Tar Heels Ready For Road Contest At UNCW

Friday, November 8

Wilmington, N.C.

7 PM

North Carolina

UNCW

Andrew Platek

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

November 8, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Watch Listen Game Notes UNCW Notes Know Your Opponent UNCW Gameday Info Live Stats

GAME 2 NOTEBOOK
• The Tar Heels play on the road for the first time this season on Friday, Nov. 8, at UNCW. Gametime is 7 p.m. FloSports is live streaming the game at http://bit.ly/2AOI1W5
• Carolina is 29-14 in non-conference away games under Roy Williams.
• Carolina defeated Notre Dame, 76-65, in the season and ACC opener on Nov. 6.
• Carolina is 98-12 in season openers and has won 15 consecutive under Roy Williams.
• Carolina is 55-12 in ACC openers, including 12-5 under Roy Williams.
• The win over Notre Dame was Carolina's 700th regular-season ACC victory, the most in league history. Duke is second with 650 and NC State is third with 475.
• It was Roy Williams' 872nd Division I win, which is one shy of tying Jim Calhoun for sixth place all time. Adolph Rupp is fifth with 876 and Dean Smith is fourth with 879.
• Freshman point guard Cole Anthony was named to the preseason watch lists for the following National Player of the Year awards: NABC, Naismith, Olson and Wooden.
• Anthony set the ACC record for most points by a freshman in his debut with 34 against Notre Dame (previous was 33 by Duke's RJ Barrett last year vs. Kentucky). It also was the record for most points by any player in his first game as a Tar Heel (previous was 30 by sophomore Lennie Rosenbluth vs. Clemson in 1954). A list of Anthony's milestones from the Notre Dame game may be found on pages 3-4 of these notes).
• Four players made their first starts as Tar Heels against Notre Dame – Anthony, Leaky Black, Armando Bacot and Christian Keeling (Keeling made 81 starts at Charleston Southern).
• Anthony and Bacot are the 36th and 37th freshmen to start the first game of the season. This is the third time in six seasons two Tar Heel freshmen started the season opener (fifth time multiple freshmen have done that under Roy Williams).
• This was the first time since 2005-06 three Tar Heels started the season opener in their first games in the program (Anthony, Bacot and Keeling). In 2005-06, that was Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor and Marcus Ginyard.
• Christian Keeling grabbed his 600th career rebound in the Notre Dame game.

UNC-UNCW SERIES
• Carolina is 4-0 against the Seahawks, including 1-0 in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and 3-0 in Chapel Hill.
• Carolina is 169-18 against in-state, non-ACC teams.
• UNCW is coached by C.B. McGrath, who played for Roy Williams at Kansas and was an assistant under Williams at UNC from 2003 to 2017, helping the Tar Heels win national championships in 2005, 2009 and 2017.
• Carolina's best defensive player on the 2005 NCAA champions was Jackie Manuel, who is an assistant coach at UNCW.
• This is Carolina's first game in Wilmington. This is the 14th city or town in the state of North Carolina in which the Tar Heels have played. It's the first new city UNC has played in state since playing at UNC Asheville on Dec. 28, 1995.

LAST YEAR VS. UNCW (12/5/18)
UNC 97, UNCW 69
• Cameron Johnson led UNC in scoring for the with 21 points, Kenny Williams had a game-high eight assists and Sterling Manley grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds.
• Brandon Huffman scored a season-high seven points.
• Carolina had 23 assists, including 15 on UNC's 18 field goals in the first half.
• The Tar Heels scored 34 points off UNCW's 25 turnovers; it was Carolina's most points off turnovers since scoring 37 against NC State on 1/8/2017.
• Coby White did not play due to a sore left ankle; Brandon Robinson did not play due to a sore shoulder.

GAME 1: UNC 76, NOTRE DAME 65
• Cole Anthony scored 23 of his game-high and ACC-record 34 points in the second half to overcome a five-point deficit in the win.
• Anthony set the ACC record for points by a freshman in his debut, breaking the previous mark of 33 set by Duke's RJ Barrett vs. Kentucky a year ago.

MOST POINTS BY ACC FRESHMAN IN DEBUT
34 by Cole Anthony vs. Notre Dame, 11/6/19
33 by RJ Barrett, Duke vs. Kentucky, 11/6/18
31 by JJ Hickson, NC State vs. William & Mary, 11/15/07
30 by Landers Nolley, VT at Clemson, 11/5/19
29 by Ishua Benjamin, NC State vs. Prairie View, 11/26/94
29 by Ivan Wagner, NC State vs. VMI, 11/25/95

• It was Carolina's 700th ACC regular-season win. UNC is the first school to win 700 ACC regular-season games. Duke is second with 650.
• Carolina scored 30 points on 46 possessions in the first half (.65 points per possession) and 46 points on 39 possessions (1.18 PPP). in the second.
• Carolina shot 31.3 percent from the floor in the first half and 64.3 percent (18 of 28) in the second.
• Carolina made 10 of 20 from three-point range (50.0 percent).
• Carolina, which led the nation in rebound margin last year and two of the last three seasons, out-rebounded the Irish, 51-31.
• Five Tar Heels grabbed seven or more rebounds, led by Anthony with 11 (also Garrison Brooks 9, Armando Bacot 8, Leaky Black and Justin Pierce 7 apiece).
• Anthony led both teams in scoring (34), rebounds (11), three-pointers (6) and tied for the team lead in assists (5) and steals (1).
• Anthony set the UNC record for most points in his first game as a freshman with 34, breaking the previous mark of 28 set by Rashad McCants vs. Penn State on Nov. 18, 2002.
• The 34 points tied the third most by a Tar Heel freshman in a game.

MOST POINTS BY A UNC FRESHMAN
40 by Harrison Barnes vs. Clemson, 3/12/11
40 by Tyler Hansbrough vs. Georgi Tech, 2/15/06
34 by Cole Anthony vs. Notre Dame, 11/6/19
34 by Coby White vs. Syracuse, 2/26/19
33 by Coby White vs. Miami, 2/9/19
33 by Cole White vs. Texas, 11/22/18

• The 34 points were the most by any player in his first game as a Tar Heel, breaking Lennie Rosenbluth's 30 as a sophomore against Clemson in 1954 (prior to freshman eligibility).
• Anthony became the eighth player to score 20 or more points in his first game as a Tar Heel.

20 OR MORE POINTS, FIRST GAME AS A TAR HEEL
34 by Cole Anthony vs. Notre Dame, 11/6/19
30 by Lennie Rosenbluth vs. Clemson, 12/4/54
28 by Rashad McCants vs. Penn State, 11/18/02
26 by Donald Washington vs. St. Thomas, 11/25/72
24 by Joseph Forte vs. USC, 11/22/00
21 by Tyler Hansbrough vs. Gardner-Webb, 11/19/05
20 by Sam Perkins vs. UAA, 11/28/80
20 by Bryan McSweeney vs. Virginia, 12/2/61

• Anthony was the first Tar Heel with 30 points/10 rebounds/5 assists since Joseph Forte had 38/10/6 vs. Tulsa on Nov. 11, 2000 (courtesy Nolan Hayes).
• Anthony became the third Tar Heel to debut with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

20 pts, 10 rebs in 1st game as a tar Heel
34 pts/11 reb by Cole Anthony vs. Notre Dame, 11/6/19
20 pts/10 reb by Sam Perkins vs. UAA, 11/28/80
30 pts/23 reb by Lennie Rosenbluth vs. Clemson, 12/4/54

• Anthony was the first Tar Heel freshman with 30 points/10 rebounds since Tyler Hansbrough had 40 and 10 vs. Georgia Tech on Feb. 15, 2006.
• Anthony's 24 field goal attempts equaled the most by any Tar Heel under Roy Williams. Luke Maye attempted 24 at Duke last season.
• Anthony had 23 second-half points, most by a Tar Heel in a half since Coby White had 23 in the second against Miami last season.
• Anthony's 12 field goals were the most by a Tar Heel freshman since Harrison Barnes made 12 against Clemson on March 12, 2011.
• Anthony's six three-pointers were the most by a Tar Heel freshman since Coby White made six against Clemson on March 2, 2019, and were the most ever by a freshman in his debut (previous high was four by Forte in 1999-2000).
• Anthony was the first UNC freshman with a points/rebounds double-double since Sterling Manley against Bucknell on Nov. 15, 2017.
• Anthony was the first Tar Heel point guard with 11 rebounds in a game since Raymond Felton had 11 vs. Villanova in the 2005 NCAA regional semifinal. Other UNC point guards with 11 rebounds in a game were Ed Cota vs. Stanford in 1998-99 and Harvey Salz vs. Notre Dame in 1958-59.
• Four players made their first starts as Tar Heels – Anthony, Leaky Black, Armando Bacot and Christian Keeling (Keeling made 81 starts at Charleston Southern).
• Anthony and Bacot were the 36th and 37th freshmen to start the first game of the season. This was the third time in six seasons two Tar Heel freshmen started the season opener (fifth time multiple freshmen have done that under Roy Williams).
• This was the first time since 2005-06 three Tar Heels started the season opener in their first games in the program (Anthony, Bacot and Keeling). In 2005-06, that was Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor and Marcus Ginyard.
• Andrew Platek was 2 for 2 from three-point range and finished with eight points, four rebounds and two assists. He played a career-high 25 minutes. His previous high in minutes was 17 as a freshman against Western Carolina. Last year, his high was 11 against UNCW.
• Platek scored eight points. His high last season was six at Elon (game two). The eight points are the most he scored since he had 11 vs. Western Carolina on Dec. 6, 2017. It was the third time in his career he made multiple threes.
thanks to Nolan Hayes and Jody Zeugner for their research

RECAPPING THE WINSTON-SALEM STATE GAME
• Garrison Brooks led four Tar Heels in double-figure scoring with a game-high 18 points and added a game-high 11 rebounds as No. 9 North Carolina defeated Winston-Salem State, 96-61 (Nov. 1) in an exhibition game.
• The Tar Heels shot 57.6 percent from the floor in the second half and 50 percent for the game and scored 32 fast break points to overcome 23 turnovers.
• Carolina also out-rebounded the Rams, 56-33, with Brooks and freshman Armando Bacot combining for 21 boards.
• Graduate transfer Christian Keeling hit two three-pointers and scored all 14 of his points for UNC in the second half.
• Freshman Cole Anthony had 11 points and seven assists and Bacot added 10 points.
• Senior guard Brandon Robinson injured his right ankle on a fall in the first half and did not return.
• Sophomore Leaky Black also had seven assists against just one turnover and made a pair of threes.
• Carolina led 45-24 at halftime after holding the Rams to 27.8 percent shooting from the floor (10 of 36). The Rams finished the game shooting 32.9 percent from the floor, including 8 of 30 from three-point range, and had 22 turnovers.

RECAPPING THE VILLANOVA SCRIMMAGE
• Carolina and Villanova scrimmaged for more than 50 minutes on Oct. 27 at the Smith Center.
• The teams scrimmaged a year ago at Villanova.
• Villanova won the first two segments (44-36 in a 20-minute half and 8-7 in a six-minute segment with just non-starters), while the Tar Heels won the final two periods (43-36 in a 20-minute half and 18-12 in an eight-minute period that featured zone defenses by both teams).
• Over the full 54 minutes, Carolina shot 50.6 percent from the floor and made 9 of 25 three-pointers, out-rebounded the Wildcats, 49-47, and held Villanova to 39.1 percent from the floor and 39.2 percent (20 of 51) from three-point range. Both teams turned the ball over 17 times.
• Villanova's Justin Moore made 9 of 12 three-pointers and led all scorers with 39 points. Moore scored 18 in the first period, 15 in the second and six in the zone segment.
• Cole Anthony led UNC with 28 points. He was one of four Tar Heels to score in double figures with Armando Bacot (18), Garrison Brooks (14) and Leaky Black (12).
• The Tar Heels shot 36 percent from the floor and 1 of 10 from three in the period they lost by eight points, and 66.7 percent from the floor and 5 of 8 from three in the period they won, 43-36.
• Anthony (12) and Black (10) both made a pair of threes and combined for 22 points, and Brooks had eight points and eight rebounds in the second 20-minute segment.
• Brooks (11) and Bacot (9) combined for 20 rebounds over the full scrimmage.

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, 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 UNCW 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 points in the win over Gonzaga last season

POLLING
• Carolina began the season No. 9 in the Associated Press poll and No. 11 in the coaches poll.
• This is the 101st consecutive week the Tar Heels are ranked in the AP poll.
• This is the 14th straight season UNC is ranked in the AP Top 25 in the preseason. Last season, the Tar Heels opened the year ranked No. 8 and ended at No. 3.
• 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 is Carolina's 917th appearance in the AP poll, the most rankings of any school in the country.
• It's the 57th time in 72 seasons the AP ranke the Tar Heels in the top 10 at some point in the season.
• Carolina has been ranked in the Top 10 of the AP poll 682 times, most in ACC history and second-most all-time behind Kentucky (699). Carolina has been ranked in the Top 5 433 times, also second-most behind only Kentucky (461).
• Carolina has finished in the Top 10 of the AP poll 38 times, including 27 of the last 39 years.

SCHEDULE NOTES
• The Tar Heels are slated to play five teams that are ranked in the preseason AP poll and could play another in the Bahamas.
• No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Louisville, No. 8 Gonzaga, No. 11 Virginia and No. 18 Ohio State are all on the UNC schedule; No. 12 Seton Hall and No. 15 Oregon 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's strength of schedule has ranked Carolina 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).

M*A*S*H UNIT
• Senior guard Brandon Robinson, who started and scored eight points, sprained his right ankle against WSSU and did not play against Notre Dame. There is no established timeline for his return.
• Freshmen guards Jeremiah Francis (knee) and Anthony Harris (knee) and junior forward Sterling Manley (knee) have missed extensive time in the preseason due to injuries and did not dress out against WSSU. Francis and Harris suffered knee injuries in high school and are still working their way back to action.
• Manley has not practiced this season. He missed 16 games last season due to soreness in his left knee.
• Sophomore guard Leaky Black (ankle) and junior guard Andrew Platek (ankle) missed some time in the preseason due to injury but played against the Rams.
• Junior guard K.J. Smith missed three weeks of practice due to an ankle sprain; he dressed against Notre Dame but did not play.

HALL OF FAMER BOBBY JONES
• 1974 All-America and eight-time NBA All-Defensive team honoree Bobby Jones became the 11th Tar Heel player or coach inducted in the Naismith Hall of Fame.
• Jones was inducted in September 2019. He is the second Tar Heel to enter the Naismith Hall of Fame in as many years (with Charlie Scott in 2018) and the seventh in the last two decades.
• Jones joins Tar Heels Scott, Michael Jordan, Roy Williams, James Worthy, Larry Brown, Bob McAdoo, Billy Cunningham, Dean Smith, Frank McGuire and Ben Carnevale to earn basketball's highest honor.