Tar Heels Will Face Hokies In ACC Tournament Tuesday

Tuesday, March 10

Greensboro, N.C.

7 PM

North Carolina

Virginia Tech

Leaky Black and the Tar Heels lost at Virginia Tech in January.

Photo by: Maggie Hobson

March 9, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Watch UNC Notes VT Notes All-ACC Honors

GAME 32: ACC FIRST ROUND
• Carolina is the No. 14 seed in the 2020 ACC Tournament and opens plays vs. No. 11 Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10. The first round game will be shown on the ACC Network.
• The winner plays No. 6 Syracuse at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the second round. The winner of that game advances to play No. 3 Louisville on Thursday at approximately 9:30 p.m.

SEASON SUMMARY
• Carolina enters ACC Tournament play 13-18 overall after going 6-14 in conference play.
• The 18 losses are the second most in UNC history (8-20 in 2001-02).
• The 14 losses are the most in ACC play in UNC history (12 in a 16-game schedule in 2001-02).
• Carolina tied for 13th place in the ACC. This is just the second time in 17 seasons a Roy Williams team has finished out of the top five in ACC play (tied 11th in 2010).
• This is UNC's fourth sub-.500 season in all games since the ACC began play in 1953-54 (1954-55, 1961-62, 2001-02 and 2019-20) and the 11th in school history.
• Carolina began the season with a 76-65 ACC home win over Notre Dame behind a record-breaking, 34-point debut by freshman point guard Cole Anthony.
• The Tar Heels won their first five games and stood 6-3 when Anthony was sidelined for the next 11 games due to a right knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery on Dec. 16.
• Carolina has started more point guards (4) and more lineups (10) than in any of Roy Williams' 17 seasons as head coach.
• Eleven scholarship players have combined to miss 98 games due to injury and illness this season, by far the most in the Roy Williams Era (previous was 64 in 2008-09).
• Carolina's field goal percentage of .422 is its lowest since 1959-60 and its three-point percentage of .304 is the lowest in UNC history.
• Carolina lost seven games in a row (all ACC games) from Feb. 1-22, the second-longest streak overall in UNC history and the longest in school history in ACC games. UNC also had five-game and four-game losing streaks, the first time UNC ever had three streaks in the same season of four or more.
• Carolina has lost six games this season by three points or less, which equals the most losses by three or less in school history (1940-41).

ACC AWARDS FOR BROOKS & ANTHONY
• Junior forward Garrison Brooks and freshman point guard Cole Anthony earned postseason awards from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
• Brooks was a second-team All-ACC selection and was voted the league's Most Improved Player.
• Anthony was voted to the third team and the All-Freshman team.
• Brooks is the third Tar Heel to earn Most Improved Player honors in the seven years the award has been given. Marcus Paige (2014) and Luke Maye (2018) also won the award. No other school has won the award more than once.
• Brooks is averaging 16.7 points and 8.8 rebounds and has 12 double-doubles, 11 20-point games, two 30-point games and is on a four-game run in which he has scored 25 or more points.
• Brooks led the ACC in scoring in conference games at 18.8 points per game and was second in rebounding and field goal percentage. He is the fifth Tar Heel to lead the league in scoring in conference play since 1988 and the first to do so since Tyler Hansbrough in 2008 (Antawn Jamison in 1998, Joseph Forte in 2001, Rashad McCants in 2004, Hansbrough in 2008 and Brooks in 2020).
• Brooks averaged 6.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 73 games over his first two college seasons. He did not have a double-double in his first two seasons.
• Anthony is the 22nd Tar Heel to earn All-Freshman team honors since 1994 (the 13th to play for Roy Williams).
• Anthony is the sixth point guard to play for Williams to earn All-Freshman team honors (Bobby Frasor 2006, Ty Lawson 2007, Kendall Marshall 2011, Marcus Paige 2013, Coby White 2019 and Anthony).
• Anthony leads the Tar Heels in scoring at 19.6 points per game, best in the country among freshmen and on pace to set the UNC single-season record for freshmen.

VS. VIRGINIA TECH
• The Tar Heels are 68-15 against the Hokies, including 15-5 since Virginia Tech joined the ACC in 2004-05.
• Tech defeated Carolina, 79-77, in double overtime in Blacksburg, Va., on Jan. 22.
• The Tar Heels are 2-0 against the Hokies in the ACC Tournament.
• Tyler Hansbrough hit a game-winning jumper from the baseline to give UNC a 68-66 win in the 2008 semifinals in Charlotte and Carolina won, 79-76, in Atlanta in the 2009 quarterfinals.
• UNC 1-0 against Tech in Greensboro (an 87-76 win on 1/21/1995).
• Roy Williams is 15-5 against the Hokies, all while head coach of the Tar Heels.

THIS SEASON IN BLACKSBURG
JAN. 22: VIRGINIA TECH 79, UNC 77 (2OT)
• Virginia Tech's 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.
• Tech scored the tying points to send the game to both overtimes. P.J. Horne made two free throws with 13 seconds to play in regulation to tie the game at 60 and Landers Nolley hit two free throws to even the game at 67 with 27 seconds to play in the first overtime.
• The loss marked the first time UNC lost six consecutive ACC games.
• It was Carolina's first double overtime game since beating Clemson on 2/10/2008.
• Carolina made 16 of 31 shots from the floor in the first half, but made just 12 of 33 over the next 30 minutes of regulation and two overtimes.
• Carolina missed 42 shots (36 FGs and six FTs) but had a season-low six offensive rebounds that led to a season-low two second-chance points. Justin Pierce scored after a missed FG attempt in the second overtime to give UNC a 71-70 lead for its only second-chance points.
• UNC did not score a fastbreak point for the first time since at Louisville in 2018.
• Senior guard Brandon Robinson did not play due to lingering neck pain after a car accident on Jan. 11.
• Carolina played seven players, including four who played at least 45 minutes (48:21 by Garrison Brooks, 48:00 by Andrew Platek, 47:21 by Leaky Black and 45:53 by Justin Pierce).
• It was the first time four Tar Heels played at least 45 minutes in a game since a four overtime win at Tulane on 2/14/1976 (58 by Phil Ford, 56 by John Kuester, 51 by Mitch Kupchak and 49 by Walter Davis).
• Brooks made a career-high 11 field goals and led all players on both teams in scoring (28) and rebounds (13) and also had a team-high six assists. The 13 rebounds and six assists tied his career bests.
• Pierce made his first start as a Tar Heel and had 15 points and eight rebounds. The 15 points were the second most in his UNC career. He made three 3FGs, the most since he made four at UNCW in the second game of the season on Nov. 8.
• Black made a career-high three 3FGs and scored a career-high 12 points. It was the first time he scored in double figures as a Tar Heel.

CAROLINA IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT
• Carolina has won 18 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championships and played in the championship game a record 35 times.
• The Tar Heels are 101-47 in ACC Tournament play (0-1 in the first round, a 2010 loss to Georgia Tech).
• Carolina has the second-most wins and titles.
• Roy Williams is 26-13 with three titles and eight appearances in the championship game in 16 seasons. Williams has led UNC to the finals eight times against seven different opponents (played Virginia twice).
• The Tar Heels have earned the No. 1 seed 26 times. Duke is second with 17 No. 1 seeds; NC State is third with six.
• Carolina is one of only two schools that have won three consecutive ACC regular-season titles and ACC Tournament championships. UNC accomplished that feat in 1967-68-69. UNC is the only school that has done that while winning the regular-season title outright.
• Roy Williams is one of eight coaches to win back-to-back ACC Tournament titles (with Everett Case, Bones McKinney, Vic Bubas, Dean Smith, Norm Sloan, Dave Odom and Mike Krzyzewski).
• Williams is one of seven coaches to win the Tournament at least three times.
• A Tar Heel has won the Most Valuable Player award 19 times – Lennie Rosenbluth (1957), Larry Miller (1967, 1968), Charlie Scott (1969), Lee Dedmon (1971), Robert McAdoo (1972), Phil Ford (1975), John Kuester (1977), Dudley Bradley (1979), Sam Perkins (1981), James Worthy (1982), J.R. Reid (1989), Rick Fox (1991), Jerry Stackhouse (1994), Shammond Williams (1997), Antawn Jamison (1998), Brandan Wright (2007), Tyler Hansbrough (2008) and Joel Berry II (2016).
• Tyler Hansbrough is the only Tar Heel to earn first-team All-Tournament honors three times.

CAROLINA IN GREENSBORO
• This is Carolina's first game in Greensboro since 2/5/2017, when the Tar Heels beat Notre Dame, 83-76, in a home game that was moved from the Smith Center due to a water shortage in Chapel Hill.
• The Tar Heels are 116-30 in the Greensboro Coliseum, including 39-18 in ACC Tournament games.
• Carolina has won ACC Tournament titles in Greensboro eight times (1967-72-75-77-79-82-97-98).

CURRENT TAR HEELS IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT
• Garrison Brooks scored 11 points against Louisville in the 2019 quarterfinals and 10 points against Duke in the 2018 semifinals.
• Brandon Robinson scored seven points against Louisville and five vs. Duke in 2019. He is 4 for 7 from three-point range in eight games.

THREE IN A ROW
• Prior to its March 7 loss at Duke Carolina won three ACC games in a row for the first time this season and produced a three-game winning streak for the first time since beginning the season 5-0.
• UNC's points per possession against Wake Forest on March 3 was its best of the season (1.16, 93 points on 80 possessions).
• Carolina's two most efficient offensive halves of the season have come in the second half at Syracuse on Feb. 29 (52 points on 39 possessions) and second half against Wake Forest (58 points on 40 possessions).
• The Tar Heels shot better than 50 percent from the floor in beating Syracuse and Wake Forest (.516 vs. the Orange and .508 against the Deacons), the first time this season UNC did that in consecutive games.
• Over the last seven games, the Tar Heels are shooting 46.2 percent from the floor (as a point of reference, Duke led the ACC in field goal percentage in conference games at .470).
• Carolina has scored 90 points in consecutive games and at least 80 points in three consecutive games, both for the first time this season.
• Carolina's 58-point second half against Wake Forest was its highest scoring 20 minutes of the season. That came one game after scoring 52 in the second half at Syracuse.
• The Tar Heels averaged 90.0 points and shot 50.5 percent from the floor in the three-game win streak.

NOTABLE
• Garrison Brooks had 26 points at Syracuse and 25 against the Deacons. Cole Anthony scored 25 in the Carrier Dome and netted 28 against Wake Forest. They became the first Tar Heel duo to score 25 or more points in consecutive games since Larry Miller and Bobby Lewis accomplished the feat in 1965-66 against Ohio State and Richmond.
• In a season in which Carolina didn't score 80 points in a win until its ninth win and 19th game of the season (against Miami on Jan. 25) the Tar Heels are now averaging 80.1 points in their 13 victories.
• Carolina's ACC Tournament first round game vs. Virginia Tech will be the 12th time in 32 games the team's three leading scorers – Cole Anthony, Garrison Brooks and Brandon Robinson – have all played. It will be the seventh game the trio has played together since the middle of December.
• Carolina's win over Syracuse was the Tar Heels' ninth in a row over the Orange. UNC is the first team to defeat Syracuse nine consecutive times; Cornell beat the Orange eight straight in the 1920s.
• Carolina's home win over NC State, coupled with its win in Raleigh on Jan. 27, gave the Tar Heels their 13th regular-season sweep over the Wolfpack in Roy Williams' 17 seasons.
• It also meant the Tar Heels have won home and away games against at least one ACC opponent in every season since the league was formed in 1953-54.
• 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.

TAR HEEL PLAYER NOTES
• Garrison Brooks has scored 20, 22, 30, 26, 25 and 26 points in his last six games. He is the first Tar Heel to score 25 or more points in four straight games since Antawn Jamison in 1998. The last Tar Heel to score 25 or more in five straight games was Charlie Scott, who did it 12 consecutive games in 1970.
• Brooks has won UNC's defensive player of the game award 13 times this season and 33 times in three seasons. He's won the award in six of the last eight games.
• Brooks is averaging 34.9 minutes per game, most by a Tar Heel since point guard Marcus Paige averaged 35.6 in 2013-14.
• The 34.9 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).

• Freshman point guard Cole Anthony scored 25 points and had seven assists at Syracuse and scored 28 points with seven assists against Wake Forest. He is the first Tar Heel ever to have 25 or more points and at least seven assists in consecutive games.
• Anthony has scored 25 or more points five times this season, equaling the second most by a UNC freshman. Rashad McCants had six 25-point games in 2002-03. Tyler Hansbrough and Coby White each had five. McCants and White both played 35 games, Hansbrough played 31 and Anthony has played 19 thus far.
• 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.

• Graduate student Christian Keeling has scored in double figures in 94 college games, including six of the last 10 games as a Tar Heel.
• The Augusta, Ga., native needs 26 more points to reach 1,900 for his college career, which includes three seasons at Charleston Southern.
• Keeling has set season scoring highs four times in the last 10 games (14 at Florida State, 15 at Wake Forest, 16 vs. NC State and 18 at Syracuse).

• Senior guard Brandon Robinson made three three-pointers at Duke, the 13th time this season he made at least three. He made five three-pointers and scored 18 points on Senior Night against Wake Forest. That game marked the fourth time this season he made at least five threes (first time since the Miami game on Jan. 25).
• Robinson has set his career scoring high six times this season – 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 Armando Bacot registered his 10th double-double in points and rebounds when he had 13 points and 12 rebounds at Duke. He has the second most double-doubles by a Tar Heel freshman since Antawn Jamison set the freshman record with 13 in 1995-96.
• Bacot's 8.8 rebounds per game are the most by a Tar Heel freshman since Jamison averaged 9.7 in 1996.

UNC'S FRESHMAN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
13 Antawn Jamison, 1995-96
10 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

ANTHONY WINS ACC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
• Cole Anthony was the ACC's Freshman of the Week for his play against NC State (Feb. 25) and Syracuse (Feb. 29).
• He had 19 points and five assists vs. the Wolfpack and 25 points and seven assists at Syracuse. His seven three-pointers against the Orange equaled the second-most in a game by a UNC freshman (Raymond Felton hit eight at NC State in 2003 and Coby White made seven against Texas and Miami a season ago).
• It's the second time Anthony has won the award. He was the player and freshman of the week following his 34-point debut against Notre Dame on Nov. 6.

SECOND-HALF LEADS
• The Tar Heels lost five ACC games this season in which they led by double figures in the second half.
• 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 a 64-49 lead at Notre Dame with 8:15 to play.
• On nine occasions in the last 16 games, the opponents 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 came 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 put back 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
• UNC has shot 50 percent from the floor for the game in five of 31 games this season (Miami, Duke, home vs. Virginia, at Syracuse and Wake Forest). The Tar Heels are 3-2 in those games and 214-9 in the Roy Williams Era when shooting 50 percent.
• By contrast, through 31 games UNC shot 50 percent or better from the floor: nine times in 2018-19, 13 times in 2017-18, 11 times in 2016-17 and 17 times in 2015-16.
• Carolina has shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half nine times in 31 games this season, including four of the last six games (.517 at Notre Dame, .500 vs. NC State, .567 at Syracuse and .643 against Wake Forest). UNC out-scored the Irish, Pack, Orange and Deacs by a combined 22 points in the second half.
• Carolina is 272nd in the country in two-point percentage (.470), 308th in three-point shooting (.304) and 282nd at the free throw line (.676).
• The Tar Heels have averaged 86.5 points over the last four games and have improved to eighth in the ACC in scoring at 72.6 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 72.6 points per game is its lowest since averaging 72.1 in 2002-03.
• 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 averaged 80 or more points in 23 of his previous 31 seasons as a head coach.

Missed games due to injury through Duke:
31 by Sterling Manley (left knee)
26 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)
4 by Brandon Huffman (left knee)
2 by Andrew Platek (left ankle)
1 by Armando Bacot (right ankle)
1 by Leaky Black (turf toe)
1 by Garrison Brooks (illness)
1 by Justin Pierce (left ankle)

• The 98 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
• The Tar Heels have grabbed at least 40 rebounds 17 times this season and are again among the nation's top rebounding teams.
• The Tar Heels are second in the nation in rebounds per game (41.8), are fifth in offensive rebounds per game (13.8) and 12th in rebound margin (+7.5). Carolina has led the nation in rebounds per game in each of the previous three seasons.
• Prior to this season, Carolina was 384-66 (.853) under Roy Williams when it out-rebounded the opponents, a winning percentage of .853. This season, Carolina is 11-13 when it has more rebounds (.458).
• UNC is 13th in the nation in offensive rebound percentage.
• In the last seven seasons, Carolina's offensive rebound percentages include: 13th, fifth, third, first, third, 16th and now 13th.

ROY FOURTH ALL-TIME IN WINS WITH 884
• 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 884-252.
• Williams is also third in wins by an ACC head coach with 466.
• 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
1157 Mike Krzyzewski
963 Jim Boeheim
902 Bob Knight
884 Roy Williams
879 Dean Smith

MOST WINS AS ACC HEAD COACH, ALL GAMES
1084 Mike Krzyzewski Duke
879 Dean Smith North Carolina
466 Roy Williams North Carolina
461 Gary Williams Maryland
360 Leonard Hamilton Florida State

MEDIA POLLING
• Carolina is not ranked in the March 9 Associated Press poll for the 13th 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.