Tar Heels Head To Virginia For Saturday Night Matchup

GAME 19
• Carolina (12-6, 7-4 ACC) returns to action at Virginia on Saturday, February 13, at 6 p.m. ESPN will televise the game.
• The Tar Heels are playing for the first time in a week since beating Duke, 91-87, in Cameron Indoor Stadium last Saturday evening.
• Six Tar Heels scored in double figures, UNC 53.1 percent from the floor, shot 66.7 percent from three-point range (10 of 15) and had a season-high in fastbreak points (27) and points off turnovers (28) in the win at Duke.
• Freshman point guard Caleb Love made a season-high four threes and led UNC with 25 points and seven assists, also both personal bests this season. He became the first Tar Heel ever with at least 25 points and seven assists at Duke.
• Carolina's 91-87 win at Duke was No. 897 for Roy Williams. He is three victories shy of 900 and six from surpassing Bob Knight for the third-most wins by a Division I head coach.
• The win at Duke was Williams' 479th at Carolina, his 209th ACC regular-season win and 93rd ACC road win – which each rank No. 3 in ACC history.
• The Cavaliers, 14-3 overall, lead the ACC at 10-1. Virginia began conference play with seven wins, lost at Virginia Tech on January 30, then has reeled off three more wins, including 57-49 at Georgia Tech on Wednesday.
• Virginia surrendered a season-high 98 points in a December loss to top-ranked Gonzaga, but has allowed a high of 68 points (by Notre Dame) in ACC play.

OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS
• Carolina scored a season-high 91 points (including a season-best 50 points in a half in the second) and shot 53.1 percent from the floor at Duke.
• Carolina has scored 80 or more points five times this season, including four of the last seven games. In 18 seasons under Roy Williams, UNC has scored 80 or more points 350 times in 637 games (54.9 percent).
• With the win over the Blue Devils, Carolina is 311-39 under Williams when it scores at least 80 points, a winning percentage of .889.
• Carolina scored 91 points on 89 possessions at Duke, its best points per possession this season at 1.02.
• UNC has registered a points per possession of .90 or better five times this season – all in the last six games (except at Clemson).
• Carolina shot 51.6 percent from the floor in the first half, 54.5 percent in the second and 53.1 for the game at Duke.
• UNC has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in six of the last nine halves (accomplished that five times in the first 27 halves).
• UNC has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in three of the last four games (.544 vs. NC State, .525 at Pittsburgh and .531 at Duke). Those are the first three times this season UNC has shot 50 percent.
• Carolina is 3-0 this season and 217-9 in 18 seasons under Roy Williams when it shoots 50 percent from the floor.

A FOURTH STRAIGHT ROAD GAME
• Carolina's game against Miami on Monday, Feb. 8, was postponed. That would have been UNC's first game at the Smith Center after three straight road games.
• Thus, the Virginia game will be Carolina's fourth consecutive ACC road game. This would be the first time UNC has played four straight true ACC road games in one season since 1964-65, when Carolina played at South Carolina, Maryland, Wake Forest and Duke.
• In 1982-83 and 1983-84, UNC played five straight ACC away games – the final two regular-season games in 1982-83 at Georgia Tech and Duke and the first three ACC games in 1983-84 at NC State, Maryland and Wake Forest in Greensboro.
• In 1970-71, the Tar Heels did play four consecutive ACC games on the road, but the first of the four vs. Clemson was played in Charlotte. The next three were at Maryland, South Carolina and Virginia.
• Carolina had five previously scheduled non-conference games canceled this season after the NCAA limited schedules to 27 games. Those included home games against UNC Asheville, UNCW and Loyola (Md.) and games at Hawai'i and Monmouth.

SERIES VS. VIRGINIA
• Carolina is 131-59 against Virginia. The 131 wins are the fifth most by UNC against any opponent.
• Virginia has won six straight games against UNC, the Cavaliers' longest win streak in series history since winning the first eight games between the schools from 1911-16.
• Carolina is 44-36 in Charlottesville, including 4-6 at John Paul Jones Arena.
• Virginia has won six in a row at John Paul Jones Arena. UNC's most recent win at Virginia came on 2/2/5/2012.

LAST YEAR VS. VIRGINIA
• The Cavaliers beat UNC twice last season, by nine points in early December in Charlottesville and by two on a last-second three-pointer in February in Chapel Hill
• It was the third straight season UNC did not come away with a win over Virginia.

DEC. 8, 2019 – @VIRGINIA 56, UNC 47
• Carolina scored 47 points, its fifth-lowest point total under Roy Williams. Freshman Cole Anthony (12) and Armando Bacot (11) were the only Tar Heels to score in double figures.
• Virginia shot 32.7 percent. It was the first time in 27 games that Carolina lost when holding the opponents under 40 percent.
• Carolina had six assists (one in the first half), its fewest since it had five in an overtime loss at Maryland in 2009.
• The Tar Heels made 17 field goals and were 1 of 14 from three-point range.
• The teams combined for only four fastbreak points (two apiece).
• Virginia led 24-18 at the half. The 18 points tied the fewest points in a half by the Tar Heels in the Roy Williams Era (first half vs. Butler in Maui, 11/20/2012; first half vs. NC State on 2/24/2015).

FEB. 15, 2020 – VIRGINIA 64, @UNC 62
• Tomas Woldetensae hit a 3FG with 0.8 seconds to play to give Virginia the win.
• It was the second game in a row at the Smith Center the opposition made a shot with less than a second to play to win the game (Duke).
• Carolina played only seven players and the bench did not score.
• Carolina shot 56.5 percent from the floor in the first half and 50 percent for the game. It was the second time in three games the Tar Heels lost when shooting 50 percent from the floor.
• UNC graduate student Christian Keeling made all three of his free throws with 10.3 seconds to play to give Carolina a 62-61 lead.
• Armando Bacot had a season-high 16 rebounds.
• Garrison Brooks scored a game-high 20 points.
• It marked the first time Virginia won consecutive games in Chapel Hill.

BROOKS CANDIDATE FOR SR. CLASS AWARD
• Garrison Brooks is one of 30 men's basketball players under consideration for the 2021 Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
• The Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
• The men's and women's candidates will be narrowed to two fields of ten finalists in late February, and those names will be placed on the official ballot.
• The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Men's Final Four® and NCAA Women's Final Four® this spring.
• Tyler Hansbrough won the award in 2009.

FRESHMEN FOCUS
• KenPom ranks Carolina 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 51.0 percent of all minutes played (1,837 of 3,600).
• Freshmen have made 39 starts this season, including 16 by Caleb Love, 10 by RJ Davis and 10 by Kerwin Walton. That's the fourth most in the country behind Kentucky, Washington State and Kansas State.
• Carolina has started the same lineup in each of the last seven games (Love, Walton, Black, Brooks and Bacot).
• UNC has used five different starting lineups this season.
• Freshmen are second (Love), fourth (Sharpe), fifth (Davis) and sixth (Walton) 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 53.6 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
.536 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/Clemson and Duke), RJ Davis (Syracuse and Florida State) and Day'Ron Sharpe (Notre Dame) have combined to win ACC Freshman of the Week honors four times 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 tied its season high with 10 three-pointers in its 91-87 win at Duke. UNC also made 10 threes in a seven-point loss at Florida State.
• UNC was 10 of 15 at Duke, a percentage of .667 that was the highest ever by UNC against Duke (except for the 1983 game in Cameron when the ACC experimented with a three-point line at 17 feet, nine inches).
• It tied the seventh-highest three-point percentage in any game by UNC in which the Tar Heels made 10 or more threes.

HIGHEST THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
(min. 10 three-pointers made)
.800 at Duke, March 5, 1983 (12 of 15)
.733 vs. Wake Forest, Feb. 22, 2014 (11 of 15)
.727 vs. WCU, Dec. 6, 2017 (16 of 22)
.706 vs. Hofstra, Nov. 18, 2010 (12 of 17)
.688 at App. State, Nov. 17, 2000 (11 of 16)
.680 vs. Florida State, Jan. 25, 1995 (17 of 25)
.667 at Duke, Feb. 6, 2021 (10 of 15)
.667 at Old Dominion, Dec. 29, 1994 (10 of 15)
.667 vs. Clemson, Feb. 21, 1987 (12 of 18)

• It was also the fourth highest percentage in the Roy Williams era (in games with 10 or more made three-pointers).
• The Tar Heels are shooting 32.0 percent from three-point range this season, which is on pace to be the second lowest in school history.

LOWEST THREE-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
.304 in 2019-20 (181 of 595)
.320 in 2020-21 (97 of 303)
.327 in 2015-16 (224 of 685)
.328 in 2010-11 (190 of 580)
.329 in 2009-10 (176 of 535)

• UNC has made 40 percent or better in five games this season and is 2-3 in those games, all of which have come on the road (wins at Miami and Duke; losses at Iowa, Georgia Tech and Florida State).
• Carolina has been outscored 180-96 from the three-point line in its six losses this season.
• The opponents have averaged 10.0 threes in the six losses and shot 42.9 percent from beyond the arc (UNC has made 5.3 per game in the losses).

REBOUNDING
• Carolina leads the nation in rebound margin (+11.0), is second in offensive rebounds (15.1 per game) and fourth in rebounds per game (42.6).
• The school record for offensive rebounds per game is 15.75 in 2016-17.
• Carolina is second to Houston in offensive rebound percentage. The Cougars grab 40.1 percent of their misses, while the Tar Heels grab 40.0 percent of theirs.
• Carolina is averaging 16.6 second-chance points with a season-high 30 vs. Charleston, low of seven at Georgia Tech and 20 or more four times. The 16.6 points are the second-most second-chance points UNC has averaged in the last 10 seasons (17.6 in 2016-17).
• 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).
• UNC's rebound margin of +11.0 per game is on pace to tie the second highest in school history (the record is +12.3 in 2016-17).

HIGHEST REBOUNDING MARGIN PER GAME
12.3 in 2016-17
11.0 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 Day'Ron Sharpe , 7.4 by Armando Bacot 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).

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.
• Through 18 games the Tar Heels have 272 assists and 271 turnovers.
• In ACC play, the Tar Heels have 183 assists and 161 turnovers.
• Carolina had more assists than turnovers in only three of its first nine games this season, but it has more assists than turnovers in seven of the last nine games.
• The Tar Heels are 8-2 this season when they have more assists than turnovers.
• Four Tar Heels have more assists than turnovers (Leaky Black 48/24, Kerwin Walton 34/21, RJ Davis 40/32 and Anthony Harris 7/3).
• 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.

DEFENSIVE HONORS
• Freshman point guard Caleb Love won his first defensive player of the game award in the loss at Clemson.
• Love is one of seven different Tar Heel to earn defensive player of the game honors in UNC's last nine games. The only players to win the award, which is based on the coaches' grades, twice in that span are RJ Davis and Garrison Brooks.
• Freshmen have won the award eight times in 18 games, including seven times in the last 11 contests.
• Day'Ron Sharpe and Brooks lead UNC with four awards apiece this season.
• Brooks has won the award 37 times in his career, the second most by a Tar Heel since 2007 (39 by Marcus Paige from 2012-16). Brooks won the award at Duke.

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 five of its six 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.

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Players Mentioned

Cole Anthony

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

Garrison Brooks

RJ Davis

Anthony Harris

Christian Keeling

Caleb Love

Day'Ron Sharpe

Kerwin Walton

Coby White

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University of North Carolina Athletics