MBB Heads To Virginia Looking For Third Straight Win

GAME 17: AT VIRGINIA
• Carolina and Virginia, two of six teams tied for fourth place at 3-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, play for the 194th time when the Tar Heels travel to Charlottesville for a 9 p.m. tip on Tuesday, January 10.
• The Tar Heels lead the ACC in scoring (81.4 points per game), while Virginia leads the league in fewest points allowed (59.6).
• Carolina got 21 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks from Armando Bacot, three first-half threes and 18 points from Caleb Love and 18 points off the bench from Puff Johnson (season-high 11) and D'Marco Dunn (career-high seven) in an 81-64 win over Notre Dame on Saturday.
• Bacot earned his second ACC Player-of-the-Week award this season and fifth of his career for his play against Wake Forest (21 points, nine rebounds, five assists) and Notre Dame.
• The Tar Heels played the Irish without Pete Nance, who strained his back at Pittsburgh and has played only two minutes in the last two games. Freshman Seth Trimble made his first start in place of Nance vs. the Irish.
• Carolina has won six of its last seven games to improve to 11-5 overall. The Tar Heels entered a nine-day Christmas break winners of four straight, lost at Pittsburgh on December 30 but has opened the new year with home wins over Wake Forest (by nine) and Notre Dame (by 17).
• Not coincidentally, the Tar Heels have had more assists than turnovers in each of their last seven games, while they had more turnovers than assists in all four of their consecutive losses in late November-early December that exited them from the top 25.
• Virginia is 13-2 overall. The Cavaliers won their first eight games this season and have split their last six, including a 73-66 home win over Syracuse on Saturday.
• Both teams count recent losses at Pittsburgh. The Panthers overcame a six-point Tar Heel lead at the half to win, 76-74, while Virginia lost a 10-point halftime advantage as Pitt recovered for a 68-65 victory on January 3.
• Bacot, the ACC's Preseason Player of the Year, has scored 20 or more points in five straight games for the first time in his career, including back-to-back 21-point efforts in the wins over Wake Forest and Notre Dame.
• Bacot leads the ACC in scoring (18.8 ppg), rebounding (11.2 rpg) and offensive rebounding (4.6) and is fourth in field goal percentage (.567). Last season, the Richmond, Va., native became the first Tar Heel ever to lead UNC in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots in consecutive seasons, and he is on pace to accomplish that again this season.
• Bacot is averaging 21.9 points over his last seven games. He averaged 5.3 field goals in the first eight games and 8.4 over his last seven games
• Caleb Love and Bacot were named last week to the Wooden Award's mid-season top 25. Love has made at least one three-pointer in 44 consecutive games, breaking the previous UNC record of 41 games set by Marcus Paige.
• RJ Davis had 27 points against Wake Forest and became the 81st Tar Heel all-time to score 1,000 points. Davis added 13 points and five assists vs. Notre Dame.
• Bacot (18.8 ppg), Love (16.9) and Davis (16.4) are on pace to become the first Tar Heel trio to average 16 points in a season since Walter Davis, Phil Ford and Mitch Kupchak did that in 1974-75 and 1975-76.

BACOT: 5-TIME ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Bacot earned his second ACC Player-of-the-Week award this season and fifth of his career for his play against Wake Forest and Notre Dame.
• He averaged 21.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.6 blocks and made 16 of 28 field goals in the wins over Wake Forest and Notre Dame.
• In December, Bacot earned ACC Player-of-the-Week honors for his performances against The Citadel and Ohio State.
• Bacot has won ACC Player of the Week five times, which equals the fourth most all-time by a Tar Heel with Joel Berry II, Michael Jordan, Luke Maye, Mike O'Koren and Marcus Paige.
• Only Antawn Jamison (ACC-record 12), Tyler Hansbrough (11) and Phil Ford (6) have won the award more than Bacot.

UNC-VIRGINIA SERIES
• The Tar Heels are 133-60 all-time vs. Virginia, including wins in both games played a year ago in Chapel Hill and Brooklyn.
• Those two wins snapped a seven-game Virginia win streak in the series, the Cavaliers' longest since they won the first eight games played between the schools from 1911-16.
• Carolina is 44-37 in Charlottesville, but the Cavaliers have won the last seven in John Paul Jones Arena from 2014-21.
• UNC is 4-7 at John Paul Jones Arena, winning in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012 before losing the next seven there. UNC's most recent win in Charlottesville came on 2/25/2012. ACC Player of the Year Tyler Zeller scored a game-high 20 points and John Henson added 15 points and 11 rebounds.
• Carolina averaged 68.5 points in the four wins at John Paul Jones Arena from 2008-12. The Tar Heels averaged 53.4 points in the seven losses at Virginia from 2013-21, scoring 43, 49, 47 and 48 points in the last four games in Charlottesville.
• Carolina's last three wins over Virginia have come by 24, 16 and 20 points.

LAST SEASON VS. THE CAVALIERS
• The Tar Heels defeated Virginia, 74-58, in Chapel Hill on January 8, and 63-43, in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Brooklyn on March 10.
• It was the first time UNC beat the Cavaliers twice in a season since sweeping the regular-season games in 2012.

January 8, 2022
UNC 74, Virginia 58 in Chapel Hill
• Carolina's win snapped a seven-game losing streak to Virginia. It was UNC's first win over the Cavaliers since 2/18/2017.
• It was the first time UNC scored 70 points against Virginia in 10 games, since a 79-74 loss in Charlottesville on 2/27/2016.
• It was the fifth time in the last 10 meetings the Tar Heels held Virginia below 60 points.
• Carolina made 11 threes and led by as many as 25 points.
• Armando Bacot set career highs in points (29), field goals (12), rebounds (22) and offensive rebounds (9).
• Bacot became the first Tar Heel with 20 points and 20 rebounds since Brice Johnson had 39 and 23 at Florida State on 1/4/2016.
• Bacot was the first player to have 20/20 against Virginia since Wake Forest's Tim Duncan had 21 and 23 in 1997.
• Brady Manek had a career-high five assists and also hit five three-pointers.
• Caleb Love made four threes, had 16 points and five assists.
• Bacot (29), Manek (19) and Love (16) combined to score 64 of Carolina's 74 points.

March 10, 2022
UNC 63, Virginia 43 in Brooklyn
• Carolina allowed 43 points, fewest in an ACC Tournament game by a UNC opponent since Georgia Tech scored 39 in the 1982 ACC quarterfinal.
• The 43 points were the fewest allowed by UNC in an ACC Tournament game in the shot clock era (which began in 1985-86).
• The 43 points were the fewest allowed by UNC in any game last season.
• Carolina allowed 13 points in the first half, the fewest in a first half in the shot clock era in any ACC Tournament game.
• Manek out-scored Virginia, 19-13, in the first half. It was the first time a Tar Heel out-scored an opponent in a half since Reggie Bullock out-scored Maryland, 21-20, in the first half in Chapel Hill on 1/19/2013.
• Manek led UNC with 21 points, Bacot had 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. It was his 24th double-double, which set the UNC single-season record.
• Leaky Black played sensational defense against Virginia point guard Kihei Clark, limiting him to seven points on 3 of 9 shooting and three turnovers. Black had three steals and three assists.
• RJ Davis had a then-career-high eight rebounds and six assists.
• Former Cavalier forward Justin McKoy scored a season-high five points and had a season-high five rebounds in 17 minutes.
• Virginia shot 18.5% (5 of 27) from the floor in the first half.
• Carolina committed only seven turnovers, the fewest in any of its eight postseason games last season.

RANKINGS
• Carolina is No. 21 in the country in KenPom and No. 28 in the NCAA's NET.
• Virginia is 13th in KenPom and 17th in the NET.
• The Tar Heels lead the ACC in scoring (81.4 ppg) and rebounding (39.4) and are 14th in the league in points allowed (74.3).
• Last season, UNC was No. 1 in the ACC and No. 3 in the country in rebound margin (plus 8.5). This season, UNC is No. 3 in the conference and 104th nationally at plus 4.5 per game.
• The Tar Heels are fifth in the ACC in field goal percentage. Carolina has shot 50% from the floor in two of the last four games and 50% in the second half in five of the last eight games. UNC shot 60% in the second half January 7 win over Wake Forest.
• Carolina is 11th in the ACC in three-pointers per game (6.7), 13th in three-point shooting (.319) and 14th in three-point percentage defense (.349).
• Armando Bacot (first), Caleb Love (sixth) and RJ Davis (10th) rank in the top 10 in the league in scoring.
• Bacot leads the ACC in scoring, rebounding, offensive boards and double-doubles.
• Bacot ranks fourth in the country in offensive rebounding (4.6 per game), fourth in free throw attempts (115), fifth in rebounds per game (11.1) and sixth in double-doubles (9).

SCHEDULE
• Carolina's schedule is ranked the 10th-most difficult in the nation (per KenPom) among all teams and the fifth-most difficult among Power 5 conference teams behind only Seton Hall, Alabama, Kansas and Oregon.
• Carolina's first 16 opponents have collectively the fifth-best offensive efficiencies in the country.
• Iowa State (12-2), Alabama (13-2), Indiana (10-5), Virginia Tech (11-5) and Pittsburgh (11-5), the five teams that have defeated UNC, were a combined 57-19 (.750) through January 8.
• Carolina has played three teams that are ranked in the January 9 AP poll – No. 4 Alabama, No. 14 Iowa State and No. 22 Charleston.
• Indiana, Ohio State and Pittsburgh also received votes as did the Tar Heels.

KENPOM HIGHLIGHTS
• Some notable stats according to KenPom: the Tar Heels are 13th in the country in offensive efficiency (114.9 points per 100 possessions), 16th best in getting to the free throw line and have committed the 19th-fewest turnovers per possession.
• The Tar Heels are 267th in three-point percentage and 329th in forcing turnovers.
• UNC is 260th in assists to field goals percentage at .478, but the Tar Heels have assists on 56.8% of their field goals over the last seven games. Last season, Carolina had assists on 54% of its field goals.
• Armando Bacot is 17th in the country in offensive rebound percentage, but as a team the Tar Heels are 164th. Bacot has 69 offensive rebounds, 47 more than Leaky Black, who is second with 22.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (WINS & LOSSES)
• Carolina has scored 8.7 more points per game in its 11 wins than the five losses, while the opponents have scored nearly 10 more points per game in UNC's losses.
• The Tar Heels are shooting 48.3% from the floor in the wins and 41.7% in their losses.
• The Tar Heels make 7.5 threes at 34.6% in the wins, but only 5.0 threes at 25.5% in the losses.
• Carolina has a rebounding edge of 7.2 in the wins and has been out-rebounded by 1.4 per game in its losses.
• The Tar Heels are plus 45 in assists/turnovers in the wins and minus 11 in the five losses.
• The opponents have shot 42.1% from the floor in Carolina's wins and 46% in the losses.
• The opponents are plus 23 assist/turnovers in UNC's losses and plus 2 in Carolina's 11 wins.
• UNC has outscored the opponents, 180-128, in points off turnovers in the Tar Heels' 11 wins, including 24-10 vs. Charleston, 27-12 vs. Ohio State and 32-8 vs. Wake Forest.
• The opponents have outscored the Tar Heels, 80-43, in points off turnovers in the five losses. That includes a 15-point advantage by Iowa State, a seven-point edge by Alabama, a 17-4 advantage at Indiana and a 12-6 margin by Pittsburgh.
• Carolina is 6-1 in games when it has scored more points off turnovers than its opponents.
• The Tar Heels are 3-4 when the opponents score more points off turnovers.
• The opponents are averaging 40.0 paint points in the five UNC losses, including 40 by Alabama, 50 by Indiana, 42 by Virginia Tech and 42 by Pittsburgh. UNC has allowed 30.9 paint points in its 11 victories.
• Carolina's five starters are all shooting at least 42% from the floor in the 11 wins; in the five losses, only Armando Bacot (.571) is shooting better than 43% from the floor.
• In the 11 wins, Bacot is the only starter with more turnovers than assists; in the five losses, only Black has more assists than turnovers.

FROM THE STRIPE
• Carolina is third in the country in free throws made per game (18.7) and eighth in attempts (25.4).
• Armando Bacot is fourth nationally in free throw attempts (122) and 17th in free throws made (80).
• Carolina is 10-1 this season and 31-8 in his career when Bacot attempts more than six free throws in a game. The Tar Heels are 1-3 this season and 40-36 over the last four seasons when he attempts fewer than six.
• RJ Davis leads the ACC and is 36th in the country in free throw percentage at .882. Pete Nance (14th at .784) and Caleb Love (17th at .776) also rank in the top 20 in the ACC.

MISCELLANEOUS
• RJ Davis leads the Tar Heels in plus/minus at +121. Armando Bacot is second at +120.
• Bacot has led UNC in plus/minus six times. Pete Nance is second in games led in plus/minus leader with three.
• Caleb Love led UNC with a plus 17 vs. Notre Dame, the second game this season he has led the Tar Heels in plus/minus.
• Freshman guard Seth Trimble posted a game-high plus 16 in the 88-79 win over Wake Forest. He entered the game with 14:09 to play with UNC trailing 56-52 and helped Carolina out-score the Deacons by 13 the rest of the game.
• Trimble became the third Tar Heel non-starter to lead the team in plus/minus in a game this season (Puff Johnson vs. Alabama and Tyler Nickel at Virginia Tech).
• Sophomore guard D'Marco Dunn, who returned to action at Pittsburgh after missing five games due to a broken bone in his left hand, leads the non-starters in plus/minus at +40. Trimble is next at +33 off the bench (which includes the plus 7 he registered in his first start vs. Notre Dame).
• Carolina's bench has outscored the opponents four times this season (16-12 in the loss at Virginia Tech, 42-18 vs. The Citadel, 10-9 in the loss at Pittsburgh and 22-12 in the win over Notre Dame).
• Freshman Tyler Nickel's 16 points vs. The Citadel were his season high and the most by a Tar Heel non-starter this season. His 16 points equaled the previous high for most total bench points in a game by UNC this season. They were also the most by a Tar Heel non-starter (in a non-Senior Day game) since Puff Johnson had 16 at NC State last February.
• Carolina's 103-101 loss to Alabama was just the second four-overtime game in UNC history and the first since Carolina beat Tulane, 113-106, in New Orleans on Feb. 14, 1976.
• Carolina had not played even a triple overtime game since 2003-04 (a 119-114 loss to Wake Forest).
• It was only the third time UNC lost in 211 games all-time when scoring 100 points.
• Caleb Love played 57:24 in Carolina's four-overtime loss to Alabama. That is the second-highest minutes played in a game by a Tar Heel. Phil Ford played 58 minutes in a four-OT win at Tulane in 1976.
• Love was named to the PKI All-Tournament team after scoring a career-high 34 points against the Tide.
• The Nov. 21 poll was the 113th time UNC was ranked No. 1 in an AP poll, fourth most in NCAA college basketball history.
• This was the 10th time the AP poll ranked the Tar Heels No. 1 to begin a season (1977-78, 1981-82, 1983-84, 1986-87, 1993-94, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2011-12, 2015-16 and 2022-23).
• UNC's 10 preseason No. 1 rankings are the most all-time, breaking a tie with Duke. UCLA is third with eight, Kentucky is fourth with six and Arizona, Indiana, Kansas and Michigan are tied with three.

IN THE RECORD BOOK
• Carolina has an NCAA-record 81 1,000-point scorers, including Caleb Love, Armando Bacot and RJ Davis, who scored his 1,000th point against Wake Forest on 1/4/23.
• Davis scored 27 points to pass the 1,000-point mark against Wake Forest in his 83rd game, the 38th-fewest games needed by a Tar Heel to score 1,000 points.
• Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson both scored their 1,000th points in their 84th games.
• Bacot scored his 1,000th in his 82nd game, while Love scored his 1,000th point in his 73rd game, the fewest games needed since Harrison Barnes hit the mark in his sophomore season in 2011-12 in his 61st game as a Tar Heel.
• Bacot has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in a UNC-record 65 games. He passed Hall of Famer Billy Cunningham, who had 61 in three seasons from 1962-65.
• Bacot passed Sam Perkins on January 7 for second place all-time in rebounds at UNC. He has 1,169 rebounds and needs 51 to pass four-time first-team All-America Tyler Hansbrough for the UNC record.
• Bacot has 58 double-doubles in 115 games (double-doubles in 50.4% of his games). Only Cunningham (87.0%) and Lennie Rosenbluth (51.3%) recorded double-doubles in a higher percentage of games by a Tar Heel.
• Bacot set UNC single-season records last year with 511 rebounds, 31 double-doubles, five 20-rebound games (tied), 32 games with 10 or more rebounds, rebounds in an NCAA Tournament and rebounds by a Tar Heel in the Elite 8, national semifinal and national championship games.
• Bacot became the first player in NCAA Tournament history with six double-doubles in one year and tied the NCAA single-season record for double-doubles with 31 (Navy's David Robinson also had 31 in 1985-86).
• Bacot grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds in UNC's 80-64 win over previously unbeaten James Madison on November 20.
• Bacot's 23 rebounds vs. JMU marked his sixth career game with 20 or more. The Ohio State game on December 17 was his 19th with 15 or more.
• Bacot had 21 points and 13 rebounds vs. Notre Dame, his 18th career outing with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
• Bacot is second in UNC history in double-doubles (58), second in rebounds (1,169), second in offensive rebounds per game (3.57), and sixth in rebounds per game (10.2). The Richmond, Va., native is one of eight Tar Heels to average a career double-double (13.8/10.2).
• Sean May and Bacot are the only Tar Heels to average a double-double over a career in the last 50 seasons.
• RJ Davis and Caleb Love are fifth and 12th, respectively, in free throw percentage.
• Love has made at least one three-pointer in a UNC-record 44 consecutive games. He broke Marcus Paige's previous mark of 41.
• Last season, Love made 40 consecutive free throws, the second-longest streak in school history (one off the record by Jeff Lebo).
• Leaky Black has played in 138 games in four-plus seasons. He could break Deon Thompson's school record for games played (152).
• Black is one of two current Tar Heels to start at least 100 career games. Bacot has made 114 starts and Black has 113.
• Black, a fifth-year graduate student, recently surpassed 700 career points, 600 rebounds and 300 assists.
• Caleb Love needs four assists for 300.

LATE-GAME HEROICS
• Pete Nance's clutch shot vs. Ohio State marked the first time a Tar Heel made a field goal with 0:00 on the clock (released with 0.2 to play) to send a game to overtime since Pete Chilcutt (off an assist from Jeff Lebo) vs. Syracuse on 11/21/1987, in Springfield, Mass. Remarkably, it also happened in UNC's previous overtime game, when Lebo fed Scott Williams for a jump hook at the buzzer that sent the 1987 ACC semifinal against Virginia to a second OT in Landover, Md.
• The 1987 buzzer-beaters came eight months, six games and one overtime game apart; Nance's shot was 35 years, 1,249 games and 52 overtime games since Chilcutt's shot vs. Syracuse.
• Carolina trailed Ohio State by 10 with 6:44 to play. It was the first time UNC trailed by double digits with less than 10:00 to play and won since beating Louisville, 72-71, on 1/10/2015.
• Ohio State led by 14 twice in the first half. That was the largest deficit in a Tar Heel victory since 2/27/21, when UNC overcame a 16-point deficit to beat Florida State, 78-70, in the Smith Center.

NOVEMBER SIGNEES
• Carolina signed two players to National Letters of Intent in November 2022.
• Zayden High, a 6-10 forward from San Antonio, Texas. High attends AZ Compass Prep in Chandler, Ariz., where he plays for Coach Ed Gipson.
• Simeon Wilcher, a 6-5 guard from Plainfield, N.J. Wilcher plays for Coach Dave Boff at Roselle Catholic High School in Roselle, N.J.

MILLER, WILLIAMS HONORED
• Larry Miller, the only Tar Heel to twice earn ACC Player of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP honors, and three-time national championship winning head coach Roy Williams were inducted in the NABC College Basketball Hall of Fame Nov. 20 in Kansas City.
• Miller and Williams are among 13 Tar Heels in the College Basketball Hall of Fame with Larry Brown, Ben Carnevale, Billy Cunningham, Phil Ford, Antawn Jamison, Bob McAdoo, Frank McGuire, Sam Perkins, Charlie Scott, Dean Smith and James Worthy.
• On December 14, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced named Williams the recipient of the 2023 Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Men's Basketball. He will be honored at the 2023 Final Four.
• In September, George Karl was inducted in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Karl, who played at UNC from 1970-73, became the 12th Tar Heel enshrined in Springfield with Brown, Carnevale, Cunningham, Bobby Jones, Michael Jordan, McAdoo, McGuire, Scott, Smith, Williams and James Worthy.

LOVE VOLUNTEERS TO SUPPORT THE ARTS, DANCE
• Carolina Basketball, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Carolina Performing Arts have partnered to announce a new campaign: "Artists Are Athletes / Athletes Are Artists."
• To launch this initiative, the organizations are releasing a video that debuts at halftime of the UNC-Notre Dame game featuring Caleb Love and renowned Ailey dancer Michael Jackson Jr.
• The video, shot at campus landmarks the Dean E. Smith Center and Memorial Hall, uses dramatic cinematography to showcase the power and virtuosity of the two leads.
• "We launched this collaboration to demonstrate the parallels between our prestigious athletic programs and one of the most iconic dance companies in the world, coming together at our country's oldest public university," says Alison Friedman, the James and Susan Moeser Executive and Artistic Director of Carolina Performing Arts. "Greatness comes in all forms of artistic and athletic excellence. This runs through the fabric of Carolina, and we want to illustrate this union in a visual way."
• "Basketball and dance have much in common," says Love. "Both are physically demanding requiring strength, agility and skill, and allow us to express ourselves as artists, as individuals and within teams and groups. I encourage our great fans to support Carolina Performing Arts and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as enthusiastically as you do our Tar Heel basketball team."
• "It's a thrill to leap into the world of Carolina Basketball through this video highlighting the skill, grace and power that athletes and dancers have in common," says Jackson Jr. "This exciting collaboration will move and connect fans of basketball and the arts, sparking conversations between two sets of passionate audiences. What better way to start our national tour and fulfill Alvin Ailey's belief that 'the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.'"

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

RJ Davis

D'Marco Dunn

Puff Johnson

Caleb Love

Brady Manek

Justin McKoy

Pete Nance

Tyler Nickel

Seth Trimble

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