Tar Heels Set For Monday Night Visit To Syracuse

GAME 24
• Carolina begins the month of March with its final ACC road game when the Tar Heels visit the Carrier Dome to play Syracuse on Monday, March 1, at 7 p.m. ESPN will televise the game live.
• UNC has remaining regular-season games this week at Syracuse and home vs. Duke.
• The Tar Heels will play nine ACC road games and only seven at home. UNC is 6-0 in conference play at the Smith Center and 3-5 thus far on the road.
• Of the five teams ahead of UNC in the ACC standings, only Virginia is also scheduled to play nine ACC road games (Louisville should play eight; Florida State, Clemson and Virginia Tech are slated to play seven).
• Carolina went 2-0 in November, 3-4 in December, 6-1 in January and 4-3 in February.
• Roy Williams is 95-32 (.748) in March as head coach of the Tar Heels.
• On January 12, UNC defeated the Orange, 81-75, in Chapel Hill.
• UNC is 15-8 overall, 9-5 in ACC play. The Tar Heels defeated ACC-leading Florida State, 78-70, on Saturday.
• Carolina rallied from 16 down in the first half and 12 at the break, took its first lead of the second half with 15:20 to play and went ahead for good on an Armando Bacot dunk with 11:45 remaining.
• It was Carolina's largest comeback win since 2011 and marked the first time in UNC history four freshmen were the only Tar Heels to score in double figures. Walker Kessler led with a season-high 20. Kerwin Walton (13), Caleb Love (12) and RJ Davis (12) also scored in double figures. UNC got only 13 combined points from Bacot, Garrison Brooks and Day'Ron Sharpe, who rank first, second and fourth on the team in scoring this season.
• The win was the 900th for Roy Williams, making him the fourth to reach 900 wins as a D-1 head coach. He won his 900th in fewer games (1,161) and seasons (33) than Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim and Bob Knight, who also have 900-plus wins as a D-1 coach.
• The win over Florida State also came in Williams' 500th home game as a college head coach (including UNC and Kansas). His teams are 443-57 at home, winning 88.6 percent of the time.
• Syracuse is 13-8 overall, 7-7 in the ACC, and 10-1 at home this season. The Orange has lost its last two games at Duke and at Georgia Tech.

UNC-SYRACUSE
• Carolina is 14-5 against the Orange, including 10-2 since Syracuse joined the ACC in 2013-14.
• The Tar Heels have won 10 of the last 11.
• Carolina is 11-2 in the Carrier Dome (4-1 against Syracuse and 7-1 in NCAA Tournament games in 1983, 1991, 1997 and 2005).
• Carolina has won its last three games vs. the Orange in the Carrier Dome in 2016, 2018 and 2020.
• Roy Williams is 11-5 against Syracuse (10-3 as head coach of the Tar Heels and 1-2 at Kansas).

JAN. 12, 2021 – @CAROLINA 81, SYRACUSE 75
• Garrison Brooks (16/10) and Armando Bacot (15/12) had double-doubles, RJ Davis added two three-pointers and 12 points and Leaky Black had seven assists, blocked three shots and helped hold Buddy Boeheim scoreless after he scored 18 points in the first half.
• The Tar Heels had 24 offensive rebounds, three more than Syracuse had defensive, which led to 24 second-chance points.
• Carolina shot 39.7 percent from the floor. It was UNC's third straight win when shooting under 40 percent from the floor.

WILLIAMS FASTEST TO 900 WINS
• Roy Williams is 900-261 in 33 seasons as a head coach. With the win over FSU, Williams became the fourth Division I coach to win 900 games, joining fellow Naismith Hall of Famers Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim and Bob Knight.

MOST WINS AS DIVISION I HEAD COACH
1168 Mike Krzyzewski Army, Duke
977 Jim Boeheim Syracuse
902 Bob Knight Army, Indiana, Texas Tech
900 Roy Williams Kansas, North Carolina
879 Dean Smith North Carolina

THE ROAD TO 900
Win Date Score, Opponent
1 (KU) 11-25-88 94-81, Alaska-Anchorage
100 (KU) 3-13-92 84-66, Colorado
200 (KU) 1-28-96 88-73, Nebraska
300 (KU) 2-20-99 60-50, Oklahoma
400 (KU) 1-15-03 98-70, Wyoming
418 (KU) 4-5-03 94-61, Marquette
419 (UNC) 11-22-03 90-64, Old Dominion
500 (UNC) 12-9-06 94-69, High Point
600 (UNC) 11-29-09 80-73, Nevada
700 (UNC) 3-22-13 78-71, Villanova
800 (UNC) 1-16-17 85-68, Syracuse
900 (UNC) 2-27-21 78-70, Florida State

• Williams was eighth-fastest in games played to 200 wins, tied for the third-fastest to 300, fourth fastest to 400, fastest to 500 and 600, third fastest to 700, second fastest to 800 behind Adolph Rupp and fastest to 900.
• Williams won his 900th in 1,161 games. He reached 900 in fewer games and seasons than any coach in history (Krzyzewski won his 900th in his 36th season and 1,183rd game).
• Some other numbers:
– 482 wins as Carolina's head coach and 418 at Kansas. Only one other coach has won at least 300 at two schools (Bob Huggins– 399 at Cincinnati and 308 at West Virginia).
– 482 wins at UNC (third most by an ACC coach);
– 443 home wins in 500 games;
– 211 regular-season ACC wins (third all-time)
– 93 ACC road wins (third all-time);
– 79 NCAA Tournament wins (second all-time);
– 66 wins over AP top-10 teams (tied third all-time);
– eight wins over the No. 1 ranked team in the Associated Press poll (most all-time);
– second all-time in 30-win seasons with 12;
– tied for fourth in 20-win seasons with 29;
– three NCAA titles

WALTON IS FOURTH TAR HEEL TO WIN ACC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONORS
• Kerwin Walton was named the ACC Freshman of the Week for his efforts against Northeastern on February 17 and Louisville on February 20.
• He became the fourth Tar Heel to win the award this season. That marked the second time in ACC history one team had four different players earn Freshman of the Week honors in the same season.
• Walton joined teammates Caleb Love, RJ Davis and Day'Ron Sharpe in winning the award this season. Love won for his play against Wake Forest/NC State and Duke, Davis vs. Syracuse and Florida State and Sharpe vs. Notre Dame.
• Wake Forest had four recipients in 1978-79 (Mike Helms, Jim Johnstone, Guy Morgan and Alvis Rogers).
• The five awards this season are the most by UNC players since Harrison Barnes (3), Kendall Marshall (3) and Reggie Bullock (1) combined for seven in 2010-11.

OFFENSIVE ROLLERCOASTER
• Since shooting over 50 percent from the floor in back-to-back wins over NC State and Pittsburgh to end January, the Tar Heels spent an inconsistent month of February. UNC struggled shooting and scoring in losses to Clemson, Virginia and Marquette and shot only 25 percent and had 14 turnovers in the first half against Florida State. However, the Tar Heels also shot 53.1 percent from the floor and 10 of 15 from three in scoring 91 points in a road win at Duke, shot 60.9 percent from the field in a 99-54 win over Louisville and scored 49 second-half points and made 27 of 30 free throws in its 78-70 win over the Seminoles.
• Over the last 12 games (beginning with Syracuse on 1/12/21), the Tar Heels have scored 915 points on 1,029 possessions, an efficiency of .89.
• Over the first 10 games, UNC's points per possession was only .82 (795 points on 966 possessions). The Tar Heels did not have a PPP of .90 or higher in any of those first 10 games.
• Carolina has had 10 different players score in double figures (Baylor is the only Power 5 team that has more with 11), but no player has done that in more than 14 games. Armando Bacot and Garrison Brooks both have reached double figures 14 times followed by RJ Davis (12), Caleb Love (11), Day'Ron Sharpe (10) and Kerwin Walton (9).
• Walker Kessler has led UNC in scoring in two of the last five games (Virginia and Florida State). He became the seventh different player to lead UNC in scoring.
• Kessler is one of four players to score 20 points this season with Love (twice), Sharpe (twice) and Bacot.
• Bacot leads the team in scoring at 11.2 points per game. The last time UNC's leading scorer averaged less than 12 points was 1946-47.
• Carolina scored a season-high 99 points in beating Louisville. UNC has scored 80 or more points six times in the last 12 games. The Tar Heels scored 80 only one time (in a 13-point loss at Iowa) in their first 11 games.
• The Tar Heels shot 25 percent from the floor in the first half on Saturday vs. Florida State when they scored 29 points and went into intermission trailing by a dozen. However, in the second half UNC made 50 percent from the floor and went 14 for 14 from the line in outscoring the Seminoles, 49-29.
• Carolina has been outscored by 22 points in the first half this season but outscored the opposition by 135 points in the second half.
• Carolina has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in nine of its last 19 halves (accomplished that five times in the first 27 halves).
• UNC has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in four of the last seven ACC games (.544 vs. NC State, .525 at Pittsburgh, .531 at Duke and a season-high .607 vs. Louisville). Those are the only four times this season UNC has shot 50 percent.
• Carolina is 4-0 this season and 218-9 in 18 seasons under Roy Williams when it shoots 50 percent from the floor.

TAKE CARE OF & SHARING THE BALL
• Prior to last week's games against Marquette and Florida State, the Tar Heels had played four straight games in which they had more assists than turnovers. UNC had 13 assists and 19 turnovers vs. the Golden Eagles and 11 assists, 21 turnovers against FSU.
• For the season, UNC has 16 more assists than turnovers (Carolina has never committed more turnovers than it had assists in 17 previous seasons under Roy Williams).
• In ACC play, the Tar Heels have 234 assists and 201 turnovers.
• The Tar Heels are 10-3 this season when they have more assists than turnovers (including 7-2 in ACC games).
• In 18 seasons under Roy Williams, the Tar Heels have won 81.6 percent of their games when they have fewer turnovers than their opponents.

THREES
• Kerwin Walton leads UNC with 47 three-pointers and a three-point percentage of .439 (47 of 107). RJ Davis is second with 24 made threes and Caleb Love is third with 21.
• The last time a Tar Heel made more threes than the next two teammates combined was 2014-15, when Marcus Paige made 94 and Justin Jackson (28) and Nate Britt (26) combined for 54.
• UNC made 10 of 15 threes 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).
• That 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 0.9 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)
.309 in 2020-21 (122 of 395)
.327 in 2015-16 (224 of 685)
.328 in 2010-11 (190 of 580)
.329 in 2009-10 (176 of 535)

• Carolina has been outscored 237-117 from the three-point line in its eight losses this season.
• The opponents have averaged 9.9 threes in the eight losses and shot 42.5 percent from beyond the arc (UNC has made 4.9 threes per game and shot 29.3 percent in the losses).

SCHEDULING ANOMALIES
• UNC's game at Syracuse is its first road game since playing at Virginia on February 13.
• The Tar Heels are coming off a four-game homestand, which followed four consecutive road games.
• UNC is 9-1 at home this season, 3-6 on the road and 3-1 at neutral sites.
• Covid-19 resulted in the postponement of four ACC games for the Tar Heels, three of which were scheduled for the Smith Center. They include January 12 vs. Clemson (which Syracuse replaced), February 8 vs. Miami, February 16 vs. Virginia Tech and February 23 at Boston College.
• Between the January 23 game vs. NC State and February 17 game vs. Northeastern, Carolina played four consecutive ACC 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.
• 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 326th-most experienced team in the nation (out of 342 teams).
• In ACC play, UNC freshmen have played 1,494 of 2,800 minutes (53.4 percent).
• Freshmen have made 49 starts this season, including 21 by Caleb Love, 15 by Kerwin Walton and 10 by RJ Davis. That's the fifth most starts by freshmen in the country behind Kentucky, Washington State, Kansas State and Duke.
• UNC used five different starting lineups in the first 11 games this season, but has started the same lineup in each of the last 12 games (Love, Walton, Black, Brooks and Bacot).
• Freshmen are third (Love), fourth (Sharpe), tied fifth (Walton) and tied 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. This would be the first season four freshmen are among UNC's top six scorers.
• Freshmen (including red-shirt freshman Anthony Harris) have scored 56.8 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
.568 in 2020-21
.502 in 2006-07
.501 in 2005-06
.372 in 1995-96

• Prior to this season, the single-game record for combined scoring by UNC freshmen was 58 against Penn State in the 2002-03 opener. UNC's freshmen have topped the figure three times in ACC play this season – 73 vs. Louisville, 62 at home vs. Florida State and 61 at home vs. NC State.
• 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.
• Love is the fourth Tar Heel to start at the point in the last four seasons (senior Joel Berry II in 2017-18, White in 2018-19, Anthony in 2019-20 and Love).

REBOUNDING
• Carolina leads the nation in offensive rebounding (15.2 per game), is second in rebound margin (+10.4) and third in total rebounds per game (42.6 rpg).
• Carolina also leads the nation in offensive rebound percentage, pulling down 40.1 percent of its own missed shots.
• UNC has grabbed 40 or more rebounds 14 times this season.
• UNC has more offensive rebounds than its opponents in 21 of 23 games (tied with Wake Forest and Louisville).
• Carolina is averaging 16.3 second-chance points with a season-high 30 vs. Charleston, low of seven at Georgia Tech and 20 or more four times. The 16.3 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 +10.4 per game is on pace for the fourth 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 1956-57
10.4 in 2020-21
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 (8.0 by Day'Ron Sharpe, 7.4 by Armando Bacot and 7.0 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).

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 the final minutes in five of its eight losses this 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

Walker Kessler

Caleb Love

Day'Ron Sharpe

Kerwin Walton

Coby White

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University of North Carolina Athletics