Tar Heels Welcome NCSU Saturday Afternoon

GAME 21
• Carolina and NC State play for the 241st time overall and 36th time in the Smith Center when the Tar Heels host the Wolfpack on Saturday, January 29, at 2 p.m. (ACC Network).
• The Tar Heels are 14-6 overall, 6-3 in the ACC. NC State is 10-11, 3-7.
• Both teams played on Wednesday with UNC defeating Boston College, 58-47, in one of the lowest scoring games in Smith Center history. NC State lost at Notre Dame, 75-63.
• The Tar Heels are 11-0 at the Smith Center this season and 21-1 over the last two seasons.
• NC State is 2-3 on the road this year, all in ACC play.
• The teams split a pair of games last season, each winning on their respective home floors.
• Carolina is honoring Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams at halftime and the 1982 NCAA championship winning team during a second-half timeout.
• Leaky Black led Carolina in its 11-point win over BC with eight points, five assists and three blocks. The win was Carolina's first in 23 games when scoring fewer than 60 points and marked the first time ever the Tar Heels won when shooting under 30 percent from the floor (.291 on 16 of 55 field goals).
• Junior forward/center Armando Bacot (Richmond, Va.) needs 10 points to become the 79th player to score 1,000 points as a Tar Heel. UNC already has more 1,000-point scorers than any other school in NCAA history. The most recent Tar Heel to score 1,000 points was Garrison Brooks, who reached the milestone last season.
• The most recent Tar Heels to score 1,000 points in three seasons were Joel Berry II and Justin Jackson, who both hit the 1,000-point mark as juniors in 2017.
• Carolina has climbed to 61st in the country in KenPom's defensive efficiency, the fourth highest in the ACC. UNC is allowing 97.3 points per 100 possessions. Duke (22nd), Wake Forest (38th) and Florida State (47th) are the only ACC schools higher in defensive efficiency this season.
• The Tar Heels are allowing only 60.9 points per game at the Smith Center this season and have outscored the opposition by an average of 15.7 points per game.
• Brown scored 87 in the Smith Center on November 12. Since that game the most points by an opponent at home were the 68 by Virginia Tech on January 24. Boston College's 47 on Wednesday were the fewest allowed by Carolina in any game this season.
• The 60.9 points are on pace to be the fewest scored by the opponents at home in the shot clock era.

Fewest Opponent Scoring Average in the
Smith Center (points per game)
2021-22 60.9
1996-97 62.5
1998-99 62.7
2006-07 63.8
2011-12 64.1

• UNC has held its opponents under 70 points in 11 consecutive wins for the first time since 2006-07, when it did that in 15 straight wins.
• Carolina has won five times this season when it allowed fewer than 60 points (53 by UNC Asheville, 51 by Michigan, 50 by App State, 58 by Virginia and 47 by Boston College).
• Through 17 games this season the Tar Heels were shooting 48.2% from the floor and were ranked second in the ACC and 23rd in the country. Over the past four games UNC has shot 33.3% from the floor, its lowest percentage over a four-game stretch since 1955-56. It's the first time UNC shot under 40% in four straight games since doing that in five consecutive in 2002-03. Carolina is now shooting 44.9% for the season, eighth in the ACC and 141st in the country.
• The Tar Heels are 28th nationally in KenPom's offensive efficiency, scoring 112.6 points per 100 possessions. That is third in the ACC behind Duke (14th) and Miami (18th).
• In the last two games, wins over Virginia Tech and Boston College, the Tar Heels are shooting 38.0% from three-point range and 30.2% from inside the arc.
• Carolina is 36th in the country in three-point percentage (.370), 43rd in free throws (.761) and 189th in two-point percentage (.492).
• Five Tar Heels have played 34 or more minutes in each of the last two games against Virginia Tech and Boston College. Prior to Monday's win over the Hokies UNC had not played a regulation-length game in which five players played at least 34 minutes since a 60-45 win for the top-ranked Tar Heels at Virginia on 2/11/1998. Vince Carter played 39 and Ed Cota, Antawn Jamison, Makhtar Ndiaye and Ademola Okulaja each played 38.
• Carolina's coaches are wearing pink sneakers today as part of the NABC's and American Cancer Society's annual Coaches vs. Cancer initiative to promote cancer research. Pink represents breast cancer.
• Schedule notes: Carolina's game at Louisville next week was moved from January 31 to Tuesday, February 1, and the game at Clemson on February 8 was moved from 9 to 6 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on the ACC Network.

UNC-NC STATE ALL-TIME
• The Tar Heels lead the series, 161-79, winning 33 of the last 38 and 50 of the last 62 games against the Wolfpack.
• UNC is 79-23 vs. the Pack in Chapel Hill, including 28-7 at the Smith Center.
• The Tar Heels have won three in a row and 16 of 18 at home against NC State.
• Carolina beat NC State, 86-76, on 1/23/2021 in the most recent game between the schools in the Smith Center. The Tar Heels shot 54.8% from the floor and four freshmen scored in double figures (for the first time since 2007). Armando Bacot led UNC with 17 points.

BACOT POUNDING THE BOARDS
• Junior forward/center Armando Bacot is second in the country in double-doubles with 15, third in rebounding at 12.1 per game and fifth in offensive rebounding (3.8).
• Bacot has pulled down double-digit rebounds in 11 consecutive games and is averaging 16.1 per game over the last seven contests. The 11 straight games with 10 or more boards equal the third-longest streak in UNC history.

Consecutive Games/10 OR MORE REBOUNDS
41 Billy Cunningham, 1962-64
15 John Henson, 2010-11
11 Armando Bacot, 2021-22
11 Doug Moe, 1959-61
11 Doug Moe, 1960-61

• Bacot has 113 rebounds in the last seven games. The only Tar Heel in history with more over seven games is Cunningham, who did it 16 different times with 131 his highest seven-game total.
• Bacot grabbed 22 rebounds against Virginia on January 8 and 20 against Virginia Tech on January 24. Those were just the fourth and fifth times in Smith Center history a player had 20 or more rebounds (Sean May did it three times).
• Bacot has 37 offensive rebounds in the last seven games. He leads the ACC and is fifth in the country in offensive boards and has the fifth-highest average by a Tar Heel since offensive rebounding were recorded beginning in 1986-87.

MOST OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS per game/CAREER (since 1986-87)
3.61 Antawn Jamison, 1995-98
3.47 Sean May, 2002-05
3.39 Tyler Hansbrough, 2005-09
3.34 Day'Ron Sharpe, 2020-21
3.10 Armando Bacot (248 in 80 games)
3.06 George Lynch, 1989-93

• Bacot is averaging 12.1 rebounds per game, on pace for the fifth-highest average by a Tar Heel and the highest since Cunningham averaged 14.3 in 1964-65.
• Only one player in the ACC has averaged that many rebounds in the last 24 seasons. Notre Dame's John Mooney led the league with 12.7 per game in 2019-20.

Highest Rebounding Average/Season
16.1 Billy Cunningham, 1962-63
15.8 Billy Cunningham, 1963-64
14.3 Billy Cunningham, 1964-65
14.0 Doug Moe, 1960-61
12.1 Armando Bacot, 2021-22

• Bacot leads Carolina in scoring (16.3), rebounding, field goal percentage (.578) and blocks (29). He also led UNC in those categories last season. No Tar Heel has ever led in those four categories in consecutive seasons.
• Bacot leads the ACC in rebounding by nearly three per game. Bacot is averaging 12.1, while NC State's Dereon Seabron is second with 9.29, a different of 2.81 per game. Pittsburgh's Johj Hugley is third at 8.55.

FREE THROWS
• The Tar Heels went 20 for 25 (80.0%) in the win over Boston College and 22 for 26 (84.6%) from the free throw line against Virginia Tech and are shooting 76.1% from the line for the season, their best percentage since 1984-85, when they also converted 76.1%.
• Those were the eighth and ninth times this season the Tar Heels made 80% or better from the free throw line. The season high is 90.5% on 19 of 21 shooting at home vs. Georgia Tech.
• Carolina is on pace to equal the second-highest percentage in school history from the free throw line (.783 in 1983-84 and .761 in 1984-85).
• Sophomore guards RJ Davis (.838) and Caleb Love (.822) lead UNC at the stripe this season.
• Davis is 11th and Love is 18th in UNC history in free throw accuracy.

CALEB'S THREES
• Caleb Love has made 44 three-pointers in the first 20 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 44 threes in 105 attempts.
• Love has improved his three-point percentage from 26.6% as a freshman to 41.9% this season. He is third in the ACC in three-point percentage.
• Love's 15.3% increase in three-point percentage is on pace for the largest one-year improvement by a Tar Heel (among the 33 players who made at least 30 in consecutive seasons). Dante Calabria improved his percentage by 14.9 points frim 1993-94 to 1994-95.

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 17 and Bacot is second with 15.
• Bacot has double-doubles 15 of UNC' 20 games, including a 10-game stretch from Furman on December 14 through Virginia Tech on January 22. That was the longest streak by a Tar Heel since Billy Cunningham in 1964-65. Bacot's 10-game streak equals the fourth-longest by a Tar Heel.
• Bacot has 33 double-doubles in 81 games over three seasons as a Tar Heel. His double-double rate (40.7%) 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 33 81 .407
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

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 six 22-point games, and RJ Davis, Dawson Garcia and Brady Manek each have three 20-point games.
• Tar Heels have scored 20 or more points 22 times in 20 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 six times – against Loyola Maryland, Charleston, Michigan, Elon, Boston College and Virginia Tech. The sophomore scored 20 or more twice in 29 games last season.
• Carolina is 8-0 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).

FROM THREE
• Carolina makes 7.9 threes per game, on pace for the fifth-highest average in UNC history.
• The Tar Heels have made 40.8% of their threes in their 14 wins compared to 29.7% in the six losses. The opponents have connected on 44.1% in their six wins over Carolina and just 27.9% in the Tar Heels' 14 wins. That included a 1 for 16 performance by Boston College on Wednesday.

UNC Three-Pointers Per Game, Last 10 Years
2021-22 7.90
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 7.90

STILL EMPHASIZING THE BOARDS
• The Tar Heels lead the ACC and are seventh in the country in rebound margin at plus 9.1 per game. UNC also leads the league in rebounds per game (41.0).
• The Tar Heels are on pace to average 40 or more rebounds for the eighth consecutive season and 15th time in 17 seasons.
• 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 18 times in 20 games this season. The Tar Heels are 14-4 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.

DIFFERENT STORY IN DEFEATS
• Through 20 games, Carolina's numbers are decidedly different in its 14 wins versus six losses.
• The Tar Heels are shooting 47. 1% from the floor and 40.8% from three-point range in wins and 40.3% overall, including 29.7% from three, in the losses.
• Carolina is holding the opposition to 39.4% shooting in the wins, but the opponents are making 52.1% in their six wins over UNC.
• Carolina has a rebounding advantage of 12.2 per win and a smaller edge (1.7) in its losses.
• Carolina is averaging 4.4 more assists than turnovers in its victories and 2.5 more turnovers than assists in defeat.
• The opponents have 111 assists (18.5 per game) and 47 turnovers in their six victories.

HUBERT
• Hubert Davis was 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

Garrison Brooks

RJ Davis

Dawson Garcia

Caleb Love

Brady Manek

Sterling Manley

Day'Ron Sharpe

Will Shaver