University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Welcome UNCG Monday
December 28, 2015 | Men's Basketball
THE MATCHUP
♦ North Carolina (10-2) will play its final non-conference game of the season when it hosts UNCG (4-8) on Monday December 28.
♦ The Spartans and Tar Heels will tip off just after 6 p.m. in the Smith Center, returning from their respective holiday breaks. Carolina's last game was a week ago, a 94-70 win over Appalachian State last Monday. UNCG lost, 58-52, at North Carolina State last Tuesday.
♦ Roy Philpott (play-by-play) and Dino Gaudio (analyst) will call the game for an ESPNU national television audience. Every Tar Heel game in December will be televised nationally.
TAR HEEL STORYLINES
♦ Carolina has had a week off since its 94-70 win over Appalachian State last Monday night.
♦ Tar Heel players headed home for the Christmas holiday after the win over the Mountaineers and returned to campus for practice on the night of Saturday Dec. 26.
♦ Monday's game will be Carolina's final non-conference contest of the 2015-16 regular season.
♦ Carolina will play four games in eight days starting on Monday against UNCG. The Tar Heels will host Clemson in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Wednesday, then host Georgia Tech on Saturday before visiting Florida State next Monday.
♦ Carolina is looking for its eighth win in its last nine games and its 11th victory of the season.
UP NEXT
♦ After hosting UNCG, the Tar Heels will open their 18-game ACC schedule with back-to-back home games vs. Clemson (Wednesday Dec. 30) and Georgia Tech (Saturday Jan. 2), then hit the road to play at Florida State on Monday Jan. 4.
♦ After playing four games in eight days starting on Monday, Carolina will play only one game in the following 12 days. UNC will have a Jan. 9 date at Syracuse, then a week off before its Jan. 16 home game with North Carolina State.
A TAR HEEL WIN WOULD ...
♦ Improve Carolina to 11-2 in 2015-16.
♦ Make UNC 7-0 in the Smith Center in 2015-16 and 370-67 there in 31 seasons overall.
♦ Improve Carolina to 3-0 against UNCG.
♦ Improve Roy Williams' career record as a head coach to 761-204 overall.
♦ Make Williams 343-104 at Carolina.
A TAR HEEL LOSS WOULD ...
♦ Drop Carolina to 10-3 this season.
♦ Make UNC 6-1 in the Smith Center this season and 369-68 in the arena overall.
♦ Drop Roy Williams' career record to 760-205 overall.
♦ Make Williams 342-105 at Carolina.
♦ Be UNCG's first win over the Tar Heels in three tries.
TAR HEEL TIDBITS
♦ Carolina ranks No. 1 in the nation in offensive efficiency (119.0) in the KenPom.com statistical rankings (through games of Dec. 25).
♦ Carolina scored 94 points in its last outing against Appalachian State, the fifth time in 12 games the Tar Heels have scored 90 or more. UNC is averaging 91.3 points in its last six games.
♦ Carolina has scored 80 or more points in eight consecutive games. The Tar Heels have reached 80 10 times in 12 outings this season.
♦ Carolina has committed just 32 turnovers in the last four games (8.0 per game).
♦ Carolina has shot 50 percent or better from the field in eight of 12 games this year. The Tar Heels are shooting .495 as a team in 2015-16.
♦ The Tar Heels have shot 50 percent or better in the second half of 17 of their last 22 games (including eight of 12 games in 2015-16).
♦ No Tar Heel player scored 25 points in a game last season, but the team has had four 25-point performances already this year by Justin Jackson (25 vs. Northern Iowa), Kennedy Meeks (25 vs. Temple) and Brice Johnson twice (25 vs. Tulane and 27 vs. UCLA).
♦ Marcus Paige passed 1,500 points in his career vs. Appalachian State on Dec. 21. He has scored 1,504 points entering the UNCG game, 27th in Carolina history. Scott Williams is 26th with 1,508 and J.R Reid is 25th with 1,552.
♦ Paige is the 12th Tar Heel to reach 500 career assists, dishing out his 500th against Appalachian State.
♦ Paige is the second Tar Heel (with Jeff Lebo) and the 12th player in ACC history with at least 1,500 points, 500 assists, 150 steals and 200 three-pointers.
♦ Paige made one three-pointer vs. Appalachian State to extend his career school record to 241.
♦ Paige has 26 assists and four turnovers in his six games this year.
♦ Brice Johnson is the only Tar Heel to score in double figures in each of the first 12 games this season.
♦ Johnson tied the all-time UNC record for most consecutive field goals made with 16 against UCLA and Appalachian State. He made his last 11 shots from the floor against UCLA and his first five attempts vs. ASU. Brad Daugherty also made 16 in a row over a two-game period against UCLA and Iona to begin the 1985-86 season.
♦ Johnson has scored 20 or more points in each of the last three games. He scored 22 vs. Appalachian State after setting career scoring highs in back-to-back games. He scored 25 in the Dec. 16 win over Tulane and followed up that effort with 27 in the Dec. 19 victory over UCLA. He has nine career 20-point games.
♦ Johnson has six double-doubles and is averaging 16.3 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game in 2015-16. His previous career highs were 12.9 ppg and 7.8 rpg in 2014-15.
♦ Johnson leads the ACC in field goal percentage (65.3), is seventh in rebounding (9.2) and fifth in defensive rebounds (7.17 per game).
♦ Junior forward Isaiah Hicks has scored in double figures four games in a row. Hicks had 12 points and tied his season high with six rebounds vs. Appalachian State.
♦ Joel Berry II posted his first career double-double with 11 points, 11 assists and just one turnover vs. Appalachian State. That came two days after he scored a career-high 17 points vs. UCLA on a career-best eight field goals on Dec. 19.
♦ Berry has scored in double figures in nine of 12 games this season. As a freshman he scored in double figures one time all year.
♦ Berry is averaging 11.8 points per game and shooting 43.2 percent this season after averaging 4.2 ppg and shooting 40.4 percent 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 eight games. He won the award once in the 2014-15 season. Jackson leads UNC with four defensive awards this season.
♦ Jackson has 15 assists and only one turnover in the last three games.
♦ Theo Pinson is 11 for 28 (.393) from three-point range this season. He made just seven three-pointers all year as a freshman in 2014-15.
♦ Carolina is averaging 10.5 turnovers per game in 2015-16. Last year, the Tar Heels averaged nearly 13 miscues per contest.
♦ Carolina is ranked No. 10 in the nation in the KenPom.com statistical rankings. UNC leads the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency (119.0) and is 60th in adjusted defensive efficiency (96.8).
♦ UNCG is 284th overall in the KenPom rankings, including 310th in offensive efficiency (95.2) and 210th in defensive efficiency (103.5).
SERIES HISTORY VS. UNCG
♦ Monday's game will be the third meeting between Carolina and UNCG on the hardwood, all in the last three years.
♦ Two seasons ago on Dec. 7, 2013, the Tar Heels beat the Spartans, 81-50, in Chapel Hill. Last year, Carolina beat UNCG, 79-56, in Greensboro on Dec. 16, 2014.
♦ Roy Williams is 3-0 against the Spartans, including a 2-0 record at UNC and a 105-66 win on Nov. 22, 2002, while he was the head coach at Kansas.
PREVIEWING THE SPARTANS
♦ The Spartans enter Monday's game with a record of 4-8. UNCG has lost three consecutive road games at Wake Forest, at Elon and at North Carolina State. The Spartans will be playing their sixth road game in their last eight outings on Monday night.
♦ UNCG is coached by former Tar Heel player Wes Miller (UNC '07), who has former UNC teammate Jackie Manuel (UNC '05) on his staff. Another Tar Heel letterman, Sean Dwyer (UNC '14), was Carolina's head manager for the 2013-14 season and is a graduate manager for UNCG.
♦ Miller sat out the 2003-04 season (Williams' first as the UNC head coach) as a redshirt after transferring to Carolina in the summer of 2003 from James Madison. He played three seasons in Chapel Hill, winning an NCAA championship in 2005 alongside Sean May, Raymond Felton and the rest of Williams' first national title squad.
♦ Miller finished his UNC career with 342 points in 93 games, hitting 39.7 percent of his three-point attempts (96 of 242). He served as Carolina's team captain as a senior in 2006-07.
♦ Manuel played at Carolina from 2001-05, scoring 785 points (6.2 per game) and earning a spot on the All-ACC Defensive Team in '04 and '05. As a senior in 2005, Manuel won a national title as Miller's teammate in Williams' second season at UNC.
