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University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Vs. UCLA In Brooklyn Saturday
December 18, 2015 | Men's Basketball
THE MATCHUP
♦ Two of the top programs in college basketball history will meet when No. 11 North Carolina (8-2) meets No. 22 UCLA (8-3) in the CBS Sports Classic in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. The Bruins and Tar Heels will tip off just after 1 p.m. at the Barclays Center.
♦ UCLA's 11 NCAA championships are the most in college basketball history. Carolina's five NCAA titles are tied for third-most.
♦ Kentucky (with eight NCAA titles) and Ohio State will face off follwing the UNC-UCLA game in a doubleheader of top programs.
♦ Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery and Allie LaForce will call the games for a CBS national television audience. Every Tar Heel game in December will be televised nationally.
TAR HEEL STORYLINES
♦ Carolina is looking for its sixth win in its last seven games and its ninth victory of the season.
♦ Last year in the CBS Sports Classic in Chicago, Carolina beat Ohio State, 82-74. Next year, the event will move to Las Vegas, where UNC will face Kentucky and Ohio State will play UCLA.
♦ The Tar Heels and Bruins are meeting for the second consecutive year. Last year at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, Carolina beat UCLA, 78-56.
BLACK UNIFORMS FOR CAROLINA
♦ For the first time, Carolina will wear commemorative black uniforms from Jordan Brand for the game vs. UCLA. Click here for more information.
UP NEXT
♦ Two days after the UCLA game, the Tar Heels will host Appalachian State on Monday night in Chapel Hill. The team will take a week off for the holidays before hosting UNCG on Monday Dec. 28.
A TAR HEEL WIN WOULD ...
♦ Improve Carolina to 9-2 in 2015-16.
♦ Improve Roy Williams' career record as a head coach to 759-204 overall.
♦ Make Williams 341-104 at Carolina.
♦ Make Williams 6-2 against UCLA as a head coach.
♦ Give Carolina its seventh win in the last eight meetings with UCLA (since Jan. 2, 1988).
A TAR HEEL LOSS WOULD ...
♦ Drop Carolina to 8-3 this season.
♦ Drop Roy Williams' career record to 758-205 overall.
♦ Make Williams 340-105 at Carolina.
♦ Be UCLA's first win over the Tar Heels since Jan. 15, 2000, in Chapel Hill.
TAR HEEL TIDBITS
♦ Carolina has shot 50 percent or better from the field in four consecutive games (and seven times in 10 games this year).
♦ UNC has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in eight of the last nine halves, doing so in eight in a row before shooting 48.6 percent in the second half vs. Tulane on Wednesday night (Dec. 16).
♦ The Tar Heels have shot 50 percent or better in the second half of 16 of their last 20 games (including seven of 10 games in 2015-16).
♦ Marcus Paige needs 15 points for 1,500 in his career. He has scored 1,485 points entering the UCLA game, 29th in Carolina history. Donald Williams is 28th with 1,492. Tyler Zeller is 27th with 1,501, Scott Williams is 26th with 1,508 and J.R Reid is 25th with 1,552.
♦ Paige has 493 career assists and needs seven to become the 13th Tar Heel with 500 or more assists.
♦ Paige made four three-pointers vs. Tulane to extend his career school record to 238.
♦ Brice Johnson is the only Tar Heel to score in double figures in each of the first 10 games this season.
♦ Johnson has made 21 consecutive free throws and leads the team with a free throw percentage of 87.5.
♦ Johnson has six double-doubles and is averaging 14.6 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game in 2015-16. He's second in the ACC in field goal percentage (60.8), seventh in rebounding (9.2) and fourth in defensive rebounds (7.2 per game).
♦ Joel Berry II has scored in double figures in seven of 10 games this season. As a freshman he scored in double figures one time all year.
♦ Berry is averaging 11.4 points per game this year averaging 4.2 ppg as a freshman.
♦ Justin Jackson has won UNC's team defensive player of the game award (after coaches' film study) four times in the last six games. He won the award once in 2014-15. Jackson leads UNC with four defensive awards this season.
♦ Theo Pinson is 11 for 26 (.423) from three-point range this season. He made just seven three-pointers all year as a freshman in 2014-15.
♦ Carolina is averaging 10.7 turnovers per game in 2015-16. Last year, the Tar Heels averaged nearly 13 miscues per contest.
♦ Carolina is ranked No. 11 in the nation in the KenPom.com statistical rankings. UNC is third in adjusted offensive efficiency (118.1) and 51st in adjusted defensive efficiency (96.3).
MEEKS OUT WITH BRUISED KNEE
♦ Junior forward Kennedy Meeks will not play for several weeks due to a bone bruise on his left knee, team team announced on Dec. 14. His absence began with the Tulane game on Dec. 16.
♦ Doctors have not determined how long Meeks will be out, although they expected he would miss at least two weeks of action.
♦ During that two-week span, the Tar Heels play UCLA, and then have home games against Appalachian State on the 21st, UNCG on the 28th, Clemson on the 30th and Georgia Tech on January 2nd.
♦ Meeks is averaging 12.3 points and 7.4 rebounds and is shooting 59.5 percent from the floor in nine games this season.
TAR HEELS IN BROOKLYN
♦ Carolina will be playing its first game in Brooklyn and its first at the Barclays Center when it faces UCLA on Saturday.
♦ The Tar Heels were 6-10 at the original Madison Square Garden in New York (appearances from 1936-66) and are 28-13 at the current Madison Square Garden (most recently, a 78-55 win over Rutgers there on Dec. 28, 2010).
SERIES HISTORY VS. UCLA
♦ Carolina leads the all-time series with the Bruins, 7-3. The Tar Heels have won six of the last eight meetings.
♦ These two teams met just over a year ago in the Bahamas, when Carolina beat UCLA, 78-56, in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
♦ Roy Williams is 5-2 as a head coach against UCLA (1-0 at Carolina).
♦ North Carolina (18 appearances) and UCLA (17) have made the most NCAA Final Four appearances in college basketball history (Kentucky also has 17).
♦ Carolina & UCLA have combined for nearly 4,000 wins, 93 NCAA Tournament appearances, 35 Final Fours and 16 NCAA titles.
PREVIEWING THE BRUINS
♦ UCLA enters Saturday's game with an 8-3 record and riding a five-game winning streak that includes a win over then-No. 1 Kentucky on Dec. 3 and a road win at Gonzaga on Dec. 12.
♦ The Bruins have beaten CSUN, Kentucky, Long Beach State, Gonzaga and Louisiana-Lafayette during their five-game winning streak.
♦ UCLA is ranked No. 38 in the KenPom.com statistical ratings entering Saturday's game.
