Tar Heels Will Visit Virginia For Sunday Matinee

GAME 9 NOTEBOOK
• Seventh-ranked Carolina (6-2) plays at No. 5 Virginia (7-1) in the 2019-20 ACC road opener for the Tar Heels. UNC is coming off a 25-point loss to Ohio State, while the Cavaliers are playing for the first time since losing to Purdue by 29.
• Carolina has not dropped consecutive games since 2/27/18 (Miami) and 3/3/2018 (at Duke).
• Carolina is in a stretch of games which includes now No. 4 Michigan (7-1), No. 13 Oregon (6-2), No. 6 Ohio State (8-0), No. 5 Virginia (7-1), Wofford (3-4) and No. 9 Gonzaga (9-1).
• Two Tar Heel coaches now rank in the top five in all-time wins by a Division I coach. Dean Smith is fourth (retired in the No. 1 spot) with 879; Roy Williams is fifth with 877.
• Freshman forward Armando Bacot is very doubtful for the game due to a sprained left ankle, an injury he suffered with 12:48 to play in the first half of the Dec. 4 loss to Ohio State. The Buckeyes were leading 16-12 at that point. Bacot is averaging 13.7 points and 11.0 rebounds in the six games other than the two games he left early due to injuries (played three minutes at UNCW and seven vs. Ohio State). The 11.0 rebounds would rank Bacot 11th in the nation and tied for first among freshmen.
• Freshmen guards Jeremiah Francis (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) and Anthony Harris (Woodbridge, Va.) were in uniform for the first time this season at the Ohio State game. They have begun to practice full court. Neither has played in a game at UNC, but their availability to play is now a coach's decision.
• Garrison Brooks has won Carolina's defensive player of the game five times this season and 25 times in his career.
• Freshman point guard Cole Anthony is tied for second in the nation in scoring among freshen. Anthony is averaging 20.0 points and has led the Tar Heels in scoring five times.
• Senior Brandon Robinson has led UNC in assists (outright or shared) in each of the last three games. He had done that one time in his first three seasons.
• Following the game at UVA Carolina returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 15, against Wofford in Carmichael Arena. This is UNC's first regular-season game in Carmichael since a 90-79 win over NC State on 1/4/1986.

AP TOP-10 MATCHUPS, CAROLINA VS. VIRGINIA
1-15-72: #3 UNC 85, #8 UVA 79 (Charlottesville)
3-28-81: #6 UNC 78, #5 UVA 65 (Philadelphia) ^
1-9-82: #1 UNC 65, #2 UVA 60 (Chapel Hill)
2-3-82: #3 UVA 74, #2 UNC 58 (Charlottesville)
3-7-82: #1 UNC 47, #3 UVA 45 (Greensboro) *
2-10-83: #1 UNC 64, #3 UVA 63 (Chapel Hill)
2-25-01: #9 UVA 86, #2 UNC 66 (Charlottesville)
2-27-16: #3 UVA 79, #7 NC 74 (Charlottesville)
3-12-16: #7 UNC 61, #4 UVA 57 (Washington, D.C.) *
2-11-19: #4 Virginia 69, #8 UNC 61 (Chapel Hill
12-8-19: #5 Virginia vs. #7 UNC (Charlottesville)
^ NCAA Final Four
* ACC Tournament championship game

UNC-VIRGINIA SERIES
• Carolina leads, 131-57, including 16-11 under head coach Roy Williams.
• Virginia has won the last four and seven of the last 11 games against the Tar Heels. Four of those seven wins came in Charlottesville, two were in Chapel Hill and one in Brooklyn (2018 ACC Tournament final).
• Carolina is 44-35 in Charlottesville, including 4-5 at John Paul Jones Arena. UNC's last win in Charlottesville was on 2/25/2012.
• Neither team has scored in the 80s in the last 10 games. UNC is 3-7 in those games.
• The Tar Heels are 7-9 against Tony Bennett's Virginia teams and 1-0 against Bennett at Washington State (2008 NCAA Tournament).
• UNC has scored more than 75 points once in the last 16 games against Virginia and under 65 points 11 times (3-8 in those 11 games).

LAST TIME: VIRGINIA 69, UNC 61
FEB. 11, 2019 IN CHAPEL HILL
• The loss snapped UNC's seven-game ACC win streak.
• The 61 points were a season low for UNC.
• Carolina shot 35.4 percent, which was UNC's second-lowest percentage all season.
• Carolina made nine three-pointers, but its last was a Coby White three with 12:06 to play that gave UNC a 49-43 lead.
• Carolina scored eight points in the final 8:57. The Tar Heels led 53-46 with 8:58 to play after a Cameron Johnson basket.
• White led UNC in scoring with 17 points, Luke Maye had a game-high 11 rebounds but was held to four points, which tied his season low (also at Georgia Tech).
• Freshman Nassir Little played just two minutes in the first half before spraining his right ankle. He did not return.
• It was Virginia's eighth win in 74 games in Chapel Hill (UNC leads 24-5 in the Smith Center).

STAT TRENDS
• The Tar Heels lead the ACC in rebounding (47.5), rebound margin (12.6) and offensive rebounds (15.8), but will be without its leading rebounder, freshman Armando Bacot (8.9 per game) for an undetermined length of time due to a sprained left ankle.
• Carolina is seventh in the league in field goal percentage defense (Virginia leads).
• UNC has scored less than 80 points in each of the first eight games for the first time since 1949-50 (UNC scored less than 80 in all 29 of their games that season).
• Carolina has shot under 50 percent from the floor in the first eight games. That's the longest stretch to open a season since the 1959-60 team shot 53.6 percent against Duke in the 16th game of the season.
• Carolina's field goal percentage (.404) is its lowest since the 1957-58 season and its three-point percentage (.303) is its lowest ever.
• Carolina is 10th in the ACC in scoring (71.4 ppg), 12th in scoring margin (+4.3) and 13th in field goal percentage (.404). Virginia is 15th in scoring and field goal percentage and eighth in scoring margin.
• Carolina has finished first, first, second and first in the ACC in scoring in the last four seasons.
• In Roy Williams' previous 16 seasons, Carolina has led the ACC in scoring eight times, finished second five times and third three times.

DECEMBER GAUNTLET
• Carolina concluded the month of November losing to Michigan, which is now No. 4 in the country in the AP poll, and beating Oregon, which was No. 11 when the Tar Heels beat the Ducks, 78-74, and is now 13th.
• Carolina began the December with a 74-49 loss to No. 6 Ohio State. Next up are games at No. 5 Virginia, Wofford in Carmichael Arena and at No. 9 Gonzaga.
• The Ohio State-Virginia games mark the first time UNC has played back-to-back games against top-10 opponents since beating No. 5 Duke and losing to No. 1 Virginia in the semifinals and final, respectively, in the 2018 ACC Tournament in Brooklyn.
• It's the first time UNC has played back-to-back games in which both teams were top 10 since the 2017 Final Four (No. 5 UNC beat No. 9 Oregon and No.2 Gonzaga).
• It's the first time UNC has played consecutive games against top-10 teams in December since the 2009-10 season, when UNC beat No. 9 Michigan State in Chapel Hill on 12/1 and lost at No. 5 Kentucky on 12/5.
• It's the first time UNC could play three top-10 teams in December since 2009-10, when UNC played host to No. 9 Michigan State, played at No. 5 Kentucky and lost to No. 2 Texas in the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

WILLIAMS NO. 5 IN ALL-TIME WINS
• The win over Oregon was Carolina head coach Roy Williams' 877th, moving him ahead of Kentucky's Adolph Rupp for fifth place all time in wins by a Division I head coach. Fellow Naismith Hall of Famer Dean Smith, under whom Williams spent 10 years as an assistant coach, is fourth with 879.
• Roy Williams has won 459 games as UNC's head coach, fourth most at an ACC school. He is three wins from passing Gary Williams, who won 461 games at Maryland.

Most Wins by a Division I Head Coach
1140 Mike Krzyzewski (through 12/4)
950 Jim Boeheim
902 Bob Knight
879 Dean Smith
877 Roy Williams
876 Adolph Rupp

ROY'S REMARKABLE ROAD SUCCESS
• Carolina went 9-0 on the road in ACC games last season. It was UNC's eighth winning record in ACC road games in the previous nine seasons and the 12th in Williams' 16 seasons as UNC's head coach.
• Carolina has posted winning road records in ACC play under Williams in: 2005 (6-2), 2006 (7-1), 2008 (8-0), 2009 (6-2), 2011 (6-2), 2012 (7-1), 2013 (5-4), 2014 (5-4), 2015 (6-3), 2016 (6-3), 2017 (5-4) and 2019 (9-0).
• Williams is third all-time with 88 ACC road wins behind Krzyzewski (183) and Smith (133).
• Williams has the highest road winning percentage in ACC games among coaches with at least 100 opportunities and the second highest among all coaches at 65.2 percent (88-47).

ACC Road Winning Percentage, All-Time
Vic Bubas, Duke .667 (46-23)
Roy Williams, UNC .652 (88-47)
Frank McGuire, UNC/South Carolina .618 (55-34)
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke .612 (183-116)
Dean Smith, UNC .591 (133-92)
through 12/4/19

• Carolina has gone unbeaten in ACC road games seven times: 1957 (7-0), 1960 (4-0), 1976 (6-0), 1984 (7-0), 1987 (7-0) and 2008 (9-0).

KENPOM NOTABLES
• This season Ken Pomeroy began tracking 'minutes continuity,' which determines what percentage of a team's minutes are played by the same player from last season to this season. The national average is approximately 50 percent.
• Carolina is 321st in minutes continuity at 24.6 percent.
• Carolina is up to 41st in strength of schedule. UNC has played the sixth-hardest schedule among the teams in KenPom's top 25.
• Carolina is 28th in offensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions) and 30th in defensive efficiency.
• Virginia leads the country in defensive efficiency (Ohio State is second).
• Carolina is 297th in effective field goal percentage at .450. That is UNC's lowest since KenPom began tracking stats in 2001-02. The previous low was .480 in 2009-10. UNC has been above 50 percent in each of the last five seasons.
• Virginia in second in the country in defensive effective field goal percentage and 299th in offensive.
• Carolina is 286th in 3FG percentage and 298th in free throw percentage. Virginia is 347th in three-point percentage and 197th in free throw percentage.
• Virginia is No. 1 in the nation in defensive two-point percentage (.342); UNC is 36th in defensive two-point percentage (.424).
• Carolina is No. 6 nationally in offensive rebound percentage. The Tar Heels grab 38.5 percent of their own misses.

POLLING
• Carolina dropped one spot to No. 7 in the country in the Dec. 2 Associated Press poll. UNC has remained in the top 10 in each of the first five weeks of the 2019-20 AP poll.
• This is the 105th 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.
• 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. 7 ranking is Carolina's 921st appearance in the AP poll, the most rankings of any school in the country.
• 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 686 times, most in ACC history and second-most all-time behind Kentucky (703). 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.

2019 SIGNEES
• R.J. Davis, a 5-11 guard from White Plains, N.Y.
• Donovan "Puff" Johnson, a 6-7 forward from Moon Township, Pa.
• Walker Kessler, a 7-0 forward from Newnan, Ga.
• Caleb Love, a 6-3 guard from St. Louis, Mo.
• Day'Ron Sharpe, a 6-10 forward from Greenville, N.C.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cole Anthony

Armando Bacot

Garrison Brooks

Jeremiah Francis

Anthony Harris

Cameron Johnson

Nassir Little

Luke Maye

Brandon Robinson

Coby White

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics