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Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Tar Heels Will Open Battle 4 Atlantis Vs. Alabama On Wednesday
November 25, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Carolina will meet Alabama on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas. ESPN will televise the game live.
GAME 5 NOTEBOOK
• This is UNC's second appearance in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Early in the 2014-15 season UNC defeated Robert Morris in Chapel Hill and went 2-1 in The Bahamas with wins over UCLA and Florida and a quarterfinal-round loss to Butler.
• The UNC-Alabama game will be televised by ESPN or ESPN2 (won't be announced until Nov. 26).
• Carolina's 75-61 win over Elon was Roy Williams' 875th as a Division I head coach, which is sixth all time. Adolph Rupp is fifth with 876 and Dean Smith is fourth with 879.
• UNC has scored 76, 78, 77 and 75 points in the first four games. This is the first time in the Roy Williams Era the Tar Heels have not scored 80 or more points in any of the first four games.
• Carolina has shot 46.7, 37.5, 45.6 and 42.6 percent from the floor in the first four games – it's the first time since 2012-13 UNC has not shot 50 percent from the floor in the first four games. UNC didn't shoot 50 percent or better in that season until shooting 62.3 percent vs. Chaminade in the sixth game.
• Carolina has held its opponents to 65 or fewer points in the first four games. It's the first time UNC has held the opposition to 65 or less in the first four games since 2012-13. The last time it did that in the first five games was 1948-49 when the opponents scored 65 or fewer points in the first seven games.
• Carolina is off to a 4-0 start for the 10th time in 17 seasons under Roy Williams. UNC has started 5-0 under Williams in 2003-04, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2011-12, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
• Carolina leads the nation in rebound margin at 19.5 per game. The Tar Heels have led the nation in rebound margin in two of the past three seasons (2016-17 and 2018-19) and four times under Roy Williams.
• Freshman point guard Cole Anthony led UNC in scoring in the first three games and freshman forward Armando Bacot led UNC with 22 points against Elon. It's the first time freshmen have led UNC in scoring in four straight games since Harrison Barnes did that in 2011; it's the first time since 2006 it happened to open the season when Tyler Hansbrough led in each of the first four games. The UNC record is six in 2005-06 (Hansbrough and Danny Green) and 2010-11 (Barnes and Reggie Bullock).
• Anthony and Bacot both two double-doubles (all points/rebounds). This is the fifth time in UNC history two freshmen have double-doubles in a season.
• Anthony is 11th in the nation in scoring (22.8 ppg) and is first among freshmen.
• Anthony has scored 91 points, the most by a Tar Heel freshman in his first four games (previous record was 88 by Rashad McCants in 2002-03). The five-game record is 106 by McCants.
• Junior forward Garrison Brooks scored his 500th career point in the win over Elon. Brooks has started every game the last two seasons.
NOTABLE
• Senior Brandon Robinson coordinated the collection of 1,300-pounds of hurricane relief supplies at the UNC-Elon game on Nov. 20 for a communications class project. Robinson sent messaging to ticket-holders through social media the week before the game encouraging fans to bring non-perishable items to the game. The items were loaded on the team plane and delivered to a children's hospital in Nassau when the team arrived in The Bahamas on Sunday, Nov. 24.
UNC-ALABAMA SERIES
• Carolina leads the series, 7-4. The teams have not played since the second round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament, a 64-55 Tar Heel victory.
• Dean Smith was 4-3 against Alabama.
• This is Roy Williams' first game against Alabama as a head coach. He was an assistant to Smith when the Tar Heels defeated Alabama in Raleigh, N.C., in the 1982 NCAA Tournament.
LAST TIME VS. ALABAMA (MARCH 21, 1992)
• Hubert Davis led four Tar Heels in double figures with 16 points in UNC's 64-55 win over Alabama in the second round of the 1992 NCAA Southeast Regional at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• James Robinson led the Tide with a game-high 22 points. Robert Horry added 14 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three steals.Â
• Carolina held Alabama to 29.0 percent shooting for the game and limited Latrel Sprewell to five points.
• The Tar Heels went 0 for 6 from three-point range.Â
• Brian Reese (13), Eric Montross (12) and George Lynch (10) also scored in double figures for Carolina, which committed 23 turnovers.
POSSIBLE THURSDAY OPPONENTS
• Carolina will play either Iowa State or Michigan on day two in The Bahamas.Â
• Should the Tar Heels beat Alabama, they would play on Thanksgiving Day at 1:30 p.m.; a loss to the Tide would have the Tar Heels play at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
• Carolina is 3-1 all-time against Iowa State. The Cyclones beat the Tar Heels, 85-83, in San Antonio in the most recent matchup on 3/23/2013, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Carolina is 4-3 all-time against Michigan. The teams split a pair of games in the previous two seasons with UNC winning, 86-71, on 11/29/2017 in Chapel Hill, and the Wolverines beating the Tar Heels, 84-67, in Ann Arbor on 11/28/2018.
LAST TIME ATLANTIS
• Fifth-ranked Carolina got out-rebounded, 57-40, and lost in the quarterfinal, 74-66, to Butler on Nov. 26, 2014. Marcus Paige led UNC with 18, but the Tar Heels shot 38.6 percent from the floor and just 4 of 16 from three and 18 of 32 free throws. UNC led by three at the half, and Butler made only 10 of 36 shots from the floor in the second half, but the Bulldogs made 17 of 23 free throws in the second half.
• In the second game, Paige scored a game-high 21 points, UCLA made just one three-pointer and the Tar Heels forced 23 Bruins turnovers in a 78-56 UNC victory.
• In the third game, Carolina shot 58 percent from the floor to race to a 16-point halftime lead and held on for a 75-64 win. Kennedy Meeks led UNC with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
NEWCOMERS
• Carolina's 18-man roster includes eight players who didn't play for the Tar Heels a season ago:
– graduate transfers Christian Keeling, a 1,666-point career scorer from Charleston Southern, and Justin Pierce, who averaged 14.8 points and 8.8 rebounds the last two seasons at William & Mary;
– freshmen Cole Anthony, Armando Bacot, Jeremiah Francis and Anthony Harris;
– Ryan McAdoo, who played in 2017-18 at Florida Gulf Coast and sat out last season as a transfer;
– and senior Robbie O'Han, who played the past three seasons on the Tar Heel junior varsity.
THE DEPARTED
• Carolina is without six players who played last season, including first-round NBA Draft picks Cameron Johnson (playing with Phoenix), Coby White (Chicago) and Nassir Little (Portland), Luke Maye (G-League with Wisconsin Bucks), Kenny Williams (G-League with Austin Spurs) and Seventh Woods (transferred to South Carolina).
• Including senior guard Brandon Robinson and junior forward Sterling Manley, who are injured and will not play, the Tar Heels will tip off against Gardner-Webb minus 85.2 percent of their scoring (2,632 points), 79.3 percent of their rebounding (1,156), 86.6 percent of their assists (587) and 95.5 percent of their three-point fields goals (298).
• Johnson was a first-team All-ACC selection in 2019 after making the second-most threes (96) in a season in UNC history; he was the only player in the top 10 in the ACC in field goal, three-point and free throw percentage;
• Maye finished 10th all-time at Carolina in rebounding, was first-team All-ACC in 2018 and second-team in 2019 and was the NCAA South Regional MVP in 2017; he is the only Tar Heel to ever score 30 points both at Duke and NC State;
• Williams scored 915 career points, scored in double figures 49 times and was Carolina's defensive player of the game 19 times;
• White earned second-team All-ACC honors as a freshman and scored the fifth-most points ever by a Tar Heel freshman;
• Little scored 19 and 20 points in his first two NCAA Tournament games and was UNC's fourth-leading scorer last season;
• Woods played in 94 games over three seasons; he scored 14 in last year's win over Gonzaga.
POLLING
• Carolina in No. 6 in the country in the Associated Press poll. The Tar Heels began the season ninth and has moved back and forth between six and five the last three weeks.
• This is the 104th consecutive week the Tar Heels are ranked in the AP poll.
• This is the 14th straight season UNC was ranked in the AP Top 25 in the preseason. Last season, the Tar Heels opened at No. 8 and ended the year ranked No. 3.Â
• UNC has finished the season in the top 10 in each of the last four seasons (3 in 2015-16, 5 in 2016-17, 10 in 2017-18 and 3 in 2018-19).
• This week's No. 6 ranking is Carolina's 920th appearance in the AP poll, the most rankings of any school in the country.Â
• It's the 57th time in 72 seasons the AP ranked the Tar Heels in the top 10 at some point in the season.
• It's the 46th time in 72 seasons the AP has ranked UNC in the top five at some point in the season.
• Carolina has been ranked in the Top 10 of the AP poll 685 times, most in ACC history and second-most all-time behind Kentucky (702). Carolina has been ranked in the Top 5 434 times, also second-most behind only Kentucky (462).
• Carolina has finished in the Top 10 of the AP poll 38 times, including 27 of the previous 39 years.
SCHEDULE NOTES
• Carolina will play the following teams that are currently ranked in the AP Top 25: No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Louisville, No. 7 Virginia, No. 8 Gonzaga and No. 10 Ohio State.
• No. 11 Oregon and No. 13 Seton Hall are possible opponents in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Both the Pirates and Ducks are on the opposite side of the bracket and could face the Tar Heels on the third day of the tournament.
• Ken Pomeroy has ranked Carolina's strength of schedule in the top eight in the country in each of the last five seasons and in the top 10 in 11 of Roy Williams' first 16 seasons as head coach (No. 8 in 2018-19, No. 1 in 2017-18, No. 6 in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and No. 1 in 2014-15).
INJURED TAR HEELS
• Senior guard Brandon Robinson, who started and scored eight points, sprained his right ankle against WSSU on Nov. 1 and did not play in the first four regular-season games. He is expected to return to action during the tournament in The Bahamas.
• Freshmen guards Jeremiah Francis (knee) and Anthony Harris (knee) and junior forward Sterling Manley (knee) have not suited up yet for a game. Francis and Harris suffered knee injuries in high school and are still working their way back to action.Â
• Manley has not practiced this season. He missed 16 games last season due to soreness in his left knee.
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GAME 5 NOTEBOOK
• This is UNC's second appearance in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Early in the 2014-15 season UNC defeated Robert Morris in Chapel Hill and went 2-1 in The Bahamas with wins over UCLA and Florida and a quarterfinal-round loss to Butler.
• The UNC-Alabama game will be televised by ESPN or ESPN2 (won't be announced until Nov. 26).
• Carolina's 75-61 win over Elon was Roy Williams' 875th as a Division I head coach, which is sixth all time. Adolph Rupp is fifth with 876 and Dean Smith is fourth with 879.
• UNC has scored 76, 78, 77 and 75 points in the first four games. This is the first time in the Roy Williams Era the Tar Heels have not scored 80 or more points in any of the first four games.
• Carolina has shot 46.7, 37.5, 45.6 and 42.6 percent from the floor in the first four games – it's the first time since 2012-13 UNC has not shot 50 percent from the floor in the first four games. UNC didn't shoot 50 percent or better in that season until shooting 62.3 percent vs. Chaminade in the sixth game.
• Carolina has held its opponents to 65 or fewer points in the first four games. It's the first time UNC has held the opposition to 65 or less in the first four games since 2012-13. The last time it did that in the first five games was 1948-49 when the opponents scored 65 or fewer points in the first seven games.
• Carolina is off to a 4-0 start for the 10th time in 17 seasons under Roy Williams. UNC has started 5-0 under Williams in 2003-04, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2011-12, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
• Carolina leads the nation in rebound margin at 19.5 per game. The Tar Heels have led the nation in rebound margin in two of the past three seasons (2016-17 and 2018-19) and four times under Roy Williams.
• Freshman point guard Cole Anthony led UNC in scoring in the first three games and freshman forward Armando Bacot led UNC with 22 points against Elon. It's the first time freshmen have led UNC in scoring in four straight games since Harrison Barnes did that in 2011; it's the first time since 2006 it happened to open the season when Tyler Hansbrough led in each of the first four games. The UNC record is six in 2005-06 (Hansbrough and Danny Green) and 2010-11 (Barnes and Reggie Bullock).
• Anthony and Bacot both two double-doubles (all points/rebounds). This is the fifth time in UNC history two freshmen have double-doubles in a season.
• Anthony is 11th in the nation in scoring (22.8 ppg) and is first among freshmen.
• Anthony has scored 91 points, the most by a Tar Heel freshman in his first four games (previous record was 88 by Rashad McCants in 2002-03). The five-game record is 106 by McCants.
• Junior forward Garrison Brooks scored his 500th career point in the win over Elon. Brooks has started every game the last two seasons.
NOTABLE
• Senior Brandon Robinson coordinated the collection of 1,300-pounds of hurricane relief supplies at the UNC-Elon game on Nov. 20 for a communications class project. Robinson sent messaging to ticket-holders through social media the week before the game encouraging fans to bring non-perishable items to the game. The items were loaded on the team plane and delivered to a children's hospital in Nassau when the team arrived in The Bahamas on Sunday, Nov. 24.
UNC-ALABAMA SERIES
• Carolina leads the series, 7-4. The teams have not played since the second round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament, a 64-55 Tar Heel victory.
• Dean Smith was 4-3 against Alabama.
• This is Roy Williams' first game against Alabama as a head coach. He was an assistant to Smith when the Tar Heels defeated Alabama in Raleigh, N.C., in the 1982 NCAA Tournament.
LAST TIME VS. ALABAMA (MARCH 21, 1992)
• Hubert Davis led four Tar Heels in double figures with 16 points in UNC's 64-55 win over Alabama in the second round of the 1992 NCAA Southeast Regional at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• James Robinson led the Tide with a game-high 22 points. Robert Horry added 14 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three steals.Â
• Carolina held Alabama to 29.0 percent shooting for the game and limited Latrel Sprewell to five points.
• The Tar Heels went 0 for 6 from three-point range.Â
• Brian Reese (13), Eric Montross (12) and George Lynch (10) also scored in double figures for Carolina, which committed 23 turnovers.
POSSIBLE THURSDAY OPPONENTS
• Carolina will play either Iowa State or Michigan on day two in The Bahamas.Â
• Should the Tar Heels beat Alabama, they would play on Thanksgiving Day at 1:30 p.m.; a loss to the Tide would have the Tar Heels play at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
• Carolina is 3-1 all-time against Iowa State. The Cyclones beat the Tar Heels, 85-83, in San Antonio in the most recent matchup on 3/23/2013, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Carolina is 4-3 all-time against Michigan. The teams split a pair of games in the previous two seasons with UNC winning, 86-71, on 11/29/2017 in Chapel Hill, and the Wolverines beating the Tar Heels, 84-67, in Ann Arbor on 11/28/2018.
LAST TIME ATLANTIS
• Fifth-ranked Carolina got out-rebounded, 57-40, and lost in the quarterfinal, 74-66, to Butler on Nov. 26, 2014. Marcus Paige led UNC with 18, but the Tar Heels shot 38.6 percent from the floor and just 4 of 16 from three and 18 of 32 free throws. UNC led by three at the half, and Butler made only 10 of 36 shots from the floor in the second half, but the Bulldogs made 17 of 23 free throws in the second half.
• In the second game, Paige scored a game-high 21 points, UCLA made just one three-pointer and the Tar Heels forced 23 Bruins turnovers in a 78-56 UNC victory.
• In the third game, Carolina shot 58 percent from the floor to race to a 16-point halftime lead and held on for a 75-64 win. Kennedy Meeks led UNC with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
NEWCOMERS
• Carolina's 18-man roster includes eight players who didn't play for the Tar Heels a season ago:
– graduate transfers Christian Keeling, a 1,666-point career scorer from Charleston Southern, and Justin Pierce, who averaged 14.8 points and 8.8 rebounds the last two seasons at William & Mary;
– freshmen Cole Anthony, Armando Bacot, Jeremiah Francis and Anthony Harris;
– Ryan McAdoo, who played in 2017-18 at Florida Gulf Coast and sat out last season as a transfer;
– and senior Robbie O'Han, who played the past three seasons on the Tar Heel junior varsity.
THE DEPARTED
• Carolina is without six players who played last season, including first-round NBA Draft picks Cameron Johnson (playing with Phoenix), Coby White (Chicago) and Nassir Little (Portland), Luke Maye (G-League with Wisconsin Bucks), Kenny Williams (G-League with Austin Spurs) and Seventh Woods (transferred to South Carolina).
• Including senior guard Brandon Robinson and junior forward Sterling Manley, who are injured and will not play, the Tar Heels will tip off against Gardner-Webb minus 85.2 percent of their scoring (2,632 points), 79.3 percent of their rebounding (1,156), 86.6 percent of their assists (587) and 95.5 percent of their three-point fields goals (298).
• Johnson was a first-team All-ACC selection in 2019 after making the second-most threes (96) in a season in UNC history; he was the only player in the top 10 in the ACC in field goal, three-point and free throw percentage;
• Maye finished 10th all-time at Carolina in rebounding, was first-team All-ACC in 2018 and second-team in 2019 and was the NCAA South Regional MVP in 2017; he is the only Tar Heel to ever score 30 points both at Duke and NC State;
• Williams scored 915 career points, scored in double figures 49 times and was Carolina's defensive player of the game 19 times;
• White earned second-team All-ACC honors as a freshman and scored the fifth-most points ever by a Tar Heel freshman;
• Little scored 19 and 20 points in his first two NCAA Tournament games and was UNC's fourth-leading scorer last season;
• Woods played in 94 games over three seasons; he scored 14 in last year's win over Gonzaga.
POLLING
• Carolina in No. 6 in the country in the Associated Press poll. The Tar Heels began the season ninth and has moved back and forth between six and five the last three weeks.
• This is the 104th consecutive week the Tar Heels are ranked in the AP poll.
• This is the 14th straight season UNC was ranked in the AP Top 25 in the preseason. Last season, the Tar Heels opened at No. 8 and ended the year ranked No. 3.Â
• UNC has finished the season in the top 10 in each of the last four seasons (3 in 2015-16, 5 in 2016-17, 10 in 2017-18 and 3 in 2018-19).
• This week's No. 6 ranking is Carolina's 920th appearance in the AP poll, the most rankings of any school in the country.Â
• It's the 57th time in 72 seasons the AP ranked the Tar Heels in the top 10 at some point in the season.
• It's the 46th time in 72 seasons the AP has ranked UNC in the top five at some point in the season.
• Carolina has been ranked in the Top 10 of the AP poll 685 times, most in ACC history and second-most all-time behind Kentucky (702). Carolina has been ranked in the Top 5 434 times, also second-most behind only Kentucky (462).
• Carolina has finished in the Top 10 of the AP poll 38 times, including 27 of the previous 39 years.
SCHEDULE NOTES
• Carolina will play the following teams that are currently ranked in the AP Top 25: No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Louisville, No. 7 Virginia, No. 8 Gonzaga and No. 10 Ohio State.
• No. 11 Oregon and No. 13 Seton Hall are possible opponents in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Both the Pirates and Ducks are on the opposite side of the bracket and could face the Tar Heels on the third day of the tournament.
• Ken Pomeroy has ranked Carolina's strength of schedule in the top eight in the country in each of the last five seasons and in the top 10 in 11 of Roy Williams' first 16 seasons as head coach (No. 8 in 2018-19, No. 1 in 2017-18, No. 6 in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and No. 1 in 2014-15).
INJURED TAR HEELS
• Senior guard Brandon Robinson, who started and scored eight points, sprained his right ankle against WSSU on Nov. 1 and did not play in the first four regular-season games. He is expected to return to action during the tournament in The Bahamas.
• Freshmen guards Jeremiah Francis (knee) and Anthony Harris (knee) and junior forward Sterling Manley (knee) have not suited up yet for a game. Francis and Harris suffered knee injuries in high school and are still working their way back to action.Â
• Manley has not practiced this season. He missed 16 games last season due to soreness in his left knee.
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