Tar Heels Set For Road Game At Syracuse Saturday

Saturday, February 29

Syracuse, N.Y.

4 PM

North Carolina

Syracuse

Garrison Brooks

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 28, 2020 | Men's Basketball

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Carolina will play at Syracuse on Saturday at 4 p.m. ESPN will televise the game.

GAME 29
• Carolina (11-17, 4-13) plays at Syracuse (16-12, 9-8) on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 4 p.m.
• Carolina is 8-4 when playing on Feb. 29, including wins in 1984, 2004, 2012 and 2016 (over Syracuse in Chapel Hill).
• Both teams are coming off mid-week wins. The Tar Heels defeated NC State, 85-79, at the Smith Center on 2/25, while the Orange won at Pitt on 2/26.
• Carolina's victory over the Wolfpack ended the Tar Heels' seven-game losing streak, the second-longest streak in UNC history.
• The win over NC State was Roy Williams' 200th regular-season ACC win, making him the third coach (and second fastest) in league history to win 200. Williams won his 200th in 287 games; Dean Smith won his 200th in 278 games and Mike Krzyzewski won his 200th in 296.
• The Tar Heels trailed NC State 10-0 and 13-2, but rallied for a 40-37 lead at the half and 85-79 victory. The 11-point deficit was the largest UNC has overcome to win a game this season. The Tar Heels had trailed both Elon and Yale by nine points but came back to win both of those games earlier this season.
• Carolina's win over NC State, coupled with UNC's win in Raleigh on Jan. 27, means the Tar Heels have won both the home and away games against at least one ACC opponent in every season since the league was formed in 1953-54.

UNC-SYRACUSE SERIES
• Carolina is 12-4 all-time against Syracuse, including 8-1 since the Orange joined the ACC. The Tar Heels have won the last eight meetings.
• The Tar Heels are 3-1 against the Orange in the Carrier Dome, winning there in the 1983-84, 2015-16 and 2017-18 seasons and losing in 2013-14.
• Roy Williams is 9-4 overall against the Orange, including 1-2 at Kansas and 8-2 as UNC's head coach.
• Carolina is 10-2 in the Carrier Dome – 3-1 against Syracuse and 7-1 in four NCAA Tournaments (1-1 in 1983 and 2-0 in 1991, 1997 and 2005).
• Carolina was ranked in the AP poll in 15 of its previous 16 games against Syracuse (the exception being the 2014 loss in the Carrier Dome).

LAST TIME THEY MET
FEB. 26, 2019 IN CHAPEL HILL
UNC 93, SYRACUSE 85
• The Orange led by as many as nine points in the first half.
• UNC made 34 of 37 free throws and shot a season-best 91.9 percent from the line.
• Freshman guard Coby White scored 34 points, making 10 for 10 from the free throw line and six three-pointers.
• Senior forward Luke Maye had a game-high 12 rebounds and a career-high six assists.

TAR HEEL PLAYER NOTES
• Freshman point guard Cole Anthony is averaging 19.4 points. He has played in only 17 games doesn't qualify for NCAA stats, but his average would be the second-highest in the nation by a freshman and is on pace to be the highest ever by a UNC freshman (Tyler Hansbrough holds the record at 18.9 ppg in 2005-06).
• Anthony is averaging 19.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the eight games since he returned from a right knee injury that sidelined him for 11 games from Dec. 15 to Jan. 27.
• Anthony went 14 for 14 from the free throw line against Boston College, which matched Hansbrough's 14 for 14 performance in 2006 vs. NC State for the highest percentage from the free throw line in both the Roy Williams Era and the Smith Center.
• He had 24 points and 11 rebounds against Duke, becoming the first Tar Heel freshman to have a double-double against the Blue Devils since Kendall Marshall (in points and assists) in 2011.
• Junior power forward Garrison Brooks scored 30 points on Feb. 25 against NC State. It was his eighth game this season with 20 or more points and his second with at least 30 (35 vs. Georgia Tech).
• Brooks is one of three players in the ACC in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage. He is eighth in scoring (15.7), third in rebounding (8.5) and eighth in field goal percentage (.532) among ACC players in all games.
• In conference games only, Brooks is second in scoring (17.5) , second in rebounding (8.5) and seventh in FG percentage (.529).
• Brooks is averaging 34.7 minutes per game, most by a Tar Heel since point guard Marcus Paige averaged 35.6 in 2013-14.
• The 34.6 minutes are the most by a big man in the Roy Williams Era (previous high was 33.7 by power forward David Noel in 2005-06).
• Graduate student Christian Keeling has scored in double figures in 93 college games, including five of the last seven games (and six times overall) as a Tar Heel.
• Keeling is averaging 12.4 points and is shooting 55.7 percent from the floor in the last seven games (6.0 more than his season average).
• In the last seven games Keeling has made 34 field goals, including eight three-pointers, and is 11 for 11 from the free throw line. In the first 21 games this season, he made 40 field goals, five threes and seven free throws.
• When Cole Anthony scored 23 and Garrison Brooks scored 22 at Notre Dame, it marked the first time they both scored 20 points in the same game.
• Senior guard Brandon Robinson is averaging 6.0 points and is 3 for 15 from three-point range in the three games since he returned from a four-game absence due to a right ankle injury. • Robinson has set his career scoring high six times this season, including 20 against Yale on Dec. 30, 27 vs. Clemson on Jan. 11 and 27 vs. Miami on Jan. 25.
• He made three or more 3FGs in seven straight games (a streak snapped on Jan. 27 at NC State), which equaled the second-longest such streak in Carolina history (three or more in eight straight games by Donald Williams in the 1993 postseason and seven in a row by Dante Calabria in 1996).
• Freshman forward Armando Bacot has nine double-doubles in points and rebounds. He's the first Tar Heel freshman with nine double-doubles since Antawn Jamison set the freshman record with 13 in 1995-96.
• Bacot's nine double-doubles match J.R. Reid (1986-87) and Sam Perkins (1980-81) for the second most by a Tar Heel.
• Bacot's 8.4 rebounds per game are the most by a Tar Heel freshman since Jamison averaged 9.7 in 1995-96.

UNC'S FRESHMAN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
13 Antawn Jamison, 1995-96
9 Armando Bacot, 2019-20
9 J.R. Reid, 1986-87
9 Sam Perkins, 1980-81
6 Tyler Hansbrough, 2005-06
6 Rasheed Wallace, 1993-94
6 Mike O'Koren, 1976-77

SO ABOUT THOSE LOSSES
• Carolina's 17 losses tie the second most in school history (8-20 in 2001-02 and 20-17 in 2009-10).
• The 13 regular-season ACC losses are the most in UNC history (went 4-12 in 2001-02).
• This is the fourth time UNC has lost double-digit regular-season ACC games (also 12 in 2001-02, 11 in 2009-10 and 10 in 2002-03).
• Carolina's last four home losses have been decided by a total of eight points (79-76 in overtime vs. Clemson; 71-70 to Boston College; 98-96 in overtime to Duke; and 64-62 to Virginia).
• Carolina is 6-8 at home this season (6-7 at the Smith Center and 0-1 at Carmichael Arena). The eight home losses are the most since UNC went 6-9 in 2001-02.
• Carolina has lost six times by three or fewer points. This is the second time in UNC history and first time since 1940-41 the Tar Heels lost six games in a season by three points or less.

SECOND-HALF LEADS
• Carolina led Notre Dame 64-49 with 8:15 to play in the second half before the Irish closed the game on a 28-12 run to win by a point. It was the fifth time in conference play this season the Tar Heels led by double figures in the second half in a loss. Those games include: a 41-30 lead over Pittsburgh with 17:55 to play; a 68-58 lead over Clemson with 1:56 to play; a 49-37 lead in Blacksburg over the Hokies with 12:59 to play; a 77-64 lead over Duke with 3:56 to play; and the 64-49 lead at Notre Dame with 8:15 to play.
• On nine occasions in the last 13 games, the opponents have scored the tying or winning points in the last 27 seconds of the second half or an overtime period – six of those nine have come with three seconds or less and four have scored with under a second remaining: – on Jan. 11, Clemson's Aamir Simms hit a three with three seconds to play in regulation and the Tigers went on win, 79-76 in overtime;
– on Jan. 22, Virginia Tech's P.J. Horne made two free throws with 13 seconds to play in the second half to tie the game at 60, Landers Nolley hit two free throws to even the game at 67 with 27 seconds to play in the first overtime and Tyrece Radford made a driving layup with 0.4 seconds to play in the second overtime to lift the Hokies to a 79-77 victory;
– on Feb. 1, Jared Hamilton was awarded three free throws with 17 seconds to play (he made two) in Boston College's 71-70 win;
– on Feb. 8, Duke's Tre Jones sent the game to overtime with a 17-footer as time expired and Wendell Moore won the game with an offensive rebound putback of a Jones miss as time expired in overtime in Duke's 98-96 win;
– on Feb. 15, Virginia's Tomas Woldetensae made a go-ahead 3FG with 0.8 seconds to play in Virginia's 64-62 win;
– on Feb. 17, Notre Dame's Nate Laszewski hit a winning three-pointer with 2.4 seconds to play in the Irish's 77-76 victory.

FIELD GOAL/SCORING NOTES
• Carolina has made 50 percent or better of its shots from the floor in 221 of 614 games under 17-year head coach Roy Williams (36.0 percent of the time).
• Carolina has lost just nine of those 221 games, but did so at home against Duke on Feb. 8 and Virginia on Feb. 15.
• Carolina shot 52.2 percent against Duke and 50.0 percent against the Cavaliers.
• Carolina shot 56.5 percent from the floor in the first half against UVA as the teams battled to a 28-all draw over the first 20 minutes.
• Carolina shot 59.1 percent from the floor against Duke in the first half on Feb. 8 as it built a 44-35 lead at the break. It was UNC's highest percentage in a first half this season, the third highest in any half and the highest surrendered by the Blue Devils in a half this year.
• UNC has shot 50 percent from the floor for the game in three of 28 games this season (Miami, Duke and Virginia).
• By contrast, through 28 games UNC shot 50 percent or better from the floor: nine times in 2018-19, 12 times in 2017-18, 11 times in 2016-17 and 17 times in 2015-16.
• Carolina's field goal percentage (.416) is its lowest since the 1959-60 season (.413) and its three-point percentage (.288) is its lowest ever (previous low of .327 in 2015-16).
• Carolina is 278th in the country in two-point percentage (.469), 335th in three-point shooting (.288) and 303rd at the free throw line (.666).
• Carolina is ninth in the ACC in scoring at 71.0 points per game. Carolina has finished first, first, second and first in the ACC in scoring in the last four seasons.
• Carolina's scoring average of 71.0 points per game is its third lowest in the ACC Era (66.7 in 1981-82 and 68.5 in 1953-54, both pre-shot clock and pre-three-point shot).
• In Roy Williams' previous 16 seasons, Carolina has led the ACC in scoring eight times, finished second five times and third three times.
• No Roy Williams-coached team in 16 previous seasons at UNC has averaged fewer than 74.5 points per game (in 2009-10). The lowest scoring average in his 15 seasons at Kansas (1988-2003) was 72.1 in 1998-99. Williams' teams have averaged 80 or more points in 23 of his previous 31 seasons as a head coach.

LINEUP NOTES
• When Garrison Brooks was unable to play at Louisville due to illness, it meant Carolina started its ninth different lineup this season, the most by the Tar Heels in the Roy Williams Era. UNC started eight in 2009-10 when it went 20-17 and reached the finals of the NIT.
• Last season, UNC earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and won a share of the ACC regular-season title with just two starting lineups (one for 35 games and another for one game).
• Freshman forward Armando Bacot is the only Tar Heel to start all 28 games (Leaky Black and Brooks have each made 27 starts).

INJURY TOTALS CONTINUE TO ADD UP
• Garrison Brooks (illness) and Justin Pierce (sprained left ankle) became the ninth and 10th Tar Heels to miss games this season due to injury when they didn't suit up at Louisville on Feb. 22. Ten Tar Heels have combined to miss 88 games due to injury thus far this season.
• Brandon Huffman is an addition to this list. He was ruled out for the game at Wake Forest on Feb. 11 due to a sore left knee.

Missed games due to injury through Louisville:
28 by Sterling Manley (left knee)
23 by Anthony Harris (left and right knees)
11 by Cole Anthony (right knee)
11 by Jeremiah Francis (left knee)
9 by Brandon Robinson (right ankle, neck)
2 by Andrew Platek (left ankle)
1 by Leaky Black (turf toe)
1 by Garrison Brooks (illness)
1 by Brandon Huffman (left knee)
1 by Justin Pierce (left ankle)

• The 88 missed games are the most in a season by scholarship players in the Roy Williams Era. The previous highs were 64 in 2008-09 and 63 in 2011-12.
• In 2008-09, Marcus Ginyard (34), Tyler Zeller (23), Tyler Hansbrough (4) and Ty Lawson (3)totaled 64 missed games, previously the most in the Williams Era.
• In 2011-12, Leslie McDonald (38), Dexter Strickland (19), John Henson (3), Kendall Marshall (2) and P.J. Hairston (1) accounted for the 63 missed games.
• Only six players missed a total of 12 games in Williams' first three seasons (2003-06).

REBOUNDING LEADERS ONCE AGAIN
• Carolina grabbed 47 rebounds in the 77-76 loss at Notre Dame. That was the 17th time this season the Tar Heels had at least 40 rebounds in a game.
• Prior to this season, Carolina was 384-66 under Roy Williams when it out-rebounded the opponents, a winning percentage of .853. This season, Carolina is 10-12 when it has more rebounds (.455).
• The Tar Heels are second in the nation in rebounds per game (42.4), are sixth in offensive rebounds per game (13.9) and eighth in rebound margin (+8.0). Carolina has led the nation in rebounds per game in each of the previous three seasons.
• UNC is 15th in the nation in offensive rebound percentage.

ROY FOURTH ALL-TIME IN WINS WITH 882
• Carolina's win over Miami on Jan. 25 was the 880th career win for Roy Williams, surpassing Dean Smith for fourth place in NCAA wins by a Division I head coach.
• Williams is now 882-251.
• Williams is also third in wins by an ACC head coach with 463. Gary Williams (Maryland) is fourth with 461.
• Williams passed Jim Calhoun (873) and Adolph Rupp (876) and Smith (879) this season in wins by a Division I head coach.

MOST WINS BY A DIVISION I HEAD COACH
1155 Mike Krzyzewski
962 Jim Boeheim
902 Bob Knight
882 Roy Williams
879 Dean Smith

MOST WINS AS ACC HEAD COACH, ALL GAMES
1082 Mike Krzyzewski Duke
879 Dean Smith North Carolina
464 Roy Williams North Carolina
461 Gary Williams Maryland
354 Bobby Cremins Georgia Tech

MEDIA POLLING
• Carolina was not ranked in the February 24 Associated Press poll for the 11th week in a row, its longest streak out of the poll since going unranked in the last 13 polls in 2012-13.
• UNC was ranked in each of the first six weeks of the 2019-20 AP poll.
• The December 16th poll marked the first time in 107 polls the Tar Heels were not ranked in the AP poll.
• 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).
• Carolina has been ranked in 922 AP polls, the most rankings of any school in the country.
• Carolina's 106-week streak of being ranked in the AP poll was the third longest in UNC history and the sixth longest in ACC history.