Tar Heels To Host Duke Saturday Night To Close Regular Season

GAME 25
• Carolina hosts Duke in the final regular-season game of 2020-21 at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Dean E. Smith Center. ESPN will televise the game.
• The Tar Heels are 15-9 overall, 9-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Carolina has won nine of its last 13 ACC games.
• UNC is 9-1 at home this season, including 6-0 in ACC play.
• The Tar Heels lost, 72-70, at Syracuse on Monday, March 1.
• Duke is 11-10 overall, 9-8 in league play. The Blue Devils have dropped consecutive games in overtime at home to Louisville and at Georgia Tech.
• The Duke game is Carolina's seventh ACC home game. The Tar Heels played nine of their 16 ACC games on the road. Among the 10 teams with a winning record in league play only UNC, Duke, NC State and Virginia will play nine road games.
• Carolina is one of three teams in the ACC with a winning record (with Clemson and Georgia Tech) that will play 12 games against the top 10 teams in the ACC standings. UNC and Clemson are the only teams that will play only four games against the bottom five teams in the standings.
• Of those 12 games, UNC will also have played the most away games (7) against the top 10 teams in the ACC standings. Virginia is the only other team among the top 10 in the ACC standings that will play seven road games against teams with winning records.
• Roy Williams is 95-33 (.742) in March as head coach of the Tar Heels.
• This is the first time in college basketball history a team (UNC) has played consecutive games in a matchup of 900-win Hall of Fame head coaches.

UNC-DUKE
• Carolina leads the all-time series against Duke, 140-114 (254 games are more than any other opponent for the Tar Heels).
• Carolina is 64-37 in Chapel Hill vs. the Blue Devils, including 19-16 in the Smith Center.
• This is the first time neither team is ranked in the AP poll in consecutive games against each other since 2/4/1955 and 2/25/1955. UNC's 91-87 win at Duke on February 6 was the first game after 153 consecutive Carolina-Duke games in which at least one team was ranked in the AP poll.
• Roy Williams is 17-22 against Duke as Carolina's head coach.
• Carolina is 47-49 against Mike Krzyzewski's Duke teams.
• Carolina and Duke have won 39 of the ACC's 65 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championships, including 21 by Duke and 18 by UNC.
• Carolina and Duke are No. 1 and 2 all-time in the ACC in wins, ACC regular-season wins, ACC Tournament wins and NCAA Tournament wins.
• Carolina has won the ACC regular-season title 32 times. The Blue Devils are second with 19 regular-season crowns.
• Either Carolina or Duke have played in the NCAA Final Four 25 times in the last 40 seasons (Carolina in 1981, 1982, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017).
• The Tar Heels and Blue Devils have won 10 national championships in the last 40 seasons – five by Carolina and five by Duke.
• Carolina has played in an NCAA-record 20 Final Fours. Duke has played in 16 Final Fours.

FEB. 6, 2021 – CAROLINA 91, @DUKE 87
• Carolina's 91 points were its second most in a game this season (99 vs. Louisville).
• Six Tar Heels scored in double figures for the first time since beating Tennessee Tech on 11/16/2018.
• Carolina shot 53.1 percent from the floor for the game, one of four games UNC shot 50 percent this season.
• Both teams scored more than a point per possession (Carolina scored 91 points on 89 possessions; Duke scored 87 points on 84 possessions).
• UNC made 10 three-pointers, one of two times this season it made 10 (also at Florida State).
• UNC shot a season-high percentage of .667 from three-point range (10 of 15).
• UNC scored a season-high 30 points off turnovers and season-high 27 fastbreak points.
• It was the most fastbreak points since UNC had 27 against Louisville in the 2019 ACC Tournament.
• UNC led for 35:11 and trailed for only 1:38.
• Caleb Love had 25 points and seven assists and made a season-high four three-pointers. Love became the first Tar Heel to score 25 points and have seven assists at Duke and just the third Tar Heel to reach those figures in any game vs. the Blue Devils.
• It was one of two games that Armando Bacot (16), Garrison Brooks (12) and Day'Ron Sharpe (11) all scored in double figures (also vs. Louisville).
• Duke shot 60.0 percent from the floor in the second half and 53.7 percent for the game.

LAST TIME IN CHAPEL HILL
FEB. 8, 2020 – DUKE 98, UNC 96 (OT)
• Wendell Moore put back a missed shot at the buzzer in overtime (left his hands with 0.3 seconds to play) to break a 96-96 tie.
• Duke sent the game to overtime when Tre Jones, who scored 28, hit a shot at the buzzer to tie the game at 84.
• Carolina led, 44-35, at the half and by as many as 13 with 3:56 to play in regulation.
• The 96 points equaled the most by UNC in a loss to Duke.
• Carolina shot UNC shot 59.4 percent in the first half and 52.2 percent for the game.
• Duke scored 25 points off 18 UNC turnovers.
• Carolina went 21 for 38 from the free throw line. The Tar Heels made just 5 of 12 in the final 6:49 of regulation and 7 of 16 over the final 11:49 including overtime.
• Cole Anthony led UNC with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
• Leaky Black had a career-high nine assists.
• Andrew Platek tied his season high with nine points and had seven rebounds and five assists.

WILLIAMS FASTEST TO 900 WINS
• Roy Williams is 900-262 in 33 seasons as a head coach. With the win over Florida State on February 27, 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
979 Jim Boeheim
902 Bob Knight
900 Roy Williams
879 Dean Smith

• 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).

KESSLER IS FIFTH TAR HEEL TO WIN
ACC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONORS
• Walker Kessler was selected co-ACC Freshman of the Week on March 1 for his play against Marquette and Florida State.
• Kessler became the fifth Tar Heel to win the award this season. It is the first time in ACC history one team had five different players earn Freshman of the Week honors in the same season (Wake Forest had four different winners in 1978-79).
• Kessler joins teammates Caleb Love, RJ Davis, Day'Ron Sharpe and Kerwin Walton in winning the award this season. Love won twice for his play against Wake Forest/NC State and Duke, Davis vs. Syracuse/Florida State, Sharpe vs. Notre Dame and Walton vs. Northeastern/Louisville.
• The six weekly awards this season are the most by UNC freshmen since Harrison Barnes (3), Kendall Marshall (3) and Reggie Bullock (1) combined for seven in 2010-11.

SCORING
• Sophomore Armando Bacot leads the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game. The last time UNC's leading scorer averaged less than 12 points was 1946-47 (11.4 by Jim Hamilton).
• 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 so in more than 15 games. Armando Bacot and Garrison Brooks both have reached double figures 15 times, followed by RJ Davis (12), Caleb Love (12), Day'Ron Sharpe (10) and Kerwin Walton (9).
• Walker Kessler led UNC in recent games against 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.
• Carolina scored a season-high 99 points in beating Louisville. UNC has scored 80 or more points six times in the last 13 games. The Tar Heels scored 80 only one time (in a 13-point loss at Iowa) in their first 11 games.
• Carolina averaged 64.8 points in its last four road games. That included 50 at Clemson, 48 at Virginia and 70 at Syracuse in losses, but it also included 91 in a four-point win at Duke.
• Carolina has been outscored by 28 points in the first half this season (1.2 ppg) and has trailed at the half in 13 of 24 games. However, in the second half, the Tar Heels have outscored their opponents by 139 points (5.8 ppg).
• Carolina has trailed at the half in each of the last three games. UNC is 9-1 when it leads at the half, 5-8 when it trails and 1-0 when tied.
• Carolina has shot a higher percentage from the floor in the second half in each of the last four games, six of the last seven and 15 times overall.
• The Tar Heels have shot poorly from the floor in the first half in four of the last six games, losing three of those games (.250 in loss at Virginia, .367 in loss to Marquette, .250 in win over Florida State and .351 in loss at Syracuse). In all four of those games, UNC shot a higher percentage in the second half.
• Carolina has shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half five times this season and has won four of those games (Kentucky, loss at NC State, home win over the Wolfpack, at Duke and Louisville).
• UNC has shot 50 percent or better from the floor for the game four times this season (.544 vs. NC State, .525 at Pittsburgh, .531 at Duke and a season-high .607 vs. Louisville). UNC is 4-0 this season and 218-9 in 18 seasons under Roy Williams when it shoots 50 percent from the floor.

ASSISTS/TURNOVERS
• Carolina has 40 assists on 74 field goals and has committed 60 turnovers in its last three games. Prior to those games the Tar Heels had played four straight games and nine out of 10 in which they had more assists than turnovers.
• The turnovers are leading to fast break opportunities and points for UNC's opponents. Marquette, Florida State and Syracuse scored 19, 25 and 28 points off turnovers, respectively, and the Seminoles and Orange combined for 42 fast break points.
• For the season, the opponents average 15.9 points off turnovers and 10 fast break points.
• For the season, UNC has 12 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 250 assists and 221 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 .412 (47 of 114). RJ Davis is second with 25 made threes and Caleb Love is third with 23.
• Carolina was 0 for 10 in the first half and 4 for 20 for the game in its two-point loss at Syracuse on Monday. It was the fifth time in the last six games since the win at Duke that UNC made five or fewer threes (season average is 5.3).
• 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) and 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 0.4 percent from three-point range this season, which is on pace to equal the lowest in school history.
• Carolina has been outscored 261-129 from the three-point line in its nine losses this season.
• The opponents have averaged 9.7 threes in the nine losses and shot 40.8 percent from beyond the arc (UNC has made 4.8 threes per game and shot 28.1 percent in the losses).
• In the 15 wins, the opponents still make more threes than UNC (7.2 to 5.5), but the Tar Heels have a slight advantage in percentage (.317 to .316).

SCHEDULING IN COVID SEASON
• Covid-19 resulted in the cancellation 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.
• 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
• KenPom ranks Carolina the 326th-most experienced team in the nation (out of 342 teams).
• In ACC play, UNC freshmen have played 1,599 of 3,000 minutes (53.3 percent).
• Freshmen have made 51 starts, the fifth most starts by freshmen in the country behind Kentucky, Washington State, Kansas State and Duke.
• Freshmen are third (Caleb Love), fourth (Day'Ron Sharpe), fifth (RJ Davis) and sixth (Kerwin Walton) in scoring. This would be the first season four freshmen are among UNC's top six scorers.
• Freshmen have scored 56.7 percent of Carolina's points this season. That's the second-highest percentage in any season at UNC. The 2002-03 team got 58.4 percent of its scoring from freshmen, including Rashad McCants, Sean May, Raymond Felton and David Noel. In the first nine games that season, before May broke his foot, freshmen accounted for 62 percent of the team's scoring.

HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF SCORING BY FRESHMEN
.584 in 2002-03
.567 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 (15.7 per game), is second in rebound margin (+10.8) and third in total rebounds per game (43.0 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 15 times this season.
• UNC has more offensive rebounds than its opponents in 22 of 24 games (was tied with Wake Forest and Louisville).
• 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 five times, including 25 at Syracuse. 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 +10.8 per game is on pace equals the third highest in school history.

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 (8.0 by Day'Ron Sharpe, 7.7 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 six of its nine 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.
– trailed at Syracuse, 70-68, with 19 seconds to play but lost 72-70

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Players Mentioned

Cole Anthony

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

Garrison Brooks

RJ Davis

Walker Kessler

Caleb Love

Andrew Platek

Day'Ron Sharpe

Kerwin Walton

Coby White

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University of North Carolina Athletics