Tar Heels To Visit Wake Forest In Key ACC Matchup

GAME 18
• Carolina plays its fifth ACC road game in seven starts when the Tar Heels travel to Winston-Salem on Saturday night to face Wake Forest at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
• Gametime is 8 p.m. on the ACC Network.
• The Tar Heels are 12-5 overall, 4-2 in conference play. League-leading Miami defeated UNC, 85-57, on Tuesday, a 28-point margin that was Carolina's largest ACC defeat in regular-season play since 2010.
• Wake Forest is 15-4 overall, 5-3 in the ACC after a 16-point win at Georgia Tech.
• The Tar Heels fell from 24th to 37th in KenPom's overall rankings after the loss to Miami. The Tar Heels are 22nd in the country in offensive efficiency and 80th in defensive efficiency.
• The Tar Heels rank 23rd in the country in three-point percentage, 44th in field goal percentage and 46th in free throw percentage.
• Carolina is fourth in the country in allowing offensive rebounds by the opponents and in allowing the opponents to get to the free throw line, but are 353rd in forcing turnovers. Against Miami, which came into the game in the top in fewest turnovers, the Tar Heels forced only four turnovers, while the Canes scored 30 points off 14 UNC miscues.
• Following the game at Wake Forest, UNC's second straight road game and fifth road game in its first seven league games, the Tar Heels return to the Smith Center for home games against Virginia Tech (Jan. 24), Boston College (Jan. 26) and NC State (Jan. 29).

FAN INFORMATION FOR SATURDAY NIGHT'S GAME
• To enter Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Indoor Tennis Center, all patrons ages 12 and older will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination OR a negative COVID-19 PCR or rapid test taken within 48 hours of the event beginning on Jan. 12
• Prior to entry, fans must either:

• Show their vaccination card or photo or digital image with name and dosage history.
• Digital or photos of vaccination cards are acceptable.
OR
• Show their printed or digital negative COVID-19 PCR or rapid test.

• Individuals who cannot provide proof of vaccination or a valid negative COVID-19 test according to the conditions outlined above will not be allowed to enter Wake Forest Athletics indoor events.

BACOT LEADING THE WAY
• Carolina is led by junior forward/center Armando Bacot, who leads the ACC in conference play in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and double-doubles.
• Bacot was the USBWA National Player of the Week last week and has won ACC Player-of-the-Week honors each of the last two weeks. Bacot won for Jan. 3-9 for his play against Virginia (29 points, 22 rebounds) and Notre Dame (21 and 17) and Jan. 10-16 for his 29 points and 12 rebounds vs. Georgia Tech.
• Bacot is the first Tar Heel to win USBWA National Player-of-the-Week honors since Marcus Paige in December 2013.
• Bacot is the first Tar Heel to win multiple ACC Player-of-the-Week honors in the same season since Luke Maye in 2018-19. He is the first Tar Heel to win in consecutive weeks since Joel Berry II in January 2017.
• Over the last eight games Bacot has scored 164 points, grabbed 106 rebounds and shot 65.7% from the floor. He is averaging 20.5 points and 13.3 rebounds over those eight games.
• Bacot has double-doubles in each of the last eight games, the longest streak by a Tar Heel since John Henson had nine consecutive in 2010-11. Bacot's eight-game streak equals the sixth-longest by a Tar Heel (tied with Mitch Kupchak and Sean May). Henson's nine-game streak in 2010-11 is the fifth longest.
• Bacot had 29 points and 22 rebounds against Virginia on January 8 and 29 points and a dozen boards vs. Georgia Tech a week later. He was just the fourth Tar Heel to ever have at least 29 points and 12 rebounds in consecutive games – joining Lennie Rosenbluth, Billy Cunningham and Charlie Scott, who last accomplished that in 1970.
• As of January 20, Bacot is the only player in the country in the top five in double-doubles, field goal percentage and rebounding. He is second in double-doubles (13), fifth in rebounding (11.3 per game) and fifth in field goal percentage (.641).
• Bacot leads the ACC in double-doubles, field goal shooting and rebounding. The last player to lead the ACC in those three categories in the same season was Duke's Marvin Bagley in 2018. No Tar Heel has ever led the league in those categories in the same season.
• Bacot is leading Carolina in scoring (17.2), rebounding, field goal percentage and blocks (24). He also led UNC in those categories last season. No Tar Heel has ever led those four categories in consecutive seasons.
• Bacot's 11.3 rebounds per game are on pace for the highest average by a Tar Heel since Mitch Kupchak grabbed 11.3 per game in 1975-76.

SCHEDULE UPDATE
• Carolina's December 29 home game against Virginia Tech was postponed due to Covid protocols in the Hokie program. That game has been rescheduled for Monday, January 24, at 8 p.m., in the Smith Center.
• UNC's game at Louisville was moved back a day from January 31 to February 1.

UNC-WAKE FOREST ALL-TIME
• Carolina is 163-67 all-time against the Demon Deacons.
• The Tar Heels are 55-32 on the road, including 15-11 against Wake Forest at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
• Including six NCAA Tournament games (1993, 1997, 2007) UNC is 21-11 in the LJVMC.
• The Tar Heels have won the last two games against Wake Forest and eight of the last nine.
• The Deacons beat UNC, 74-57, on 2/11/2020 in the most recent game in Winston-Salem.
• The teams played one time a year ago, an 80-73 Tar Heel win in Chapel Hill.
• Carolina head coach Hubert Davis was 9-0 as a player against Wake Forest, including 3-0 in the LJVMC.

LAST TIME THEY MET
UNC 80, WAKE FOREST 73 (Jan. 20, 2021)
• Caleb Love scored 20 points for the first time as a Tar Heel. He was 7 for 12 from the floor, the first time he shot better than 50 percent, including 2 for 3 from three.
• Love committed two turnovers in the first five minutes, then did not commit another until there were 28 seconds to play.
• Leaky Black had eight assists and one turnover. assist/turnover ratio was the best of his career.
• Armando Bacot scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half. He was 8 for 10 from the floor and added six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
• Isaiah Mucius and Daivien Williamson both scored 27 points for Wake Forest.• The Tar Heels had six assists and nine turnovers in the first half and 12 assists/3 turnovers in the second.
• Carolina made 12 steals and forced 20 turnovers that led to 24 points.
• Wake Forest made 13 threes, the most by an opponent in a Tar Heel victory last season.
• Carolina had a season-high 12 steals.

ACC SCORING
• Despite scoring a season-low 57 points at Miami the Tar Heels are averaging 77.0 points in six conference games this season.
• Carolina is second to Miami (82.3 ppg) in scoring in league play.
• Again, even with a 28-point loss in Coral Gables, the Tar Heels lead the ACC in scoring margin in conference games (+8.2).

FIELD GOAL SHOOTING
• Carolina fell to third in the ACC and 44th in the country in field goal percentage after shooting a season-low 33.8% at Miami. Duke leads the league in field goal percentage at .492 with Wake Forest second at .480. The Tar Heels are third at 47.2%, which is on pace for its best shooting performance since 2015-16 (48.2%).
• Carolina is 6-0 when shooting at least 50% from the floor this season (UNC was 220-9 when shooting 50% under Roy Williams).
• The Tar Heels have shot 50% or better from the floor in the second half in eight of the last 11 games and 10 times in 17 games this season.
• Carolina is 41st nationally in effective field goal percentage (which takes into account the added value of three-point shooting). The Tar Heels' effective FG percentage is 53.9%, an improvement from 46.4% in 2019-20 and 48.3% in 2020-21.
• By comparison, Carolina's effective FG percentage in its most recent NCAA championship seasons were 51.7% in 2016-17, 52.8% in 2008-09 and 56.0% in 2004-05.
• Bacot's ACC-leading field goal percentage of .641 is on pace to be the highest by a Tar Heel since Brandan Wright shot 64.6% in 2006-07.

FREE THROWS
• Carolina has made 15 more free throws than its opponents have attempted (228 made by UNC vs. 213 attempted by the opponents).
• The Tar Heels are shooting 75.5% from the line, their best percentage since 2007-08, when they converted 75.7%.
• Caleb Love leads UNC at the stripe this season at 83.3%. The sophomore guard has made 108 of 132 free throws as a Tar Heel. He has the 16th-highest percentage (.818) in UNC history.
• RJ Davis is shooting 82.0% from the line in his two seasons. He is 96 for 117 (needs four more makes to qualify for the UNC list).

DEFENSE
• UNC has held its opponents to 65 or fewer points in each of its last nine victories. It's the first time UNC has held the opponents under 70 points in nine consecutive wins since 2006-07, when it did that in 15 straight wins.
• Carolina has held the opposition to 528 combined points in its last nine victories. Those are the fewest points allowed over nine consecutive wins since the 2006-07 season. UNC allowed 506 points in wins from December 19 to January 20 that season.
• Carolina has won four times this season when it allowed fewer than 60 points (53 by UNC Asheville, 51 by Michigan, 50 by App State and 58 by Virginia).

CALEB'S THREES
• Caleb Love has made 38 three-pointers in the first 17 games. Last year, Love finished his freshman season with 34 threes in 29 games. He was 34 for 128 last year. This year, Love has made 38 threes in 87 attempts.
• Love has improved his three-point percentage from 26.6% as a freshman to 43.7% this season. He is on pace to shoot the 10th-highest percentage in a season by a Tar Heel.
• Love is 17 for 36 from three over the last six games.

BACOT DOUBLING DOWN
• Armando Bacot leads the ACC and is tied for second in the nation in double-doubles. Fardaws Aimaq of Utah Valley leads with 15 and Bacot is second with 13.
• Bacot has 31 double-doubles in 78 games over three seasons as a Tar Heel. His double-double rate (39.7%) is the 10th highest by a Tar Heel and the fourth highest in the last 50 years.

Double-Doubles Games Pct.
Billy Cunningham, 1962-65 60 69 .870
Lennie Rosenbluth*, 1954-57 39 76 .513
Antawn Jamison, 1995-98 51 104 .490
Doug Moe, 1958-61 29 60 .483
Rusty Clark, 1966-69 43 91 .473
Larry Miller, 1965-68 42 91 .462
Robert McAdoo, 1971-72 14 31 .452
Pete Brennan*, 1955-58 35 81 .432
Sean May, 2002-05 33 77 .429
Armando Bacot, 2019-active 31 78 .397
Bobby Jones, 1971-74 35 92 .380
Mitch Kupchak, 1972-76 44 119 .370
* Rosenbluth and Brennan played numerous games where their rebound totals are unknown

MORE SCORING
• Five Tar Heels have scored 20 or more points in a game this season. Armando Bacot has scored 20 or more seven times, Caleb Love has five 22-point games, RJ Davis and Dawson Garcia have three 20-point games and Brady Manek has two.
• Tar Heels have scored 20 or more points 20 times in 17 games, including five games in which two players scored 20 or more (Loyola, Brown, Charleston, Elon and home vs. Georgia Tech). Last season, UNC had only seven 20-point performances in 29 games. Freshman Day'Ron Sharpe became the first Tar Heel to score 20 or more when he had 25 against Notre Dame in the season's 10th game. UNC did not have any games last season when two players scored 20 or more points.
• This is the 11th Tar Heel team to have five players score 20 points at least twice: 1960, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1989, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2016, 2018 and 2022. Five of the other 10 teams to accomplish that played in Final Fours.
• Bacot has scored 20 or more points seven times this season. He did that five times in his first two seasons combined.
• Love has scored 22 points five times – against Loyola Maryland, Charleston, Michigan, Elon and Boston College. The sophomore scored 20 or more twice in 29 games last season.
• Carolina is 7-0 when Love scores 20 or more and 9-1 when he makes 50% of his field goal attempts (4-0 last season and 5-1 in 2021-22).
• The Notre Dame game on January 5 was the first time in two seasons UNC lost when Love made 50% of his field goal attempts.

DIALING LONG-DISTANCE
• The Tar Heels are shooting 38.1% from three, second best in ACC and 23rd in the country.
• Three Tar Heels are shooting better than 40% from three – Caleb Love (43.7%), RJ Davis (42.0%) and Dawson Garcia (41.4%).
• Carolina is shooting 38.7% from three in ACC games, led by Caleb Love, who is 18 for 36 in conference play (.500).
• Carolina makes 8.0 threes per game, on pace for the fifth-highest average in UNC history.
• The Tar Heels made 41.3% of their threes in their 12 wins compared to 31.6% in the five losses. The opponents have nearly a 17-percent swing, converting 45.3% in their five wins over Carolina and just 28.4% in the Tar Heels' 12 wins.

UNC Three-Pointers Per Game, Last 10 Years
2021-22 8.00
2020-21 5.59
2019-20 5.48
2018-19 (UNC record) 8.67
2017-18 8.24
2016-17 7.08
2015-16 5.60
2014-15 4.84
2013-14 4.29
2012-13 7.56

UNC Three-Pointers Per Game, All-Time
2018-19 8.67
2002-03 8.29
1982-83 (experimental distance) 8.25
2017-18 8.24
2021-22 8.00

STILL HITTING THE BOARDS
• The Tar Heels lead the ACC and are ninth in the country in rebound margin at plus 8.9 per game. UNC also leads the league in rebounds per game (40.2).
• Carolina has led the ACC in rebound margin in each of the previous six seasons and in 13 of 18 seasons under Roy Williams.
• UNC has won the battle of the boards 15 times in 17 games this season. The Tar Heels are 12-3 when out-rebounding their opponents and 0-2 when getting out-rebounded (Tennessee and Kentucky).
• Under Roy Williams the Tar Heels won 82.3% of the games they out-rebounded their opponents. The Tar Heels were victorious in only 46.8% of the games they were out-rebounded under Williams.

PLUS/MINUS LEADERS
• Bacot and Leaky Black lead UNC in plus/minus at plus 180 and plus 166, respectively. Bacot and Black have both led UNC in plus/minus five times.
• Love's plus 34 at Boston College is the highest by a Tar Heel this season.
• Last season Bacot led the team with a plus 121.

DIFFERENT STORY IN DEFEATS
• Through 17 games, Carolina's numbers are decidedly different in its 12 wins versus five losses.
• The Tar Heels are shooting 49.4% from the floor and 41.3% from three-point range in wins and 42.2% overall, including 31.6% from three, in the losses.
• Carolina is holding the opposition to 39.3% shooting in the wins, but the opponents are making 51.7% in their five wins over UNC.
• The opponents are converting 45.3% from beyond the arc in the five losses compared to only 28.4% in UNC's 12 wins.
• Carolina has a rebounding advantage of 12.8 per win, while the opponents have a slight edge (0.4) in UNC's losses.
• Carolina is averaging 4.8 more assists than turnovers in its victories and 2.6 more turnovers than assists in defeat.
• The opponents have 100 assists (20 per game) and only 39 turnovers in their five victories.

HUBERT
• Hubert Davis named Carolina's 20th head coach, and first Black head coach, on April 5, 2021.
• Davis is the fourth Tar Heel head coach who also played at UNC, joining Reynolds Cuthbertson, Monk McDonald and Matt Doherty.
• Davis played for Dean Smith from 1988-92, was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA Draft and played a dozen seasons in the NBA. He was a college basketball analyst at ESPN for seven years and an assistant coach on Roy Williams' Tar Heel staff from 2012-21.

SHAVER JOINS ROSTER
• Will Shaver signed with UNC in November and has joined the team this semester, although he will not play this season.
• The Birmingham, Ala., native began practicing with the team in January.
• Shaver led Oak Mountain High School to back-to-back appearances in the state finals and the 2021 Class 7A title. He averaged 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds and was named second-team all-state.

TAR HEEL STAFF
• Head coach Hubert Davis is a Tar Heel alum, and so are each of his assistant coaches and members of the basketball staff.
• Assistant coaches Brad Frederick (1996-99), Jeff Lebo (1985-89) and Sean May (2002-05), Director of Recruiting Pat Sullivan (1990-93, 1994-95) and Director of Team and Player Development Jackie Manuel (2001-05) all played for the Tar Heels. Director of Operations Eric Hoots has been on staff for 18 seasons.
• Frederick played on Final Four teams that won ACC championships in 1997 and 1998.
• Lebo is a 20-year head coaching veteran who set 10 UNC records in his playing career.
• May was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA Final Four, scoring 26 points in the national championship game vs. Illinois.
• Manuel was twice named Carolina's defensive player of the year and was a starter on the 2005 NCAA champions.
• Sullivan was a key contributor on the 1993 national champions and is one of seven Tar Heels who have played in three Final Fours.
• Davis, Lebo, May and Frederick combined to score 4,441 points as Tar Heels. Syracuse is the only school whose coaches scored more points at their alma mater than UNC (Gerry McNamara, Adrian Autry, Allen Griffin and Jim Boeheim scored 5,189 for the Orange).

PRO HEELS
NBA
Cole Anthony, Orlando
Harrison Barnes, Sacramento
Tony Bradley, Chicago
Reggie Bullock, Dallas
Ed Davis, Cleveland
Wayne Ellington, Los Angeles Lakers
Danny Green, Philadelphia
Justin Jackson, Phoenix
Cameron Johnson, Phoenix
Nassir Little, Portland
Theo Pinson, Dallas
Day'Ron Sharpe, New Jersey
Coby White, Chicago

International source: TarHeelInternational.com
Nate Britt, Yoast United, The Netherlands
Isaiah Hicks, Seoul Samsung Thunders, South Korea
Desmond Hubert, Al Arabi, Kuwait
Brice Johnson, Toyama Grouses, Japan
Christian Keeling, BC Rustavi, Georgia
Justin Knox, Neo-Phoenix, Japan
Ty Lawson, US Monastir, Tunisia
Sterling Manley, Sichuan Blue Whales, China
Luke Maye, BAXI Manresa, Spain
James Michael McAdoo, Hitachi Sun Rockers, Japan
Kennedy Meeks, Cholet Basket, France
Marcus Paige, Orleans Loiret, France
Justin Pierce, VfL Kircheim Knights, Germany
Reyshawn Terry, Plateros de Fresnillo, Mexico
Deon Thompson, Leones des Ponce, Puerto Rico
J.P. Tokoto, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel
Jawad Williams, Yamagata Wyverns, Japan
Kenny Williams, Kolossos Rhodes, Greece

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Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

RJ Davis

Dawson Garcia

Caleb Love

Brady Manek

Sterling Manley

Day'Ron Sharpe

Will Shaver

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