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University of North Carolina Athletics
Tuesday, February 2
Clemson, S.C.
7 PM
North Carolina
at
Clemson
UNC and Clemson will tipoff at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night in Littlejohn Coliseum.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Tar Heels Head To Clemson For Tuesday Tilt
February 1, 2021 | Men's Basketball
GAME 17
• Carolina returns to action for the first time in a week when it travels to Clemson on Tuesday, February 2. Game time is 7 p.m. on the ACC Network.
• Clemson is Roy Williams' 300th regular-season ACC game as Carolina's head coach. Regardless of the result, Williams will have the second-most wins of any coach in history after 300 regular-season ACC games. Williams is 208-91 entering the game. Carolina's Dean Smith was 220-80 and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski was 203-97 after 300 games.
• Smith, Williams and Krzyzewski are the only coaches ever to win 200 or more regular-season ACC games. They are among six to coach 300 regular-season ACC games.
Best Record After 300 Regular-Season ACC Games
Dean Smith, UNC 220-80
Roy Williams, UNC 208-91+
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke 203-97
Gary Williams, Maryland 165-135
Leonard Hamilton, Florida State 159-141
• Williams has 896 wins in 33 seasons as a head coach. He is four wins shy of 900 and seven from surpassing Bob Knight for the third-most wins by a Division I head coach.
• Carolina has won three straight ACC games and is 11-5 overall, 6-3 in league play. The last time UNC won four consecutive ACC games was 2018-19, when it won eight in a row (seven in the regular season and an ACC Tournament quarterfinal round game).
• The Tar Heels are 2-4 on the road (2-3 in ACC play with wins at Miami and Pittsburgh, a three-point loss at NC State, five-point loss at Georgia Tech and seven-point loss at Florida State).
• Carolina in fourth in the ACC at 6-3, a game and half behind Virginia, which remains in first place at 7-1 after its loss at Virginia Tech.
• Six of Carolina's 10 remaining scheduled games are against the other teams in the top six in the ACC standings.
• Clemson is 10-5, 4-5 in the ACC. The Tigers have lost four of their last five, including 79-53 at Duke on January 30. Clemson is 6-1 at home, 3-1 in ACC play with home league wins over NC State, Florida State and Louisville.
• The Tar Heels last played on January 26 at Pittsburgh, when they defeated the Panthers, 75-65. Armando Bacot and Garrison Brooks were 16 of 21 from the floor and combined for 37 points and 16 rebounds. Day'Ron Sharpe added six points, seven boards and four assists. The Tar Heels outscored the Panthers, 18-9, on second chance points and, 48-32, in the paint.
• Carolina shot a season-high 60.7 percent from the floor in the second half, during which it built a 16-point lead, and 52.5 percent for the game, the second straight in which it shot better than 50 percent.
• Pittsburgh's Justin Champagnie led all scorers with 24 points, but Brooks and Sharpe limited the ACC's leading scorer to just nine field goal attempts, which matched his season low.
NET-WORTHY
• Carolina is 48th in the NCAA NET rankings. Three of UNC's five losses this season have come against teams in the NET top 25, including No. 6 Iowa, No. 14 Texas and No. 25 Florida State (Iowa and FSU losses coming on the road).
• Among the 11 ACC teams with a winning overall record, only Clemson has a more difficult strength of schedule, according to the NET. UNC's is 25th in the country and Clemson's is 10th. The Tigers have played eight games against Quadrant 1 opponents and have an ACC-leading three wins against Q1 teams.
RECENT SUCCESS
• Carolina is averaging 79.4 points over its last five games (74.5 for the season and 72.3 in the first 11 games).
• The Tar Heels have shot 50 percent from the floor in four of its last five halves dating back to the second half against Wake Forest. UNC had shot 50 percent or better from the floor five times in its first 27 halves.
• Carolina is 86 for 160 from the floor in its last five halves, a percentage of .538.
• Over the last four games, the Tar Heels have scored 316 points on 338 possessions, a points per possession of .93. That included 75 points on 82 possessions at Florida State (.91), 80 points on 86 possessions vs. Wake Forest (.93), 86 points on 90 possessions (.96) against NC State and 75 points on 80 possessions (.94) at Pittsburgh. Those are the only four games all season UNC has registered a PPP of .90 or better.
• The last time UNC had a PPP of .90 or better in four straight games was the last four games in 2018-19 against Duke, Iona, Washington and Auburn.
• Over the last five games four Tar Heels are averaging at least 11.2 points and six are averaging 8.0 or more. Only three Tar Heels are averaging in double figures in points per game over the season.
• Carolina is shooting 47.2 percent from the floor in its last five games. For the season, UNC is shooting 43.6 percent, its second lowest in the shot clock era.
AWAY, AWAY, AWAY
• Carolina's game at Clemson is the second of three consecutive ACC road games for the Tar Heels. The unusual scheduling is a result of changes due to Covid-19 that moved the Notre Dame game from January 30 to January 2 and left UNC with an open date on the 30th.
• This is the first time UNC has played three consecutive ACC road games since February 1-9, 2016, when the Tar Heels played at Louisville (L), Notre Dame (L) and Boston College (W).
SERIES VS. CLEMSON
• Carolina leads the series, 133-22, including 40-17 on the road and 29-14 at Littlejohn Coliseum.
• The Tigers have won two of the last three games, but Roy Williams is 21-4 against Clemson as head coach of the Tar Heels.
• Carolina has won five of the last six at Littlejohn Coliseum, including 81-79 in the most recent game there on 3/2/2019.
LAST SEASON VS. THE TIGERS
• Clemson beat UNC, 79-76, in overtime in the Smith Center on 1/11/2020.
• It was UNC's first loss in 60 games to Clemson in Chapel Hill. The 59-0 record was the longest unbeaten streak at home against an opponent in NCAA history.
• UNC led Clemson led, 39-29, at the half and 68-58 with 1:56 to play, but the Tigers tied the game at 70 on a 3FG by Aamir Simms with three seconds left. The Tar Heels committed three turnovers in the last minute and a half, and the Tigers made their last four field goal attempts to send the game to overtime.
• Tar Heel senior guard Brandon Robinson made five threes and scored a career-high 27 points.
• Garrison Brooks posted his fourth consecutive double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
• Armando Bacot had 21 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the floor.
• Leaky Black made his first career start at the point and had five assists.
• Andrew Platek made his first career start. He had eight points and had career highs in rebounds (eight) and assists (six).
BUCKETS FOR BACOT
• Armando Bacot led UNC in scoring in each of the last two wins over NC State (17 points) and Pittsburgh (21). He is the first Tar Heel to lead UNC in consecutive games since he was the leading scorer in four straight December games against NC Central, Kentucky, NC State and Georgia Tech.
• Bacot has led UNC in scoring a team-high six times. The sophomore from Richmond, Va., is one of six Tar Heels to lead UNC in scoring in the first 16 games. Garrison Brooks and Caleb Love have both led three times, RJ Davis has twice and Leaky Black and Day'Ron Sharpe have led one game apiece.
• Bacot leads UNC in scoring at 12.6 points per game. The last time a Tar Heel led the team in scoring with less than 13 points a game was 1947-48 (Bob Paxton 12.2 ppg).
• Bacot is shooting 75 percent from the floor in the current three-game win streak. He has made a combined 24 of 32 shots from the floor against Wake Forest, NC State and Pittsburgh.
• Bacot's three-game run marks the first time since 2015-16 a Tar Heel has made 24 or more field goals and shot at least 75 percent over three games. First-team All-America Brice Johnson made 27 field goals and shot 81.8 percent from the floor against UCLA, Appalachian State and UNCG. Johnson actually averaged 8.7 field goals and shot 76.8 percent over a five-game span that season. Prior to Johnson, the last Tar Heel to average eight field goals and shoot 75 percent from the floor over three games was Jawad Williams in 2004-05.
• For the season, Bacot is shooting 65.5 percent from the floor. That would lead the ACC, but he is four made field goals shy of qualifying. He leads UNC with 76 made field goals in 116 attempts. He is on pace for the third-highest field goal percentage in a season by a Tar Heel.
• Through 16 games as a freshman a season ago, Bacot was 61 of 126 from the floor (.484).
HIGHEST FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE — SEASON
.697 Brendan Haywood, 1999-2000 (191 of 274) (ACC record)
.668 Bobby Jones, 1971-72 (127 of 190)
.655 Armando Bacot, 2020-21 (76 of 116)
.654 Rasheed Wallace, 1994-95 (238 of 364)
.648 Brad Daugherty, 1985-86 (284 of 438)
.648 Brendan Haywood, 1998-99 (160 of 247)
THAT WINNING MARGIN
• Carolina beat both NC State and Pittsburgh by 10 points. Those wins followed an unprecedented stretch of seven ACC games decided by seven or fewer points.
• Carolina has led at the half seven times in the first 16 games, including by 10 over NC State and seven at Pitt. Still, UNC has been outscored by five points in the first half this season but has outscored its opponents by 79 points in the second.
• Carolina is 6-1 when it leads at the half and 4-4 when it trails, including comeback wins over Stanford, Kentucky, Notre Dame and Wake Forest).
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• KenPom ranks Carolina as the 323rd-most experienced team in the nation (out of 342 teams). Seven of UNC's 11 rotation players are freshmen. Those freshmen have played 50.8 percent of all minutes played (1,627 of 3,200).
• Freshmen have made 35 starts this season, including 14 by Caleb Love and 10 by RJ Davis. That's the fourth most in the country behind Kentucky, Washington State and Kansas State.
• Freshman Kerwin Walton has started the last eight games.
• Carolina has started the same lineup in each of the last five games (Love, Walton, Black, Brooks and Bacot).
• UNC has used five different starting lineups this season.
• Freshmen are third (Love), fourth (Sharpe) and fifth (Davis) in scoring for the Tar Heels. This is the first time three freshmen are among UNC's top five scorers since 2006-07, when Brandan Wright, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson were second, third and fourth, respectively.
• Freshmen (including red-shirt freshman Anthony Harris) have scored 53.1 percent of Carolina's points this season. That's the second-highest percentage in any season at UNC. The 2002-03 team included Rashad McCants, Sean May, Raymond Felton and David Noel. In the first nine games that season, before May broke his foot, the freshmen accounted for 62 percent of the team's scoring.
HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF SCORING BY UNC FRESHMEN
.584 in 2002-03
.531 in 2020-21
.502 in 2006-07
.501 in 2005-06
.372 in 1995-96
• This is the eighth time in Williams' 18 seasons at UNC a freshman has started at the point for at least a majority of the season: Bobby Frasor in 2005-06, Ty Lawson in 2006-07, Kendall Marshall in 2010-11, Marcus Paige in 2012-13, Nate Britt in 2013-14, Coby White in 2018-19, Cole Anthony in 2019-20 and Caleb Love in 2020-21.
• Caleb Love (Wake Forest and NC State), RJ Davis (Syracuse and Florida State) and Day'Ron Sharpe (Notre Dame) have won ACC Freshman of the Week honors this season. This is the first time three Tar Heels have won the award in the same season since Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall and Reggie Bullock combined to win seven times in 2010-11).
THREES
• Carolina averaged eight three-point field goals over a five-game stretch from Dec. 30-Jan. 16 in which it went 3-2. That included 10 threes in the January 16 loss at Florida State. Over the last three games, all victories, UNC has made a total of 11 three-pointers (three vs. Wake Forest, four vs. NC State and four at Pittsburgh).
• UNC's three-point percentage (.305) is on pace to be the second lowest in school history.
LOWEST THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
.304 in 2019-20 (181 of 595)
.305 in 2020-21 (82 of 269)
.327 in 2015-16 (224 of 685)
.328 in 2010-11 (190 of 580)
.329 in 2009-10 (176 of 535)
EIGHTY
• Carolina has scored 80 or more points four times this season, including three of the last five games. In 18 seasons under Roy Williams UNC has scored 80 or more points 349 times in 635 games (55 percent).
• Carolina is 310-39 under Williams when it scores at least 80 points, a winning percentage of .888.
REBOUNDING
• Carolina shot 52.5 percent from the floor at Pittsburgh, but still scored 18 second-chance points. UNC is averaging 17.4 second-chance points per game.
• Carolina leads the nation in offensive rebounds per game (15.69), total rebounds per game (43.1) and rebound margin (+11.3).
• UNC led the nation in all three rebounding categories in 2016-17.
• The school record for offensive rebounds per game is 15.75 in 2016-17.
• Carolina and Houston are tied for the lead in offensive rebound percentage at 40.9 percent.
• Carolina is averaging 17.4 second-chance points with a season-high 30 vs. Charleston, low of seven at Georgia Tech and 20 or more four times. The 17.4 points are the second-most second-chance points UNC has averaged in the last 10 seasons (17.6 in 2016-17).
MOST OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS PER GAME
(beginning in 1995-96)
15.75 in 2016-17 (630 in 40 games)
15.69 in 2020-21 (261 in 16 games)
15.51 in 2007-08
15.50 in 2011-12
15.33 in 2003-04
15.14 in 1996-97
• This is the seventh consecutive season UNC is averaging at least 40 rebounds per game (the 14th time in Roy Williams' 18 seasons as UNC's head coach).
• Carolina is 10-4 this season when it outrebounds its opponent. Only Kentucky (by four) and Florida State (by one) have outrebounded the Tar Heels. UNC's rebound margin of +11.3 per game is on pace to be the second highest in school history (the record is +12.3 in 2016-17).
HIGHEST REBOUNDING MARGIN PER GAME
12.3 in 2016-17
11.3 in 2020-21
11.0 in 2007-08
10.8 in 1956-57
10.4 in 2018-19
10.4 in 2011-12
• Carolina has finished first, first, first and second in the nation in rebounds per game in the last four seasons and in the top 10 nationally in rebound margin in each of the last six seasons.
• Three Tar Heels are averaging at least seven rebounds a game (7.8 by Armando Bacot and Day'Ron Sharpe and 7.1 by Garrison Brooks). This is the first time three Tar Heels averaged 7.0 or more rebounds since 1969-70 (Lee Dedmon, Charlie Scott and Dennis Wuycik).
• Bacot is averaging 7.8 rebounds this season and 8.1 through 48 games as a Tar Heel. The sophomore is pace to be the first Tar Heel to average eight or more rebounds through his first two seasons since Sean May, who averaged 9.4 in 2002-03 and 2003-04
MOVE THE BALL
• Carolina has never committed more turnovers than it had assists in 17 previous seasons under Roy Williams. The closest margin was in 2009-10, when UNC had 552 assists and 512 turnovers.
• The Tar Heels handed out 22 assists and had 13 turnovers at Pittsburgh. That gave UNC more assists than turnovers for the season (244/238) for the first time since after the first game against Charleston, when UNC had 12 assists and nine turnovers.
• In the last nine games, all in ACC play, the Tar Heels have 155 assists and 128 turnovers.
• Carolina had more assists than turnovers in only three of its first nine games this season, but has more assists than turnovers in each of the last five (+32) and six of the last seven games.
• Over the last five games, UNC has 95 assists (19.0 per game) and assisted on 61.7 percent of its field goals. The Tar Heels had averaged 13.5 assists and helped on 52.8 percent of their field goals in the first 11 games this season.
• Five Tar Heels have more assists than turnovers (Leaky Black 43/21, Kerwin Walton 32/19, RJ Davis 36/31, Andrew Platek 15/14 and Anthony Harris 5/1).
• The Tar Heels are 7-2 this season when they have more assists than turnovers.
• In 18 seasons under Roy Williams, the Tar Heels have won 81.5 percent of its games when they have fewer turnovers than their opponents.
CLOSE LOSSES
• Carolina has either led in the final 10 minutes, including two times when UNC led inside the final 3:30, or trailed by one possession in all five of its losses season:
– took a 65-63 lead over Texas with 2:35 to play on a Garrison Brooks basket, but lost, 69-67, on a last-second shot;
– took a 68-67 lead at Iowa with 9:30 to play, but lost, 93-80;
– rallied from 17 down to within two at NC State with 10 seconds to play and had two three-point attempts in the final seconds that could have tied the game in a 79-76 loss;
– led Georgia Tech by six at the half, by eight with 6:36 to play and 65-64 with 3:25 remaining, but lost, 72-67;
– trailed Florida State, 74-73, with 2:22 to play in the Seminoles' 82-75 win in Tallahassee.
• Carolina returns to action for the first time in a week when it travels to Clemson on Tuesday, February 2. Game time is 7 p.m. on the ACC Network.
• Clemson is Roy Williams' 300th regular-season ACC game as Carolina's head coach. Regardless of the result, Williams will have the second-most wins of any coach in history after 300 regular-season ACC games. Williams is 208-91 entering the game. Carolina's Dean Smith was 220-80 and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski was 203-97 after 300 games.
• Smith, Williams and Krzyzewski are the only coaches ever to win 200 or more regular-season ACC games. They are among six to coach 300 regular-season ACC games.
Best Record After 300 Regular-Season ACC Games
Dean Smith, UNC 220-80
Roy Williams, UNC 208-91+
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke 203-97
Gary Williams, Maryland 165-135
Leonard Hamilton, Florida State 159-141
• Williams has 896 wins in 33 seasons as a head coach. He is four wins shy of 900 and seven from surpassing Bob Knight for the third-most wins by a Division I head coach.
• Carolina has won three straight ACC games and is 11-5 overall, 6-3 in league play. The last time UNC won four consecutive ACC games was 2018-19, when it won eight in a row (seven in the regular season and an ACC Tournament quarterfinal round game).
• The Tar Heels are 2-4 on the road (2-3 in ACC play with wins at Miami and Pittsburgh, a three-point loss at NC State, five-point loss at Georgia Tech and seven-point loss at Florida State).
• Carolina in fourth in the ACC at 6-3, a game and half behind Virginia, which remains in first place at 7-1 after its loss at Virginia Tech.
• Six of Carolina's 10 remaining scheduled games are against the other teams in the top six in the ACC standings.
• Clemson is 10-5, 4-5 in the ACC. The Tigers have lost four of their last five, including 79-53 at Duke on January 30. Clemson is 6-1 at home, 3-1 in ACC play with home league wins over NC State, Florida State and Louisville.
• The Tar Heels last played on January 26 at Pittsburgh, when they defeated the Panthers, 75-65. Armando Bacot and Garrison Brooks were 16 of 21 from the floor and combined for 37 points and 16 rebounds. Day'Ron Sharpe added six points, seven boards and four assists. The Tar Heels outscored the Panthers, 18-9, on second chance points and, 48-32, in the paint.
• Carolina shot a season-high 60.7 percent from the floor in the second half, during which it built a 16-point lead, and 52.5 percent for the game, the second straight in which it shot better than 50 percent.
• Pittsburgh's Justin Champagnie led all scorers with 24 points, but Brooks and Sharpe limited the ACC's leading scorer to just nine field goal attempts, which matched his season low.
NET-WORTHY
• Carolina is 48th in the NCAA NET rankings. Three of UNC's five losses this season have come against teams in the NET top 25, including No. 6 Iowa, No. 14 Texas and No. 25 Florida State (Iowa and FSU losses coming on the road).
• Among the 11 ACC teams with a winning overall record, only Clemson has a more difficult strength of schedule, according to the NET. UNC's is 25th in the country and Clemson's is 10th. The Tigers have played eight games against Quadrant 1 opponents and have an ACC-leading three wins against Q1 teams.
RECENT SUCCESS
• Carolina is averaging 79.4 points over its last five games (74.5 for the season and 72.3 in the first 11 games).
• The Tar Heels have shot 50 percent from the floor in four of its last five halves dating back to the second half against Wake Forest. UNC had shot 50 percent or better from the floor five times in its first 27 halves.
• Carolina is 86 for 160 from the floor in its last five halves, a percentage of .538.
• Over the last four games, the Tar Heels have scored 316 points on 338 possessions, a points per possession of .93. That included 75 points on 82 possessions at Florida State (.91), 80 points on 86 possessions vs. Wake Forest (.93), 86 points on 90 possessions (.96) against NC State and 75 points on 80 possessions (.94) at Pittsburgh. Those are the only four games all season UNC has registered a PPP of .90 or better.
• The last time UNC had a PPP of .90 or better in four straight games was the last four games in 2018-19 against Duke, Iona, Washington and Auburn.
• Over the last five games four Tar Heels are averaging at least 11.2 points and six are averaging 8.0 or more. Only three Tar Heels are averaging in double figures in points per game over the season.
• Carolina is shooting 47.2 percent from the floor in its last five games. For the season, UNC is shooting 43.6 percent, its second lowest in the shot clock era.
AWAY, AWAY, AWAY
• Carolina's game at Clemson is the second of three consecutive ACC road games for the Tar Heels. The unusual scheduling is a result of changes due to Covid-19 that moved the Notre Dame game from January 30 to January 2 and left UNC with an open date on the 30th.
• This is the first time UNC has played three consecutive ACC road games since February 1-9, 2016, when the Tar Heels played at Louisville (L), Notre Dame (L) and Boston College (W).
SERIES VS. CLEMSON
• Carolina leads the series, 133-22, including 40-17 on the road and 29-14 at Littlejohn Coliseum.
• The Tigers have won two of the last three games, but Roy Williams is 21-4 against Clemson as head coach of the Tar Heels.
• Carolina has won five of the last six at Littlejohn Coliseum, including 81-79 in the most recent game there on 3/2/2019.
LAST SEASON VS. THE TIGERS
• Clemson beat UNC, 79-76, in overtime in the Smith Center on 1/11/2020.
• It was UNC's first loss in 60 games to Clemson in Chapel Hill. The 59-0 record was the longest unbeaten streak at home against an opponent in NCAA history.
• UNC led Clemson led, 39-29, at the half and 68-58 with 1:56 to play, but the Tigers tied the game at 70 on a 3FG by Aamir Simms with three seconds left. The Tar Heels committed three turnovers in the last minute and a half, and the Tigers made their last four field goal attempts to send the game to overtime.
• Tar Heel senior guard Brandon Robinson made five threes and scored a career-high 27 points.
• Garrison Brooks posted his fourth consecutive double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
• Armando Bacot had 21 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the floor.
• Leaky Black made his first career start at the point and had five assists.
• Andrew Platek made his first career start. He had eight points and had career highs in rebounds (eight) and assists (six).
BUCKETS FOR BACOT
• Armando Bacot led UNC in scoring in each of the last two wins over NC State (17 points) and Pittsburgh (21). He is the first Tar Heel to lead UNC in consecutive games since he was the leading scorer in four straight December games against NC Central, Kentucky, NC State and Georgia Tech.
• Bacot has led UNC in scoring a team-high six times. The sophomore from Richmond, Va., is one of six Tar Heels to lead UNC in scoring in the first 16 games. Garrison Brooks and Caleb Love have both led three times, RJ Davis has twice and Leaky Black and Day'Ron Sharpe have led one game apiece.
• Bacot leads UNC in scoring at 12.6 points per game. The last time a Tar Heel led the team in scoring with less than 13 points a game was 1947-48 (Bob Paxton 12.2 ppg).
• Bacot is shooting 75 percent from the floor in the current three-game win streak. He has made a combined 24 of 32 shots from the floor against Wake Forest, NC State and Pittsburgh.
• Bacot's three-game run marks the first time since 2015-16 a Tar Heel has made 24 or more field goals and shot at least 75 percent over three games. First-team All-America Brice Johnson made 27 field goals and shot 81.8 percent from the floor against UCLA, Appalachian State and UNCG. Johnson actually averaged 8.7 field goals and shot 76.8 percent over a five-game span that season. Prior to Johnson, the last Tar Heel to average eight field goals and shoot 75 percent from the floor over three games was Jawad Williams in 2004-05.
• For the season, Bacot is shooting 65.5 percent from the floor. That would lead the ACC, but he is four made field goals shy of qualifying. He leads UNC with 76 made field goals in 116 attempts. He is on pace for the third-highest field goal percentage in a season by a Tar Heel.
• Through 16 games as a freshman a season ago, Bacot was 61 of 126 from the floor (.484).
HIGHEST FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE — SEASON
.697 Brendan Haywood, 1999-2000 (191 of 274) (ACC record)
.668 Bobby Jones, 1971-72 (127 of 190)
.655 Armando Bacot, 2020-21 (76 of 116)
.654 Rasheed Wallace, 1994-95 (238 of 364)
.648 Brad Daugherty, 1985-86 (284 of 438)
.648 Brendan Haywood, 1998-99 (160 of 247)
THAT WINNING MARGIN
• Carolina beat both NC State and Pittsburgh by 10 points. Those wins followed an unprecedented stretch of seven ACC games decided by seven or fewer points.
• Carolina has led at the half seven times in the first 16 games, including by 10 over NC State and seven at Pitt. Still, UNC has been outscored by five points in the first half this season but has outscored its opponents by 79 points in the second.
• Carolina is 6-1 when it leads at the half and 4-4 when it trails, including comeback wins over Stanford, Kentucky, Notre Dame and Wake Forest).
YOUTH MOVEMENT
• KenPom ranks Carolina as the 323rd-most experienced team in the nation (out of 342 teams). Seven of UNC's 11 rotation players are freshmen. Those freshmen have played 50.8 percent of all minutes played (1,627 of 3,200).
• Freshmen have made 35 starts this season, including 14 by Caleb Love and 10 by RJ Davis. That's the fourth most in the country behind Kentucky, Washington State and Kansas State.
• Freshman Kerwin Walton has started the last eight games.
• Carolina has started the same lineup in each of the last five games (Love, Walton, Black, Brooks and Bacot).
• UNC has used five different starting lineups this season.
• Freshmen are third (Love), fourth (Sharpe) and fifth (Davis) in scoring for the Tar Heels. This is the first time three freshmen are among UNC's top five scorers since 2006-07, when Brandan Wright, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson were second, third and fourth, respectively.
• Freshmen (including red-shirt freshman Anthony Harris) have scored 53.1 percent of Carolina's points this season. That's the second-highest percentage in any season at UNC. The 2002-03 team included Rashad McCants, Sean May, Raymond Felton and David Noel. In the first nine games that season, before May broke his foot, the freshmen accounted for 62 percent of the team's scoring.
HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF SCORING BY UNC FRESHMEN
.584 in 2002-03
.531 in 2020-21
.502 in 2006-07
.501 in 2005-06
.372 in 1995-96
• This is the eighth time in Williams' 18 seasons at UNC a freshman has started at the point for at least a majority of the season: Bobby Frasor in 2005-06, Ty Lawson in 2006-07, Kendall Marshall in 2010-11, Marcus Paige in 2012-13, Nate Britt in 2013-14, Coby White in 2018-19, Cole Anthony in 2019-20 and Caleb Love in 2020-21.
• Caleb Love (Wake Forest and NC State), RJ Davis (Syracuse and Florida State) and Day'Ron Sharpe (Notre Dame) have won ACC Freshman of the Week honors this season. This is the first time three Tar Heels have won the award in the same season since Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall and Reggie Bullock combined to win seven times in 2010-11).
THREES
• Carolina averaged eight three-point field goals over a five-game stretch from Dec. 30-Jan. 16 in which it went 3-2. That included 10 threes in the January 16 loss at Florida State. Over the last three games, all victories, UNC has made a total of 11 three-pointers (three vs. Wake Forest, four vs. NC State and four at Pittsburgh).
• UNC's three-point percentage (.305) is on pace to be the second lowest in school history.
LOWEST THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
.304 in 2019-20 (181 of 595)
.305 in 2020-21 (82 of 269)
.327 in 2015-16 (224 of 685)
.328 in 2010-11 (190 of 580)
.329 in 2009-10 (176 of 535)
EIGHTY
• Carolina has scored 80 or more points four times this season, including three of the last five games. In 18 seasons under Roy Williams UNC has scored 80 or more points 349 times in 635 games (55 percent).
• Carolina is 310-39 under Williams when it scores at least 80 points, a winning percentage of .888.
REBOUNDING
• Carolina shot 52.5 percent from the floor at Pittsburgh, but still scored 18 second-chance points. UNC is averaging 17.4 second-chance points per game.
• Carolina leads the nation in offensive rebounds per game (15.69), total rebounds per game (43.1) and rebound margin (+11.3).
• UNC led the nation in all three rebounding categories in 2016-17.
• The school record for offensive rebounds per game is 15.75 in 2016-17.
• Carolina and Houston are tied for the lead in offensive rebound percentage at 40.9 percent.
• Carolina is averaging 17.4 second-chance points with a season-high 30 vs. Charleston, low of seven at Georgia Tech and 20 or more four times. The 17.4 points are the second-most second-chance points UNC has averaged in the last 10 seasons (17.6 in 2016-17).
MOST OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS PER GAME
(beginning in 1995-96)
15.75 in 2016-17 (630 in 40 games)
15.69 in 2020-21 (261 in 16 games)
15.51 in 2007-08
15.50 in 2011-12
15.33 in 2003-04
15.14 in 1996-97
• This is the seventh consecutive season UNC is averaging at least 40 rebounds per game (the 14th time in Roy Williams' 18 seasons as UNC's head coach).
• Carolina is 10-4 this season when it outrebounds its opponent. Only Kentucky (by four) and Florida State (by one) have outrebounded the Tar Heels. UNC's rebound margin of +11.3 per game is on pace to be the second highest in school history (the record is +12.3 in 2016-17).
HIGHEST REBOUNDING MARGIN PER GAME
12.3 in 2016-17
11.3 in 2020-21
11.0 in 2007-08
10.8 in 1956-57
10.4 in 2018-19
10.4 in 2011-12
• Carolina has finished first, first, first and second in the nation in rebounds per game in the last four seasons and in the top 10 nationally in rebound margin in each of the last six seasons.
• Three Tar Heels are averaging at least seven rebounds a game (7.8 by Armando Bacot and Day'Ron Sharpe and 7.1 by Garrison Brooks). This is the first time three Tar Heels averaged 7.0 or more rebounds since 1969-70 (Lee Dedmon, Charlie Scott and Dennis Wuycik).
• Bacot is averaging 7.8 rebounds this season and 8.1 through 48 games as a Tar Heel. The sophomore is pace to be the first Tar Heel to average eight or more rebounds through his first two seasons since Sean May, who averaged 9.4 in 2002-03 and 2003-04
MOVE THE BALL
• Carolina has never committed more turnovers than it had assists in 17 previous seasons under Roy Williams. The closest margin was in 2009-10, when UNC had 552 assists and 512 turnovers.
• The Tar Heels handed out 22 assists and had 13 turnovers at Pittsburgh. That gave UNC more assists than turnovers for the season (244/238) for the first time since after the first game against Charleston, when UNC had 12 assists and nine turnovers.
• In the last nine games, all in ACC play, the Tar Heels have 155 assists and 128 turnovers.
• Carolina had more assists than turnovers in only three of its first nine games this season, but has more assists than turnovers in each of the last five (+32) and six of the last seven games.
• Over the last five games, UNC has 95 assists (19.0 per game) and assisted on 61.7 percent of its field goals. The Tar Heels had averaged 13.5 assists and helped on 52.8 percent of their field goals in the first 11 games this season.
• Five Tar Heels have more assists than turnovers (Leaky Black 43/21, Kerwin Walton 32/19, RJ Davis 36/31, Andrew Platek 15/14 and Anthony Harris 5/1).
• The Tar Heels are 7-2 this season when they have more assists than turnovers.
• In 18 seasons under Roy Williams, the Tar Heels have won 81.5 percent of its games when they have fewer turnovers than their opponents.
CLOSE LOSSES
• Carolina has either led in the final 10 minutes, including two times when UNC led inside the final 3:30, or trailed by one possession in all five of its losses season:
– took a 65-63 lead over Texas with 2:35 to play on a Garrison Brooks basket, but lost, 69-67, on a last-second shot;
– took a 68-67 lead at Iowa with 9:30 to play, but lost, 93-80;
– rallied from 17 down to within two at NC State with 10 seconds to play and had two three-point attempts in the final seconds that could have tied the game in a 79-76 loss;
– led Georgia Tech by six at the half, by eight with 6:36 to play and 65-64 with 3:25 remaining, but lost, 72-67;
– trailed Florida State, 74-73, with 2:22 to play in the Seminoles' 82-75 win in Tallahassee.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballFB: Players Post-Virginia
Saturday, October 25
FB: Belichick press conference post Virginia
Saturday, October 25
UNC Men's Basketball: Tar Heels Edged by #8 BYU in Exhibition, 78-76
Saturday, October 25
UNC Volleyball: Tar Heels Take Five-Set Thriller vs Notre Dame
Saturday, October 25