University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Visits Duke Seeking Top Seed
March 5, 2016 | Men's Basketball
THE MATCHUP
♦ North Carolina (24-6, 13-4 ACC) will try to claim at least a share of the ACC regular season championship and the top seed in next week's ACC Tournament when it visits Duke on Saturday night in the last game of the regular season.
♦ The Tar Heels and Blue Devils will tip off just after 6:30 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
♦ Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst) and Shannon Spake (reporter) will call the game for an ESPN national TV audience (also online with WatchESPN).
♦ ESPN's College Gameday program will be on hand for the game, marking the second Saturday in a row and the third this season that the show has originated from the site of a Tar Heel game.
♦ Westwood One will carry the game nationally on radio, with Kevin Kugler and Bill Frieder on the call.
TAR HEEL STORYLINES
♦ Carolina and Miami enter the weekend tied atop the ACC standings at 13-4. Virginia and Louisville a game back at 12-5.
♦ With a win at Duke, the Tar Heels clinch at least a share of the regular season title and would be the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament (based on their win over Miami on Feb. 20).
♦ The Tar Heels will be playing their 15th game at the site of an ESPN College Gameday broadcast, most of any team in the nation. Four weeks ago, College Gameday was on-site for the Carolina game at Notre Dame. Last Saturday, the show was in Charlottesville, Va., for the UNC-Virginia game.
♦ Carolina is ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press and coaches' polls this week. Duke is No. 17 in the AP poll and No. 21 in the coaches' poll.
UP NEXT
♦ Carolina has a bye to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Washington D.C. and will play on Thursday March 10.
♦ On Thursday, the No. 1 seed plays at noon, No. 2 plays at 7 p.m. and No. 3 plays at 9 p.m.
A TAR HEEL WIN WOULD ...
♦ Improve UNC to 25-6, 14-4 ACC in 2015-16.
♦ Clinch at least a share of the ACC regular season championship and the top seed in the ACC Tournament for Carolina.
♦ Improve Roy Williams' record on the road in ACC play to 70-38.
♦ Make UNC 6-3 on the road in ACC play this season and extend UNC's 39th winning record on the road in 63 ACC seasons (including 10 times in 13 years under Williams).
♦ Tie the school record for most ACC wins in a season with 14 (marking the ninth 14-win ACC campaign by the Tar Heels).
♦ Snap UNC's three-game losing streak at Duke and mark the first Tar Heel win in Durham since the 2012 regular season finale.
♦ Improve UNC to 48-52 at Duke and 36-43 in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
♦ Make Williams 12-19 overall against Duke, including 11-16 at UNC.
♦ Give Carolina its 36th 25-win season and its ninth in the last 12 seasons.
♦ Give Williams his 21st 25-win season in 28 campaigns as a college head coach.
♦ Improve Williams' career record as a head coach to 775-208 overall.
♦ Make Williams 357-107 at Carolina.
A TAR HEEL LOSS WOULD ...
♦ Drop Carolina to 24-7, 13-5 ACC.
♦ Complete the Tar Heels' regular season with a 13-5 mark. Carolina could then be the No. 2 or 3 seed in the ACC Tournament (depending on Miami and Virginia's results this weekend).
♦ Drop UNC to 5-6 on the road in 2015-16, including 5-4 in ACC play.
♦ Mark Carolina's fourth consecutive loss at Duke and drop UNC to 47-53 vs. Duke in Durham (and 35-44 at Cameron Indoor Stadium).
♦ Drop Roy Williams' career record to 774-209 overall.
♦ Make Williams 356-108 at Carolina.
TAR HEELS HEADLINE ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY AGAIN
♦ ESPN College Gameday, the network's flagship traveling college basketball show, will originate from Durham for the game between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils on Saturday night.
♦ North Carolina will be making its 15th all-time appearance (home or away) at a College Gameday Site, most of any school in the nation.
♦ The Tar Heels also lead with 11 road appearances at a Gameday site (including Saturday).
♦ UNC's three Gameday appearances this year (at Notre Dame, at Virginia, at Duke) mark the first time any team has done so in a single season.
♦ Saturday will mark the eighth time Gameday has originated from a Carolina-Duke game, the most common matchup in the show's history.
♦ UNC is 6-8 in games played at College Gameday sites.
♦ Carolina won its first five such games (2006-09) but has lost six in a row and eight of its last nine (since 2010).
WINNING ON THE ROAD IN THE ACC
♦ Roy Williams' Tar Heel teams have been one of the nation's top road teams over the years.
♦ The Tar Heels are 5-3 on the ACC road this season (wins at Florida State, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Boston College and N.C. State and losses at Louisville, Notre Dame and Virginia).
♦ Williams's teams are 69-38 (.645) on the road in ACC play and have finished above .500 on the road 10 times in 13 years under Williams.
♦ Williams' ACC road winning percentage is second-best in ACC history behind Vic Bubas of Duke (.667 from 1960-69). Frank McGuire of UNC and South Carolina is third at .618.
♦ UNC now has 39 winning road records in 63 overall ACC seasons.
♦ Under Williams, UNC went 6-2 on the road in the ACC in 2004-05, 7-1 in 2005-06, 8-0 in 2007-08, 6-2 in 2008-09, 6-2 in 2010-11, 7-1 in 2011-12, 5-4 in 2012-13, 5-4 in 2013-14 and 6-3 in 2014-15.
PAIGE NAMED FIRST-TEAM ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA
♦ Senior guard Marcus Paige is a first-team Academic All-America as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
♦ The senior from Marion, Iowa, is a double major in media and journalism/history. He is a two-time recipient of the Skip Prosser Award as the ACC's top scholar-athlete for men's basketball, and previously was a second-team Academic America in both 2014 and 2015.
♦ Paige is the first Tar Heel to ever earn Academic All-America honors in three seasons. Tyler Zeller was a first-team selection in 2011 and 2012 and Tommy LaGarde was a first-team choice in 1976 and a second-teamer in 1975. Paige is just the third men's basketball player in ACC history to be a three-time Academic All-America (Maryland's Tom McMillen and Duke's Mike Gminski were three-time first-team selections in 1972-74 and 1978-80, respectively).
♦ Paige is the ninth Tar Heel to earn first-team Academic All-America honors joining, Billy Cunningham (1965), Charles Scott (1970), Steve Previs (1972), Dennis Wuycik (1972), LaGarde (1976), Steve Hale (1986), Eric Montross (1994) and Zeller (2011, 2012).
♦ The CoSIDA Academic All-America men's basketball first team includes Paige, Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff, Grand Canyon's Joshua Braun, Nebraska's Shavon Shields and College of Charleston's Canyon Barry. Uthoff is the Academic All-America of the Year.
♦ Paige is the fifth player to play for Roy Williams to earn first-team Academic All-America honors: Jacque Vaughn (1996 and 1997 at Kansas), Jerod Haase (1997 at KU), Ryan Robertson (1999 at KU), Zeller (2011 and 2012) and Paige (2016).
PAIGE WINS BACK-TO-BACK SKIP PROSSER AWARDS
♦ Senior guard Marcus Paige is the 2016 recipient of the Skip Prosser Award, which is presented to the Atlantic Coast Conference's top scholar-athlete for men's basketball. Paige also won the Prosser Award in 2015.
♦ UNC's Tyler Zeller is the only other two-time winner of the Prosser Award, which is in its ninth year. Zeller won the award in 2011 and 2012.
♦ UNC freshman forward Luke Maye joins Paige on the 2016 Academic All-ACC team. Paige made the Academic All-ACC for the fourth time, joining Henrik Rodl (1990-93) and Zeller (2009-12) as the only four-time selections in UNC history.
♦ To be eligible for consideration for the Academic All-ACC team, a player must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career.
♦ To be nominated for the Skip Prosser Award, a student-athlete must be an upperclassman with a grade-point average of 3.0 or better – both in his career and in the previous two semesters. Sixty percent of the award is based on academic achievement and 40 percent on athletic accomplishments.
♦ Previous Skip Prosser Award recipients include Clemson guard Cliff Hammonds (2008), Miami guard Jack McClinton (2009), Virginia center Jerome Meyinsse (2010), Zeller (2011 and 2012), Duke center Mason Plumlee (2013), Pittsburgh guard Cameron Wright (2014) and Paige (2015).
♦ A 6-1, 175-pound senior from Marion, Iowa, Paige is double majoring in media and journalism/history. He ranks first among current ACC players in career points (1,706), three-point field goals (272) and steals (192), and second in assists (563) and free throw percentage (.847). He is averaging 12.1 points and has 89 assists this season.
TAR HEEL TIDBITS
TEAM NOTES
♦ UNC's defense has allowed only one opponent to shoot 50 percent or better from the floor this season (Maryland at .508 on Dec. 1).
♦ The Tar Heels have held 19 consecutive opponents to under 45 percent in field goal percentage.
♦ The Tar Heels finished their home schedule 15-1. This is the sixth time in the last 12 years the Tar Heels have won at least 15 games in the Smith Center.
♦ Carolina's home winning percentage of .938 is the seventh best in the 31-year history of the Smith Center.
♦ The Tar Heels have won at least 13 ACC regular-season games for the 13th time overall and the seventh time in Roy Williams' 13 seasons as head coach.
♦ Carolina has won 14 regular-season ACC games in 1957, 1984, 1987, 1993, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2012. The Tar Heels have a chance to win their 14th on Saturday at Duke.
♦ Carolina is 3-3 vs. ranked opponents this season (wins over Maryland, UCLA and Miami and losses to Louisville, Duke and Virginia). The Tar Heels are 66-54 against ranked foes under Roy Williams.
♦ Close Losses: Carolina's six losses this year have been by a total of 22 points (four at UNI, two at Texas, six at Louisville, four at Notre Dame, one vs. Duke and five at Virginia).
♦ Assist-Turnover Ratio: Carolina's assist-to-turnover ratio (1.69) ranks third in the nation and is the best of any Tar Heel team since turnovers were first recorded in 1981-82. The second-best figure is 1.53 in 1985-86. Other top-five seasons include 1.45 (2008-09), 1.45 (2011-12) and 1.42 (1997-98).
♦ UNC has three of the top 10 players in the ACC in assist/turnover ratio in Marcus Paige (third at 3.18), Justin Jackson (fourth at 3.06), and Joel Berry II (nith at 2.26). No other school has more than one player in the top 10.
♦ Cutting Down on Turnovers: UNC is averaging 10.9 turnovers per game, the lowest figure of any Carolina team since turnovers were first recorded in 1981-82. Last year, the Tar Heels averaged nearly 13 turnovers per contest.
♦ There have been seven seasons in which UNC has committed fewer than 13 turnovers per game. The current record was set in 2013-14 (11.94 per game). The other seasons below 13 are 2011-12 (11.95), 2012-13 (12.3), 2008-09 (12.4), 1994-95 (12.9) and 1981-82 (12.9).
♦ Shooting 50 Percent: UNC is 16-1 this year when shooting at least 50 percent from the floor.
♦ Carolina is 171-16 under Roy Williams when its opponents shoot under 40 percent.
♦ UNC's three-point percentage of 31.6 is the lowest in school history. The current low is 32.8 percent, set in 2010-11.
♦ 80 or More: Carolina has scored 80 or more points in 20 of 30 games and is averaging 83.1 ppg this season.
♦ The Tar Heels are 232-28 in 13 seasons under Roy Williams when they score at least 80 points (19-1 this season).
♦ 90 or More: The Tar Heels have scored 90 or more points eight times his season after doing so five times all of last year.
♦ 100 or More: UNC is 49-1 under Williams when it scores 100 points or more.
♦ 25-Point Games: No Tar Heel player scored 25 points in a game last season, but the team has had eight 25-point performances already this year by four different players: Justin Jackson (25 vs. Northern Iowa), Kennedy Meeks (25 vs. Temple), Marcus Paige (30 at Florida State) and Brice Johnson five times (25 vs. Tulane, 27 vs. UCLA, 39 at Florida State, 27 vs. Wake Forest and 29 vs. Duke).
♦ In the NCAA stats: The Tar Heels are 11th in the nation in scoring at 83.1 points per game, 16th in scoring margin at 12.6, third with an assist-turnover ratio of 1.69, fifth with 18.4 assists per game, 18th in rebounding margin (7.7) and 23rd in field goal percentage (48.1).
♦ KenPom Ratings: Carolina is ranked No. 5 in the nation in the KenPom.com statistical rankings. UNC is third in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency (119.3) and 39th in adjusted defensive efficiency (96.2).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
♦ Roy Williams has won 356 games at Carolina, the fourth-most wins all-time by an ACC coach. Gary Williams is third with 461 at Maryland.
♦ Williams is 774-208 as a head coach, including 356-107 at Carolina, 154-61 in ACC regular-season games, 385-44 at home and 183-27 in the Smith Center.
♦ Brice Johnson leads the ACC with 18 double-doubles this season. He had 10 in 108 games in his first three seasons.
♦ Johnson has led UNC in scoring 14 times and in rebounding 21 times this season. Both figures lead the team.
♦ Johnson is eighth in the ACC in scoring (16.8 ppg), first in rebounding (10.4 rpg) and first in field goal percentage (61.6). He also leads the conference in defensive rebounding (7.67 per game).
♦ Johnson is the only player in the ACC shooting at least 60 percent from the floor.
♦ Johnson is on pace to become the third Tar Heel to average a double-double in points and rebounds and shoot 60 percent (with Mitch Kupchak in 1975 and Bobby Jones in 1973) and the fifth Tar Heel in the last 39 years to average a double-double (with John Henson in 2011, Tyler Hansbrough in 2008, Sean May in 2005 and Antawn Jamison in 1998).
♦ Johnson has five games this season with 15 or more rebounds. He's the first Tar Heel to accomplish that since John Henson in 2010-11. The last Tar Heel to have six 15+ rebound games was Sean May in 2004-05.
♦ Johnson has 932 career rebounds, ninth in UNC history. Eric Montross is eighth with 941 and Brad Daugherty is seventh with 1,003.
♦ Johnson has 1,541 career points, 27th in school history. J.R. Reid is 26th with 1,552 and Jeff Lebo is 25th with 1,567.
♦ Johnson is averaging a team-high and career-high 16.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game this season. His previous career highs were 12.9 ppg and 7.8 rpg last season.
♦ Joel Berry II scored a career-high 21 points and hit a career-high five three-pointers at Virginia on Feb. 27.
♦ Berry has the third-highest scoring increase in the ACC this season (+8.1 ppg) behind Duke's Grayson Allen and N.C. State's Cat Barber.
♦ Berry has stepped into a starting role this season and improved across the board statistically, including scoring (4.2 to 12.3 ppg), field goal percentage (40.4 to 41.9), three-point percentage (35.4 to 37.9) and assists (1.5 to 3.8 per game).
♦ Berry has scored in double figures in 19 of the last 21 games and 25 of 30 contests this season. As a freshman he scored in double figures one time.
♦ Berry leads UNC with 46 steals and is sixth in the ACC at 1.53 per game.
♦ Marcus Paige has scored 1,706 points, 17th in Carolina history. Billy Cunningham is 16th with 1,709, Rashad McCants is 15th with 1,721 and George Lynch is 14th with 1,747.
♦ Paige is the ACC's top active career scorer with 1,706 points and Brice Johnson is fourth with 1,541.
♦ Paige has 563 assists, 10th in school history. Jeff Lebo is ninth with 580.
♦ Paige is the only Tar Heel and one of four players in ACC history with at least 1,500 points, 500 assists, 350 rebounds, 250 three-pointers and 175 steals. The other ACC players to reach those threshholds are Travis Best of Georgia Tech, Malcolm Delaney of Virginia Tech and Jason Williams of Duke.
♦ Paige is one of four Tar Heels with 1,500 career points and 500 career assists (joining Phil Ford, Jeff Lebo and Kenny Smith).
♦ Paige made one three-pointer vs. Syracuse to extend his career school record to 272.
♦ Justin Jackson is shooting 49 for 90 (.544) in the last nine games.
♦ Jackson has scored in double figures in seven straight games and eight of the last nine.
♦ Jackson is 11 for 24 (.458) from three-point range in the last seven games.
♦ Junior walk-on guard Kanler Coker broke a bone in his right hand in practice on Feb. 24, a day prior to the win at N.C. State. Doctors expect Coker to miss three to four weeks of action as a result.
PREVIEWING THE BLUE DEVILS
♦ Duke enters Saturday night's game with a 22-8 overall record, 11-6 in the ACC.
♦ Duke has won seven of its last nine games, including a a 79-71 home win over Wake Forest on Tuesday night.
♦ In the KenPom.com adjusted efficiency ratings, Duke ranks No. 16 overall, including No. 4 offensively (119.8) and No. 96 defensively (99.8).
SERIES HISTORY
♦ Carolina leads the all-time series with Duke, 133-108.
♦ The Blue Devils have won 11 of the last 14 meetings in the series (since the start of the 2009-10 season). UNC had won six of seven from 2006-09.
♦ UNC is 52-47 against Duke in Durham and 43-35 in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
♦ The Tar Heels are 7-5 under Williams in all second meetings of a regular season with the Blue Devils.
♦ Head coach Roy Williams is 10-16 at Carolina against Duke, including 5-7 in Durham.
♦ The Tar Heels have played more games against Duke than against any other opponent.
♦ Two-and-a-half weeks ago in Chapel Hill, the Blue Devils beat UNC, 74-73.
♦ Duke beat Carolina twice last year, including 92-90 in overtime in Durham and 84-77 in Chapel Hill.
♦ Two years ago, the teams split a pair of meetings with each team winning on its home court.
♦ Duke has shot 50 percent from the floor against UNC just four times in 26 games against Carolina in the Roy Williams era (the 2011 ACC final, in 2013 in Chapel Hill, in 2014 in Durham and in 2015 in Durham).
♦ Carolina is 40-43 against Duke since Mike Krzyzewski became the Blue Devil head coach.
♦ Carolina and Duke have accounted for 36 of the ACC's 62 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championships, including 19 by Duke and 17 by UNC.
♦ Carolina and Duke are No. 1 and 2 all-time in the ACC in wins, ACC regular-season wins, ACC Tournament wins and NCAA Tournament wins.
♦ Carolina has won the ACC regular-season title 29 times. The Blue Devils are second with 19 regular-season crowns.
♦ Either Carolina or Duke have played in the NCAA Final Four 23 times in the last 35 seasons (Carolina in 1981, 1982, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008 and 2009). Both teams reached the 1991 Final Four.
♦ The Tar Heels and Blue Devils have won nine national championships in the last 34 seasons, four by Carolina and five by Duke.
♦ Carolina has played in an NCAA-record 18 Final Fours. Duke has played in 16 Final Fours.
♦ The Sporting News called Carolina-Duke “the greatest rivalry in American sport” on Feb. 9, 2009.
ROY WILLIAMS VS. DUKE
♦ Carolina is 10-16 against Duke since Roy Williams became the Tar Heel head coach prior to the 2003-04 season.
♦ Williams went 1-3 vs. Duke while the head coach at Kansas. Williams' Jayhawks defeated the Blue Devils, 69-65, on March 27, 2003, in Anaheim, Calif., in the NCAA Tournament West Regional semifinals. Nick Collison had 33 points and 19 rebounds in the game.
♦ Prior to that win over Duke, Williams-led Kansas teams lost to Duke in the 1988-89 regular season (Williams' first year as a collegiate head coach), in the 1991 NCAA championship game in Indianapolis and in the 2000 NCAA Tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C.
♦ The Tar Heels were 16-11 against Duke during Williams' stint as a Carolina assistant coach from 1978-88.
CAROLINA VS. DUKE IN THE AP RANKINGS
♦ Saturday's game is the 157th consecutive meeting in the series when at least one of the two schools was ranked in a national poll. The streak dates to Feb. 25, 1955.
♦ This is the 142nd consecutive meeting in which at least one school has been ranked in the Associated Press Top 20 or AP Top 25. Of those games, 127 contests have featured a team in the AP Top 10.
♦ Two years ago on Feb. 20, 2014, in Chapel Hill, the unranked Tar Heels beat No. 5 Duke, marking the first time an unranked Carolina team had beaten a ranked Duke team in 11 seasons (since March 9, 2003, in Chapel Hill).
♦ The UNC win in 2014 was the first time that unranked Carolina beat a top-five ranked Duke team since March 4, 1990. That was an 87-75 UNC win in Durham over No. 5 Duke.
♦ The last time Carolina and Duke met when neither team was ranked by the AP was on Feb. 27, 1960. Frank McGuire and Vic Bubas coached the Tar Heels and Blue Devils, respectively, at the time.
♦ Carolina has been ranked in the AP poll in 115 of the last 142 meetings. Duke has been ranked in 98 of those 142 matchups.
♦ This is the 162nd meeting between the two schools since the ACC began play in 1953-54 and the 159th time in that span at least one of those teams was ranked in the AP Top 20 or AP Top 25 (the only games in which both teams were not ranked were in 1955 and 1960).
♦ The longest stretch between being ranked for the Tar Heels was 12 games (the first 12 games Dean Smith was head coach). Duke's longest stretch of not being ranked in the series was 24 games from 1970-78.
