Tar Heels Look To Bounce Back Vs. Northeastern Wednesday

GAME 20
• Carolina steps out of conference play when the Tar Heels host Northeastern on Wednesday, February 17, at 7 p.m. at the Dean E. Smith Center. ACC Network Extra will stream the game live.
• This is the second meeting all-time between UNC and Northeastern. The Tar Heels defeated the Huskies, 101-66, on 3/15/1991 in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. That was an NCAA Tournament first round game. Hubert Davis and Rick Fox led five Tar Heels in double figures with 16 points apiece.
• Carolina is 12-7 overall, 7-5 in the ACC. This is UNC's first non-conference opponent since defeating Kentucky in Cleveland on December 19.
• Northeastern is 9-7 overall. The Huskies are in second place in the Colonial Athletic Association, a half game behind JMU, with an 8-2 record. They split a pair of games at Towson on February 13-14.
• Carolina added the non-conference game after the February 16 game against Virginia Tech was postponed due to Covid-19 safety protocols in the Hokie program. It was UNC's third ACC home game this season that was postponed (also January 12 vs. Clemson and February 8 vs. Miami). None of the three have been re-scheduled to date.
• This is UNC's latest non-conference regular-season game since hosting North Carolina A&T on 2/18/2003.
• The Tar Heels and Huskies have two common opponents this season. Carolina beat Syracuse in Chapel Hill, while the Orange beat Northeastern in the Carrier Dome, 62-56, on December 16. UNC beat the College of Charleston, 79-60, in the season opener on November 25. The Huskies swept a pair of games at Charleston on January 16-17.
• Carolina lost at ninth-ranked Virginia, 60-48, on February 13. It was UNC's fourth straight away game.
• The Tar Heels scored a season-low 48 points and shot only 34.5 percent from the floor in Charlottesville (season low was .344 at Miami). Walker Kessler led UNC in scoring with nine points in 12 minutes off the bench. It was the first time UNC did not have a player score in double figures since a 21-20 loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament on 3/4/1966.
• Through February 15, Carolina's five ACC losses, all of which have come in the road, have come against teams that are 28-6 at home this season (82.4 percent). That's better than the winning percentage for ACC home teams which is 67.8 percent (59-28).
• In ACC play, Florida State is 7-0 at home, Virginia is 6-0, Clemson and Georgia Tech are 6-1 and NC State is 3-4.
• Roy Williams has won 897 games in 33 seasons as a college head coach. 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 all-time among ACC head coaches.

UP & DOWN
• Over the last three games the Tar Heels have been inconsistent offensively, scoring 91 points and shooting 53.1 percent from the floor in a win at Duke sandwiched around a 50-point effort at Clemson and 48 at Virginia. UNC shot 38.6 percent from the floor in the loss at Clemson, 25.0 percent from the floor in the first half and 34.5 percent for the game in the loss at Virginia.
• Carolina had scored 81, 75, 80, 86 and 75 points in its five games prior to Clemson. That performance and the one at Virginia both followed week-long layoffs that were Covid-related.
• Carolina is 45 for 87 from the free throw line in the last five games, a percentage of .517. The Tar Heels have shot 44.4, 50.0, 52.4, 59.1 and 50.0 percent in their last five games. In the previous five games (from Notre Dame through Wake Forest), Carolina shot 74.0 percent from the line (74 for 100).
• In the last five games, UNC perimeter players are 22 of 34 from the line, including 11 of 15 by point guard Caleb Love. Leaky Black is 5 for 8, RJ Davis was 3 for 5 against NC State (and no attempts in the four games since), Anthony Harris is 2 for 4, Andrew Platek is 1 for 2 and Kerwin Walton has not attempted a free throw.
• 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 scored 91 points on 89 possessions at Duke, its best points per possession this season at 1.02.
• At Virginia, UNC scored 18 points on 38 possessions in the first half, its lowest ratio of the season (.47). The Tar Heels improved markedly in the second half in Charlottesville, scoring 30 points on 33 possessions (.91). However, the Cavaliers scored 33 points on 33 possessions in the second half.
• UNC has registered a points per possession of .90 or better five times this season – all in the last seven games (except at Clemson and Virginia).
• Defensively, the Tar Heels have allowed the opponents to score .90 or better in 11 of 19 games, including three of the last four.
• UNC has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in six of the last 11 halves (accomplished that five times in the first 27 halves).
• 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 on February 6.
• UNC has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in three of the last five 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.

SCHEDULING ANOMALIES
• Carolina has played each of its last four games on the road. That was the first time UNC played four straight true ACC road games in one season since 1964-65, when Carolina played at South Carolina, Maryland, Wake Forest and Duke.
• Covid-19 has resulted in the postponement of three ACC games for the Tar Heels, all scheduled for the Smith Center. They include January 12 vs. Clemson (which Syracuse replaced), February 8 vs. Miami and February 16 vs. Virginia Tech.
• Carolina has played only six of its 19 games at home this season, the fewest of any school in the ACC (Boston College and Wake Forest have played seven; nine schools have played 10 or more).
• Before the season began Carolina had five non-conference games canceled as 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.

FRESHMEN FOCUS
• KenPom ranks Carolina the 325th-most experienced team in the nation (out of 342 teams). Seven of UNC's 11 rotation players are freshmen. Those freshmen have played 51.3 percent of all minutes played (1,951 of 3,800).
• Freshmen have made 41 starts this season, including 17 by Caleb Love, 11 by Kerwin Walton and 10 by RJ Davis. That's the fifth most in the country behind Kentucky, Washington State, Kansas State and Duke.
• Carolina has started the same lineup in each of the last eight 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 54.2 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
.542 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. In its next game at Virginia, UNC was just 2 for 16 from three-point range.
• 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.
• The Tar Heels are shooting 3 1.0 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)
.310 in 2020-21 (99 of 319)
.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 210-102 from the three-point line in its seven losses this season.
• The opponents have averaged 10.0 threes in the seven losses and shot 43.2 percent from beyond the arc (UNC has made 4.9 per game and shot 29.6 percent in the losses).

REBOUNDING
• Carolina leads the nation in rebound margin (+10.8), is second in offensive rebounds (15.0 per game) and fourth in rebounds (42.5 rpg).
• Carolina is second to Houston in offensive rebound percentage. The Cougars grab 40.2 percent of their misses, while the Tar Heels grab 39.4 percent of theirs.
• Carolina is averaging 16.4 second-chance points with a season-high 30 vs. Charleston, low of seven at Georgia Tech and 20 or more four times. The 16.4 points are the second-most second-chance points UNC has averaged in the last 10 seasons (17.6 in 2016-17).
• Over the last three games, UNC has 34 second-chance points (11.3 per game). That includes only six at Clemson and 13 at Virginia.
• 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 +10.8 per game is on pace to tie the third 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 2007-08
10.8 in 2020-21
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 , 7.6 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).

TAKE CARE OF 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 19 games the Tar Heels have 283 assists and 279 turnovers.
• In ACC play, the Tar Heels have 194 assists and 169 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 eight of the last 10 games.
• The Tar Heels are 8-3 this season when they have more assists than turnovers.
• Five Tar Heels have more assists than turnovers (Leaky Black 49/24, Kerwin Walton 34/22, RJ Davis 40/34, Anthony Harris 7/4 and Caleb Love 63/62).
• 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.

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 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists in late February, and those names will be placed on the official ballot.
• The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the NCAA Final Four.
• Tyler Hansbrough won the award in 2009.

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 seven 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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cole Anthony

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

Garrison Brooks

RJ Davis

Anthony Harris

Walker Kessler

Caleb Love

Andrew Platek

Day'Ron Sharpe

Kerwin Walton

Coby White

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University of North Carolina Athletics