Men's Basketball Heads To BC For Sunday Matinee

GAME 13
• Carolina opens the new year and returns to action for the first time in 12 days when the Tar Heels travel to Massachusetts to play at Boston College on Sunday, January 2 at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.
• The UNC-BC game was originally scheduled for New Year's Day but was pushed back a day as BC was dealing with Covid-related health and safety protocols. The Eagles have played just three times in December – a win over Notre Dame on 12/3 and losses to Saint Louis (12/11) and Albany (12/13). The Eagles' games against Wake Forest (12/21) and Florida State (12/29) were postponed.
• The Tar Heels are 9-3 overall, 1-0 in the ACC. Carolina won six of its last seven games from November 23 to a 70-50 win over App State four days before Christmas.
• UNC's scheduled game in Chapel Hill against Virginia Tech on December 29 was postponed due to health and safety protocols in the Hokie program.
• Carolina is scheduled to play at Notre Dame on January 5. Should UNC next play at BC and Notre Dame, it would mark the first time the Tar Heels opened ACC play with three away games since 1983-84.
• Carolina is 35th in KenPom's overall rankings. The Tar Heels are 18th in the country in offensive efficiency and 42nd in effective field goal percentage.
• Carolina's strength of schedule is the 68th most difficult in the country and the fourth toughest in the ACC (Syracuse 37, Notre Dame 61, Virginia Tech 67).
• Armando Bacot (16 points/10 rebounds) and Brady Manek (11/11) had double-doubles and App State was 4 for 30 from three-point range in Carolina's 70-50 win over the Mountaineers in UNC's most recent game.
• The Tar Heels returned to Chapel Hill for practice on the evening of the 26th following the Christmas break.

UNC-BOSTON COLLEGE SERIES
• The Tar Heels are 18-6 against the Eagles, including 16-5 since BC joined the ACC prior to the 2005-06 season.
• Carolina is 8-1 in Conte Forum and has won the last six times the teams have played in Chestnut Hill.
• The Tar Heels defeated BC 12 straight games before the Eagles edged UNC, 71-70, in the Smith Center on 2/1/2020.
• Armando Bacot and Leaky Black are the only current Tar Heels who played in the 2020 game. Bacot had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Cole Anthony led UNC with 26 points.
• The teams did not play each other in 2020-21. The only scheduled game was to be played in Chapel Hill on 2/23/21, but the game was canceled due to Covid protocols in the Eagle program.

FIELD GOAL SHOOTING
• Carolina has shot 50% or better from the floor in the second half in each of the last six games and eight times in 12 games this season. The Tar Heels have shot 50% or better three times in the first half this season.
• Carolina is shooting 52.6% from the floor in the second half and holding its opponents to 43.4 percent. The opponents are shooting just 35.7% in the second half in Carolina's nine victories.
• The opponents have shot 50% or better just three times in the second half, but all three came in UNC losses and in all three the opponents shot at least 64.3% from the floor (64.3% by Purdue, 65.6% by Tennessee and 66.7% by Kentucky).
• Carolina has held its opponents under 30 percent from the floor in the second half as many times (three) as it has allowed them to shoot 50 percent.
• Purdue, Tennessee and Kentucky averaged 93.3 points, shot 54.7% from the floor, 46.7% from three, out-rebounded UNC by 6.7 per game, had 69 assists and 28 turnovers and 28 steals in their wins over UNC.
• Carolina is 5-0 when shooting at least 50% from the floor this season (UNC was 220-9 when shooting 50% under Roy Williams).
• Carolina is 42nd nationally in effective field goal percentage (which takes into account the added value of three-point shooting). The Tar Heels' effective FG percentage is 54.2%, an improvement from 46.4% in 2019-20 and 48.3% in 2020-21.
• By comparison, Carolina's effective FG percentage in its most recent NCAA championship seasons were 51.7% in 2016-17, 52.8% in 2008-09 and 56.0% in 2004-05.

FREE THROWS
• Carolina has made 29 more free throws than its opponents have attempted (172 made by UNC vs. 143 attempted by the opponents).
• The Tar Heels are shooting 74.1% from the line, its best percentage since the 2017-18 and 2018-19 teams shot 74.3%.
• Caleb Love has made 101 of 124 free throws as a Tar Heel. His percentage of .815 moves him into 17th place in UNC history from the stripe.

DEFENSE
• UNC has held its opponents to 63 or fewer points in each of its last six victories. The last time UNC held the opponents to 63 or fewer points in at least six straight wins was 1996-97, when Dean Smith's last UNC team accomplished that in eight consecutive games.
• It's the first time UNC has held the opponents under 70 points in six consecutive wins since doing that in eight straight wins in 2011-12.
• Carolina has won three times this season when it allowed fewer than 60 points (53 by UNC Asheville, 51 by Michigan and 50 by App State).

MORE LOVE
• Caleb Love and Armando Bacot share the lead in team scoring at 15.1 points per game.
• Love also leads the Tar Heels in three-pointers (23), assists (44), steals (16) and free throws (38 for 46).
• Love has made 23 three-pointers in the first 12 games. Last year as a freshman, Love made his 23rd three in the Tar Heels' 24th game.
• Love is one of four players in the top 10 in the ACC in scoring and assists (with Duke's Wendell Moore, Wake Forest's Alondes Williams and Syracuse's Buddy Boeheim).

BACOT AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS, TOO
• Bacot leads the ACC in field goal percentage (.630) and is second in rebounding (9.8) and fifth in blocks (20).
• Bacot led UNC in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocks in 2020-21. If he repeats in all four categories he would become the first Tar Heel ever to lead the team in those categories in consecutive seasons.
• Bacot leads the ACC and is third in the country with eight double-doubles. Bacot is 10th in the nation in field goal percentage and 18th in the nation in rebounding.
• Bacot is the first Tar Heel to start a season with eight double-doubles in the first 12 games since Mitch Kupchak, who had nine in the first 12 games (and 10 in the first 13 in 1974-75).
• Bacot has 26 double-doubles in 73 games over three seasons as a Tar Heel. His double-double rate (35.6%) is the 12th highest by a Tar Heel and the fourth highest in the last 50 years.

Double-Doubles Games Pct.
Billy Cunningham, 1962-65 60 69 .870
Lennie Rosenbluth*, 1954-57 39 76 .513
Antawn Jamison, 1995-98 51 104 .490
Doug Moe, 1958-61 29 60 .483
Rusty Clark, 1966-69 43 91 .473
Larry Miller, 1965-68 42 91 .462
Robert McAdoo, 1971-72 14 31 .452
Pete Brennan*, 1955-58 35 81 .432
Sean May, 2002-05 33 77 .429
Bobby Jones, 1971-74 35 92 .380
Mitch Kupchak, 1972-76 44 119 .370
Armando Bacot, 2019-active 26 73 .356
* Rosenbluth and Brennan played numerous games where their rebound totals are unknown

SCORING
• Five Tar Heels are averaging double figures in scoring this season. The last time five Tar Heels averaged 10 or more points was 2017-18.
• Five different Tar Heels also have scored 20 or more points in a game this season. Caleb Love has four 22-point games, Armando Bacot also has scored 20 or more four times, Dawson Garcia has three 20-point games, and Brady Manek and RJ Davis have two apiece.
• Tar Heels have scored 20 or more points 15 times in 12 games, including four games in which two players scored 20 or more (Loyola, Brown, Charleston and Elon). Last season, UNC had only seven 20-point performances in 29 games. Freshman Day'Ron Sharpe became the first Tar Heel to score 20 or more when he had 25 against Notre Dame in the season's 10th game. UNC did not have any games last season when two players scored 20 or more points.
• This is the 11th Tar Heel team to have five players score 20 points at least twice: 1960, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1989, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2016, 2018 and 2022. Five of the other 10 teams to accomplish that played in Final Fours.
• Love has scored 22 points four times – against Loyola Maryland, Charleston, Michigan and Elon. The sophomore scored 20 or more twice in 29 games last season.
• Carolina is 6-0 in two seasons when Love scores 20 or more and 8-0 when he makes 50% of his field goal attempts (4-0 last season and 4-0 in 2021-22).

DIALING LONG-DISTANCE
• The Tar Heels are shooting 40.7% from three-point range, second best in ACC and 14th highest in the country.
• Carolina has shot 40% or higher in five previous seasons but not since winning the national championship in 2004-05 when it made 40.3% from three-point range.
• Carolina's 40.7% is its highest percentage from three since 1995-96, when it shot 41.0%.
• Three Tar Heel starters are shooting better than 40% from three – Dawson Garcia (45.8%), RJ Davis (43.5%) and Caleb Love (41.1%).

STILL HITTING THE BOARDS
• The Tar Heels lead the ACC in rebound margin at plus 8.6 per game and are second in rebounds per game (39.9).
• Carolina has led the ACC in rebound margin in each of the previous six seasons and 13 of 18 seasons under head coach Roy Williams.
• Kentucky out-rebounded Carolina, 44-26. The 18-rebound deficit was UNC's largest since 12/19/2009, when Texas had a 60-41 advantage on the boards in a game played at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. The Kentucky game was one of the five largest rebound deficits for Carolina in the last 50 years (-19 vs. Texas on 12/19/2009, -19 vs. Iowa on 1/7/1989, -19 at Virginia on 1/12/1985, -18 vs. Kentucky on 12/18/2021 and -18 at Georgia Tech on 2/18/1990).
• UNC has won the battle of the boards 10 times in 12 games this season. The Tar Heels are 9-1 when out-rebounding their opponents and 0-2 when getting out-rebounded (Tennessee and Kentucky).
• Under Roy Williams the Tar Heels won 82.3% of the games they out-rebounded their opponents. The Tar Heels were victorious in only 46.8% of the games they were out-rebounded under Williams.

PLUS/MINUS LEADERS
• Bacot and Leaky Black lead UNC in plus/minus at plus 123 and plus 119, respectively. (Black has played in one fewer game than Bacot).
• Black's plus 29 against Michigan is the highest value by a Tar Heel in any game this season.

THIRD ALL-TIME IN WINS
• The win at Georgia Tech on December 5 was No. 2,300 in Carolina history. UNC is the third team in college basketball history with 2,300 wins (with Kentucky and Kansas).

SMITH CENTER
• Carolina is 443-81 all-time in the Dean E. Smith Center.
• The Tar Heels are 225-63 in the Smith Center in ACC play and 392-95 at home in ACC play (in three home venues).

HUBERT
• Hubert Davis named Carolina's 20th head coach, and first Black head coach, on April 5, 2021.
• Davis is the fourth Tar Heel head coach who also played at UNC, joining Reynolds Cuthbertson, Monk McDonald and Matt Doherty.
• Davis played for Dean Smith from 1988-92, was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA Draft and played a dozen seasons in the NBA. He was a college basketball analyst at ESPN for seven years and an assistant coach on Roy Williams' Tar Heel staff from 2012-21.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Junior forward/center Armando Bacot and sophomore guards RJ Davis and Caleb Love were selected team captains.
• Davis and Love are UNC's first sophomore captains since Marcus Paige in 2013-14.
• The players were selected captains by a vote of their teammates.

2021-22 ROSTER NOTES
• The Tar Heels have seven new players on the roster this season, including three transfers, two freshmen and two former junior varsity players.
• Graduate student Brady Manek made 235 threes and scored 1,459 points in four seasons at Oklahoma. Sophomore Dawson Garcia averaged 13.0 points and 6.6 rebounds an earned Freshman All-Big East Conference honors last season at Marquette. Junior Justin McKoy, a Raleigh native who attended Panther Creek High School in Cary, returns to his home state after two seasons at Virginia.
• Manek's 235 three-pointers for the Sooners were more than all but two Tar Heels – Marcus Paige (299) and Joel Berry II (266).
• Manek earned his degree from OU in seven semesters. He became the tallest player in Big 12 history to make 200 threes and the first with 200 threes and 100 blocks. The Harrah, Okla., native is the only Sooner to compile 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 three-pointers and 100 blocks.
• Garcia scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds for Marquette against the Tar Heels in February when the Golden Eagles handed UNC an 83-70 loss in Chapel Hill.
• Garcia played AAU ball with fellow Minnesota native and Tar Heel teammate Kerwin Walton.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES
• Carolina was picked to finish third in the ACC by the media at preseason media day in Charlotte on October 12.
• Armando Bacot, who earned third-team All-ACC honors in 2021, was selected to the preseason first team. Sophomore guard Caleb Love was chosen for the second team. Love was a member of the ACC's All-Freshman team last season.
• Bacot and Dawson Garcia are on the preseason watch list for the Wooden Award. Bacot is also on the list for the Naismith Trophy and the Lute Olson Award.
• Bacot, Love and Dawson Garcia are on the Basketball Hall of Fame's preseason watch lists for their respective positional player-of-the-year awards.
• Love is a candidate for Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award, Garcia for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year award and Bacot for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year award.
• Carolina is the only school to win three Bob Cousy Awards (Raymond Felton in 2005, Ty Lawson in 2009 and Kendall Marshall in 2012). Felton and Lawson won as juniors, while Marshall won the award as a sophomore.

TAR HEEL STAFF
• Head coach Hubert Davis is a Tar Heel alum, and so are each of his assistant coaches and members of the basketball staff.
• Assistant coaches Brad Frederick (1996-99), Jeff Lebo (1985-89) and Sean May (2002-05), Director of Recruiting Pat Sullivan (1990-93, 1994-95) and Director of Team and Player Development Jackie Manuel (2001-05) all played for the Tar Heels. Director of Operations Eric Hoots has been on staff for 18 seasons.
• Frederick played on Final Four teams that won ACC championships in 1997 and 1998.
• Lebo is a 20-year head coaching veteran who set 10 UNC records in his playing career.
• May was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA Final Four, scoring 26 points in the national championship game vs. Illinois.
• Manuel was twice named Carolina's defensive player of the year and was a starter on the 2005 NCAA champions.
• Sullivan was a key contributor on the 1993 national champions and is one of seven Tar Heels who have played in three Final Fours.
• Davis, Lebo, May and Frederick combined to score 4,441 points as Tar Heels. Syracuse is the only school whose coaches scored more points at their alma mater than UNC (Gerry McNamara, Adrian Autry, Allen Griffin and Jim Boeheim scored 5,189 for the Orange).

PRO HEELS
NBA
Cole Anthony, Orlando
Harrison Barnes, Sacramento
Tony Bradley, Chicago
Reggie Bullock, Dallas
Ed Davis, Cleveland
Wayne Ellington, Los Angeles Lakers
Danny Green, Philadelphia
Justin Jackson, Boston
Cameron Johnson, Phoenix
Nassir Little, Portland
Theo Pinson, Dallas
Day'Ron Sharpe, New Jersey
Coby White, Chicago

International source: TarHeelInternational.com
Nate Britt, Yoast United, The Netherlands
Isaiah Hicks, Seoul Samsung Thunders, South Korea
Desmond Hubert, Al Arabi, Kuwait
Brice Johnson, Toyama Grouses, Japan
Christian Keeling, BC Rustavi, Georgia
Justin Knox, Neo-Phoenix, Japan
Ty Lawson, US Monastir, Tunisia
Luke Maye, BAXI Manresa, Spain
James Michael McAdoo, Hitachi Sun Rockers, Japan
Kennedy Meeks, Cholet Basket, France
Marcus Paige, Orleans Loiret, France
Justin Pierce, VfL Kircheim Knights, Germany
Reyshawn Terry, Plateros de Fresnillo, Mexico
Deon Thompson, Leones des Ponce, Puerto Rico
J.P. Tokoto, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel
Jawad Williams, Yamagata Wyverns, Japan
Kenny Williams, Kolossos Rhodes, Greece

I-40 NEAR UNC NAMED FOR SMITH, WILLIAMS
• The North Carolina Department of Transportation formally a request by Carolina Athletics to honorarily name stretches of U.S. Interstate 40 in Chapel Hill for former Tar Heel men's basketball coaches Dean Smith and Roy Williams.
• The Chapel Hill Town Council approved a resolution to support the request on November 17.
• The DOT will place honorary signs designating stretches of I-40 from exits 266-270 the Roy Williams Highway and from exits 270-273 the Dean Smith Highway.
• "Dean Smith and Roy Williams are two of the greatest to ever have coached college basketball," says North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. "And while their combined five national championships helped make UNC one of the premier basketball institutions in the country, it is their work off the court and in their communities that truly sets them apart. North Carolinians across the state are grateful for their leadership and these honorary road namings will help us recognize them for their hard work and sacrifice."
• Smith and Williams combined to coach the Tar Heels for 67 seasons (Smith was an assistant coach for three years and head coach for 36; Williams was an assistant on Smith's staff for 10 years and head coach for 18).
• The pair of Naismith, College Basketball and North Carolina Sports Hall of Famers combined to lead Carolina to five NCAA championships, 16 Final Fours, 16 ACC Tournament titles, 26 regular-season ACC championships, 33 top-10 Associated Press rankings and 1,364 victories.

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Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

RJ Davis

Dawson Garcia

Caleb Love

Brady Manek

Justin McKoy

Day'Ron Sharpe

Kerwin Walton