Tar Heels To Host Virginia On Saturday Afternoon

GAME 15
• Carolina hosts Virginia on Saturday, January 8, at 1 p.m. on ESPN.
• The Tar Heels are 10-4 overall, 2-1 in the ACC.
• Virginia is 9-5, 3-1 in league play. The Cavaliers have won two straight ACC road games at Syracuse and Clemson.
• Carolina lost, 78-73, at Notre Dame on Wednesday. The Tar Heels rallied from 13 points down to take a 67-66 lead with just under four minutes to play, but the Irish outscored UNC, 12-6, over the final 3:08 for the win.
• Armando Bacot led Carolina with 21 points and a career-high 17 rebounds vs. the Irish.
• Bacot is one of two players in college basketball in the top 11 in the country in double-doubles (second with 10), field goal percentage (eighth at .638) and rebounding (11th with 10.4 per game).
• The Tar Heels opened ACC play with three straight away games for the first time since 1983-84 and just the fourth time ever (also 1969-70 and 1977-78).
• Carolina has held the opposition to 65 or fewer points in the Tar Heels' last seven victories. The 405 combined points are the fewest allowed over seven consecutive wins since the 2006-07 season. UNC allowed 393 points in wins from December 22 to January 17 that year.
• Carolina is 31st in KenPom's overall rankings. The Tar Heels are 18th in the country in offensive efficiency and 25th in effective field goal percentage.
• Carolina's strength of schedule is the 39th most difficult in the country and the fourth toughest in the ACC (Syracuse 25, Florida State 33, Notre Dame 38).

UNC-VIRGINIA ALL-TIME
• Carolina is 131-60 against Virginia, including 66-9 in Chapel Hill and 24-6 at the Smith Center.
• The Cavaliers have won seven straight, their longest win streak in series history since winning the first eight games between the schools from 1911-16.
• Virginia has won the last two games in the Smith Center (2/11/2019 and 2/15/2020), the first time UVA ever won consecutive starts in Chapel Hill.
• Carolina's most recent win over Virginia was in Chapel Hill in 2017.
• The Tar Heels have averaged 53.2 points in their last seven games against Virginia.
• Hubert Davis was 6-4 as a player against the Cavaliers.
• The teams played once last season, a 60-48 Virginia win in Charlottesville on 2/13/2021. No Tar Heel scored in double figures for the first time since the 1966 ACC Tournament. Virginia out-scored UNC, 30-6, from three-point range and Carolina shot 34.5% from the floor (25% in the first half).
• Virginia won the previous matchup in the Smith Center, 64-62, on 2/15/2020 on a game-winning three by Tomas Woldetensae, his sixth of the game, with 0.8 seconds to play.
• Armando Bacot, then a freshman, had 16 rebounds in the 2020 game.

FIELD GOAL SHOOTING
• Carolina has shot 50% or better from the floor in the second half in each of the last eight games and 10 times in 14 games this season. The Tar Heels have shot 50% or better three times in the first half this season.
• Carolina is shooting 52.9% from the floor in the second half and holding its opponents to 44%. The opponents are shooting just 37.0% in the second half in Carolina's 10 victories.
• The opponents have shot 50% or better just three times in the second half, but all three came in UNC losses and in all three the opponents shot at least 64.3% from the floor (64.3% by Purdue, 65.6% by Tennessee and 66.7% by Kentucky).
• Carolina has held its opponents under 30 percent from the floor in the second half as many times (three) as it has allowed them to shoot 50 percent.
• Purdue, Tennessee, Kentucky and Notre Dame averaged 89.5 points, shot 53% from the floor, 44.9% from three and had 84 assists and 35 turnovers in their wins over UNC.
• Carolina is 6-0 when shooting at least 50% from the floor this season (UNC was 220-9 when shooting 50% under Roy Williams).
• Carolina is 27th nationally in effective field goal percentage (which takes into account the added value of three-point shooting). The Tar Heels' effective FG percentage is 54.9%, 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.

FREE THROWS
• Carolina has made 22 more free throws than its opponents have attempted (195 made by UNC vs. 173 attempted by the opponents).
• The Tar Heels are shooting 75.3% from the line, their best percentage since 2007-08, when they converted 75.7%.
• Caleb Love leads UNC at the stripe this season at 84.0%. The sophomore guard has made 105 of 128 free throws as a Tar Heel. He has the 15th-highest percentage (.820) in UNC history.
• RJ Davis is shooting 81.8% from the line in his two seasons. He is 90 for 110 (needs 10 more makes to qualify).
• Carolina has made 81.4% of its free throw attempts in the four losses.

DEFENSE
• UNC has held its opponents to 65 or fewer points in each of its last seven victories. It's the first time UNC has held the opponents under 70 points in seven consecutive wins since doing that in eight straight wins in 2011-12.
• Carolina has won three times this season when it allowed fewer than 60 points (53 by UNC Asheville, 51 by Michigan and 50 by App State).
• The Tar Heels held Boston College to 20 first-half points, the fewest in a half by the opponents this season.

CALEB'S THREES
• Caleb Love has made 30 three-pointers in the first 14 games. Last year as a freshman, Love made his 30th three in the Tar Heels' 28th game (in the ACC Tournament semifinal vs. Florida State).
• Love has improved his three-point percentage from 26.6% as a freshman to 44.1% this season.
• Love is 9 for 17 from three over the last three games.

BACOT AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS, TOO
• Bacot leads the ACC in field goal percentage (.638) and rebounding (10.4), is sixth in blocks (21) and ninth in scoring (15.6). He leads UNC in all four categories.
• Bacot led UNC in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocks in 2020-21. If he repeats in all four categories he would become the first Tar Heel ever to lead the team in those categories in consecutive seasons.
• Bacot is the first Tar Heel to start a season with 10 double-doubles in the first 14 games since Mitch Kupchak, who had 10 in the first 13 games in 1974-75.
• Bacot has double-doubles in each of the last five games. Garrison Brooks had six consecutive a year ago.
• Bacot has 28 double-doubles in 75 games over three seasons as a Tar Heel. His double-double rate (37.3%) is the 11th 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
Bobby Jones, 1971-74 35 92 .380
Armando Bacot, 2019-active 28 75 .373
Mitch Kupchak, 1972-76 44 119 .370
* Rosenbluth and Brennan played numerous games where their rebound totals are unknown

SCORING
• Five Tar Heels are averaging double figures in scoring this season. The last time five Tar Heels averaged 10 or more points was 2017-18.
• Five different Tar Heels also have scored 20 or more points in a game this season. Caleb Love has five 22-point games, Armando Bacot also has scored 20 or more five times, Dawson Garcia has three 20-point games, and Brady Manek and RJ Davis have two apiece.
• Tar Heels have scored 20 or more points 17 times in 14 games, including four games in which two players scored 20 or more (Loyola, Brown, Charleston and Elon). 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.
• 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 39.7% from three, second best in ACC and ninth in the country.
• Carolina has shot 40% or higher in five previous seasons but not since winning the national championship in 2004-05, when it made 40.3% from three-point range.
• Three Tar Heel starters are shooting better than 40% from three – Dawson Garcia (45.8%), RJ Davis (45.5%) and Caleb Love (44.1%).

STILL HITTING THE BOARDS
• The Tar Heels lead the ACC in rebound margin at plus 8.7 per game and rebounds per game (40.0).
• Carolina has led the ACC in rebound margin in each of the previous six seasons and in 13 of 18 seasons under head coach Roy Williams.
• UNC has won the battle of the boards 12 times in 14 games this season. The Tar Heels are 10-2 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 152 and plus 143, 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.

THIRD ALL-TIME IN WINS
• The win at Georgia Tech on December 5 was No. 2,300 in Carolina history. UNC is the third team in college basketball history with 2,300 wins (with Kentucky and Kansas).

SMITH CENTER
• Carolina is 443-81 all-time in the Dean E. Smith Center.
• The Tar Heels are 225-63 in the Smith Center in ACC play and 392-95 at home in ACC play (in three home venues).

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.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Junior forward/center Armando Bacot and sophomore guards RJ Davis and Caleb Love were selected team captains.
• Davis and Love are UNC's first sophomore captains since Marcus Paige in 2013-14.
• The players were selected captains by a vote of their teammates.

2021-22 ROSTER NOTES
• The Tar Heels have seven new players on the roster this season, including three transfers, two freshmen and two former junior varsity players.
• Graduate student Brady Manek made 235 threes and scored 1,459 points in four seasons at Oklahoma. Sophomore Dawson Garcia averaged 13.0 points and 6.6 rebounds an earned Freshman All-Big East Conference honors last season at Marquette. Junior Justin McKoy, a Raleigh native who attended Panther Creek High School in Cary, returns to his home state after two seasons at Virginia.
• Manek's 235 three-pointers for the Sooners were more than all but two Tar Heels – Marcus Paige (299) and Joel Berry II (266).
• Manek earned his degree from OU in seven semesters. He became the tallest player in Big 12 history to make 200 threes and the first with 200 threes and 100 blocks. The Harrah, Okla., native is the only Sooner to compile 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 three-pointers and 100 blocks.
• Garcia scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds for Marquette against the Tar Heels in February when the Golden Eagles handed UNC an 83-70 loss in Chapel Hill.
• Garcia played AAU ball with fellow Minnesota native and Tar Heel teammate Kerwin Walton.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES
• Carolina was picked to finish third in the ACC by the media at preseason media day in Charlotte on October 12.
• Armando Bacot, who earned third-team All-ACC honors in 2021, was selected to the preseason first team. Sophomore guard Caleb Love was chosen for the second team. Love was a member of the ACC's All-Freshman team last season.
• Bacot and Dawson Garcia are on the preseason watch list for the Wooden Award. Bacot is also on the list for the Naismith Trophy and the Lute Olson Award.
• Bacot, Love and Dawson Garcia are on the Basketball Hall of Fame's preseason watch lists for their respective positional player-of-the-year awards.
• Love is a candidate for Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award, Garcia for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year award and Bacot for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year award.
• Carolina is the only school to win three Bob Cousy Awards (Raymond Felton in 2005, Ty Lawson in 2009 and Kendall Marshall in 2012). Felton and Lawson won as juniors, while Marshall won the award as a sophomore.

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

Justin McKoy

Day'Ron Sharpe

Kerwin Walton

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University of North Carolina Athletics