Tar Heels To Host No. 4 Gonzaga Saturday

GAME 10 NOTEBOOK
• The 7-2 Tar Heels play host to 9-1 Gonzaga the day after exams end at Carolina. Carolina has been idle since beating UNCW, 97-69, in the Smith Center on 12/5.
• The game features two of the top six coaches in all-time win percentage. Mark Few is third (.821) and Roy Williams is sixth (.788). Williams is second behind Adolph Rupp among coaches with at least 1,000 games as a head coach.
• Luke Maye needs 20 points to become the 78th Tar Heel to score 1,000 points (76 have scored 1,000 points at UNC; Cameron Johnson reached the 1,000-point mark earlier this year after scoring 583 points in three seasons at Pitt).
• Kenny Williams has a team-high 44 assists in 10 games. Last year, he had 88 assists in 37 games.
• Williams has led UNC in assists five times in the first nine games. He did that four times in 93 games in his first three seasons.
• Cameron Johnson has led UNC in scoring four times this season; he did that three times in 2017-18.
• This is the first time Carolina has played two AP top-10 opponents in the first 10 games of the season since 2013-14, when the Tar Heels beat No. 3 Louisville in Uncasville, Conn., and No. 1 Michigan State in East Lansing.
• This is the first time the Tar Heels have played host to a top-five team in the AP poll since 12/1/2015, when UNC beat second-ranked Maryland, 89-81, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
• Carolina is 26-22 all-time when playing host to an AP top-five opponent. That includes a 6-1 record against top-five non-ACC opponents at home (see full list on page 2). The Tar Heels are 4-1 in the Smith Center; Roy Williams is 3-0 in such games with wins over UConn, Ohio State and Maryland.
• Fans are asked to bring NEW toys to the Gonzaga game for Toys 4 Tots. This year, the toys will be given to children and families not only in Orange County, but also to families from the eastern North Carolina counties most devastated by Hurricane Florence.

UNC-GONZAGA SERIES
• Carolina has won two of the previous three games against the Zags, all of which have been played at neutral sites.
– Gonzaga beat UNC, 82-74, in the 2006 Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden. Freshman forward Brandan Wright led the Tar Heels with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
– Carolina advanced to the 2009 NCAA South Regional final by beating Gonzaga, 98-77, in Memphis in a Sweet 16 encounter. Tyler Hansbrough had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson (nine assists) both scored 19 and Danny Green had seven assists, four steals and two blocks.
– the Tar Heels beat the Bulldogs, 71-65, on April 3, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz., in the national championship game (see more info below)
• Roy Williams is 3-1 against Gonzaga, including a win while the head coach at Kansas. That game was played in Lawrence, the first game of the 1998-99 season for the Jayhawks.

LAST MEETING: CAROLINA 71, GONZAGA 65
APRIL 3, 2017 IN GLENDALE, ARIZ.
• Final Four MVP Joel Berry II scored a game-high 22 points and had six assists, Justin Jackson had 16 points, three assists and two blocks, Kennedy Meeks had 10 rebounds and had a block and a steal in the final 16 seconds, Isaiah Hicks had 13 points and a season-high nine rebounds, and Theo Pinson had nine rebounds and an assist on the go-ahead basket with 2:09 to play, in Carolina's 71-65 win over No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the 2017 NCAA title game.
• Carolina shot 35.6 percent from the floor, its lowest field goal percentage in an NCAA Tournament win since shooting 31.8 percent vs. Michigan State in the 1957 national semifinal.
• Carolina committed only four turnovers in the national championship game, which tied the second-fewest by the Tar Heels in an NCAA Tournament game.
• The four turnovers were fewest by any team in an NCAA championship game since 1973 (when turnovers were recorded each year).
• Luke Maye had three rebounds in 10 minutes; Seventh Woods played three minutes; Kenny Williams was injured and did not play.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
• The Tar Heels are fifth in the nation in scoring (93.3 points per game), fifth in rebound margin (+13.3), fourth in assists (20.1), 13th in scoring margin (+19.7) and 18th in assist/TO (1.6).
• Carolina leads the ACC in scoring, rebound margin and assists, is second in rebounds per game, offensive rebounding and assist/turnover ratio, fourth in field goal percentage and sixth in three-point percentage.
• KenPom ranks the Tar Heels second in the nation in shortest average length of offensive possessions (13.3 seconds) and 10th in tempo (most possessions per game).
• Coby White is the first UNC freshman to lead the team in scoring in three consecutive games since Harrison Barnes led four games in a row on two different occasions in 2010-11.
• Carolina has lost its last five games when scoring less than 70 points and has dropped four straight when the opponents shoot 50 percent from the floor.
• Carolina is shooting 50.9 percent from the floor and holding its opponents to 37.6 percent shooting in its seven wins; in the two losses, the Tar Heels made 41.9 percent of their shots from the floor, while Texas and Michigan made 54.9 percent.
• The opponents have shot 29.1 percent from three in UNC's seven wins and 47.8 percent (making 11 in each game) in the two defeats.
• Carolina has led by double digits in both losses.
– UNC led Texas 17-4 less than 5:00 into the game before the Longhorns went on a 25-11 run over the next 10:00 to take the lead. Texas hit a three at the buzzer to take a 43-42 lead at the half.
– UNC led Michigan 21-11 with 12:37 to play in the first half. The Wolverines went on an 11-0 run to take the lead. UNC led 35-33 with less than a minute to play in the half before a 3FG with 0:02 to play gave UM a 39-35 advantage at the break.
• Carolina is averaging 20.2 points off opponent turnovers and 17.3 second-chance points; the opponents are scoring 15.7 points per game off UNC turnovers and converting offensive rebounds into 10.8 points per game.
• Sophomore forward Garrison Brooks has won defensive player of the game honors three times. No other Tar Heel has won more than one time.

AP POLL NOTES
• Carolina is ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press poll and No. 12 in the coaches poll.
• Carolina is ranked this week in an AP poll for the 902nd time, more than any other school in college basketball history.
• This is the 86th consecutive AP poll the Tar Heels have been ranked, dating back to mid-conference play in the 2013-14 season.
• UNC began the year No. 8 in the preseason AP poll. It was the 13th time in 16 seasons under Roy Williams UNC was ranked in the preseason Top 10.
• This season is the 56th time in 71 seasons the Tar Heels have been ranked in the top 10 in at least one week of the poll.
• UNC finished the year in the AP poll top 10 in 10 of Williams' first 15 seasons.
• Carolina has finished in the top 10 37 times, including 26 of the last 38 years. UNC has finished the season ranked in the AP poll 50 times.

NUMBER ONE IN WINS PER SEASON
• This is the 109th season of Carolina Basketball. The Tar Heels have won 2,239 games, third most in NCAA history.
• Carolina has won an average of 20.7 games per season. UNC is the only school in the top 10 in all-time NCAA wins that has averaged at least 20 wins per season.

ROY WILLIAMS COURT
• On 8/23/18, Carolina officially dedicated the Tar Heels' home floor as Roy Williams Court at the Dean E. Smith Center.
• The dedication was part of a two-day Carolina Basketball reunion of more than 300 players, coaches, managers and staff.

NO. 1 SCHEDULE IN THE COUNTRY
• Carolina's complete 2018-19 schedule is rated the No. 1 most difficult schedule in the country by NCAA.com.
• Eight opponents are in the AP top 25 this week (No. 2 Duke, No. 4 Gonzaga, No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 Virginia, No. 10 Florida State, No. 13 Virginia Tech, No. 19 Kentucky and No. 25 Syracuse).
• Carolina and Florida are the only two schools in the country that play six non-conference games against teams that played in the 2018 NCAA Tournament (Texas, UCLA, Michigan, Gonzaga, Kentucky and Davidson).
• UNC also plays eight ACC teams that played in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
• KenPom has ranked Carolina's final strength of schedule in the top six in the country in each of the last four seasons, including the most difficult in 2014-15 and 2017-18 (No. 6 in 2015-16 and 2016-17).

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Players Mentioned

Joel Berry II

Garrison Brooks

Cameron Johnson

Luke Maye

Theo Pinson

Coby White

Kenny Williams

Seventh Woods