Bruins entered the game hitting 39 percent of their three-point attempts in 2014-15. The Tar Heel defense limited UCLA to 1 for 14 from three-point range.
The 22-point win marks Carolina's biggest win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 13 Michigan State, 98-63, on Dec. 3, 2008, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Detroit.
Isaiah Hicks made his first career start and scored a career-high 10 points for the second consecutive game. He has already exceeded his scoring total from all of last season (43 points this year vs. 42 all of last year).
