MBB Looks To Rebound Vs. Clemson Saturday

Saturday, February 11

Chapel Hill

2 PM

North Carolina

Clemson

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Leaky Black

Photo by: Maggie Hobson

February 10, 2023 | Men's Basketball

UNC Notes Clemson Notes Live Stats Watch

GAME 25: CLEMSON
• Carolina returns to the Smith Center for a two-game homestand to face Clemson and Miami, two of the top four teams in the ACC standings, in a span of three days.
• The Tar Heels play host to Clemson on Saturday, February 11, at 2 p.m. and Miami on Monday, February 13, at 7 p.m.
• Carolina has lost three straight games and is 15-9 overall. The Tar Heels are ninth in the ACC at 7-6.
• Clemson is 18-6 overall, tied for second in the ACC at 10-3. The Tigers last played on February 4, losing 78-74 at home to Miami.
• The Tigers are second in the nation in free throw shooting at 80.3%.
• UNC trailed Wake Forest on Tuesday by 26 points early in the second half before battling back to within seven and ultimately falling, 92-85.
• Carolina out-scored the Deacs, 60-45, in the second half. It was the first time the Tar Heels lost when scoring 60 in a half since 1/10/1990, when UNC and Maryland both scored 61 in the second half in a 98-88 Terrapin victory in College Park.
• It was a poor shooting night from the floor for the Tar Heels, who made 33.3% of their field goal attempts (0 for 5 from three) in the first half en route to trailing by 22 points at the half.
• For the game, Carolina shot 40.5% from the floor, including 4 for 18 from three. The Tar Heels did convert 21 of 26 free throws, their best performance at the line in four games.
• Carolina had nine assists on 30 field goals, five by junior point guard RJ Davis.
• Wake Forest point guard Tyree Appleby made an ACC-record 23 of 28 free throws and finished with 35 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.
• In the first half, the Demon Deacons shot 51.4% from the floor, made five threes and scored 24 points in the paint. In the second half, UNC held Wake Forest to 33.3% from the floor but the Deacs went 27 for 36 from the line and scored nine fastbreak points.

UNC-CLEMSON ALL-TIME
• Carolina is 134-23 all-time against the Tigers, including 59-1 in Chapel Hill.
• The Tar Heels are 28-1 vs. Clemson in the Smith Center.
• This is the first time the teams will play in Chapel Hill since 2020. The teams were scheduled to play here in 2021 but the game was postponed and ultimately not re-scheduled to due to Covid safety protocols.
• Carolina won on the road, 79-77, in the only game between the teams last season on a Brady Manek basket with 3.1 seconds to play. • In the last meeting in Chapel Hill, the Tigers defeated UNC, 79-76, in overtime on 1/11/2020, to end UNC's 59-game home win streak vs. Clemson. It is the NCAA's longest homecourt winning streak against an opponent. The Tar Heels led by 10 with 2:08 to play, but the Tigers ended regulation on a 12-2 run and sent the game to overtime on a three-pointer by Aamir Simms with three seconds remaining.
• UNC and Clemson have played four of their last five games at Littlejohn Coliseum.
• Carolina forward Pete Nance's dad, Larry, scored 1,341 points for the Tigers from 1977-81 prior to a 13-year NBA career.

LAST SEASON AT CLEMSON
• Brady Manek scored the game-winning field goal off an assist from Caleb Love with 3.1 seconds to play.
• Carolina trailed by 11 and led for only 16:16. The win equaled the largest comeback win last season (also came back from 11 down at Charleston).
• The game featured 11 lead changes and 10 ties.
• Carolina shot 60.7% from the floor in the second half (17 for 28) and 50% for the game.
• Armando Bacot had 24 points and 10 rebounds.
• Leaky Black scored all 11 of his points in the second half, including a three-pointer with 3:57 to play to give UNC a 72-68 lead.
• RJ Davis scored 16 points, six assists and zero turnovers.
• Carolina kept alive a streak of never having lost three in a row to Clemson. The Tigers had won the previous two games, the fourth time UNC had dropped two straight to Clemson.

STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• Carolina leads the ACC in rebounding (39.8) and is second in rebound margin (+5.2), fourth in scoring (77.9 ppg) and eighth in scoring margin (+5.7).
• 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. 2 in the conference and 34th nationally.
• The Tar Heels are 10th in the country in rebounds per game.
• The Tar Heels are 10th in the ACC in field goal percentage and eighth in field goal percentage defense.
• Carolina is 12th in the ACC in three-pointers per game (6.6), 15th in three-point shooting (.308) and eighth in three-point percentage defense (.338).
• Carolina's three-point percentage (.305) is 320th in the country and the second-lowest in school history (.304 in 2019-20).
• Carolina is the only team with multiple players in the top 10 in the ACC in scoring. Armando Bacot is third (17.5), Caleb Love is sixth (16.6) and RJ Davis is tied for 10th (15.8).
• Bacot and Clemson's Hunter Tyson are the only players in the ACC in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage.
• Bacot's 23 rebounds vs. James Madison in November equal the third most in a game this season in the NCAA. Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe had 24 vs. Georgia and Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis had 24 vs. Northwestern.
• Davis leads the ACC in free throw shooting at 87.3%. That is on pace to be the sixth-highest in UNC single-season history. The last Tar Heel to lead the ACC in free throw shooting was Joel Berry II (.893 in 2017-18).
• Davis's 14 for 14 from the line against NC State is the fourth best in a game this season in the NCAA.

KENPOM NOTES
• The Tar Heels are 38th in offensive efficiency (113.5 points per 100 possessions) and 45th in defensive efficiency (97.5).
• Carolina and Virginia are the only ACC teams in the top 50 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
• Carolina is fifth in the ACC in offensive efficiency behind Miami, which is 10th nationally, Virginia (25th), Wake Forest (27th) and Virginia Tech (33rd).
• The Tar Heels have committed the 17th-fewest turnovers per possession, but are 335th in the nation in forcing turnovers.
• The Tar Heels are 116th in two-point field goal percentage and 329th in three-point percentage.
• Armando Bacot is 17th in the country in offensive rebound percentage, but as a team the Tar Heels are 133rd. Bacot has 101 offensive rebounds, 63 more than Leaky Black, who is second with 38. Puff Johnson is third with 19.
• Bacot has 38% of Carolina's offensive rebounds. Last season he grabbed 36% of UNC's offensive boards.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (WINS & LOSSES)
• Carolina is averaging 81.9 points in its 15 wins and 71.2 (10.7 fewer) in the nine losses.
• The opponents are scoring 76.8 points in their nine wins and 69.5 in UNC's victories. Wake Forest was just the third team to score 80 or more points when defeating the Tar Heels this season.
• Carolina is shooting 47.0% from the floor in the wins and 39.7% in its losses.
• The Tar Heels make 7.3 threes at 33.6% in the wins, but 5.4 threes at 25.3% in the losses.
• Carolina's best three-point percentage in a loss this season was 33.3% at Virginia (8 for 24).
• UNC is 34 for 135 (25.2%) from three-point range in its six ACC losses.
• Carolina is 6-0 this season when shooting 35% or higher from three-point range with wins over Portland, The Citadel, Michigan, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Syracuse.
• The Tar Heels are 9-9 when shooting under 35% from three.
• Carolina has a rebounding edge of 7.3 per game in the wins and 1.7 in the losses.
• The Tar Heels are a combined plus 48 in assists/turnovers in the wins and minus 15 in the losses.
• The opponents are a combined plus 27 assist/turnovers in UNC's losses and have 14 more turnovers than assists in Carolina's 15 wins.
• UNC has outscored the opponents, 240-174, in points off turnovers in the Tar Heels' 15 wins, including 24-10 vs. Charleston, 27-12 vs. Ohio State, 32-8 vs. Wake Forest, 23-8 at Louisville and 20-14 at Syracuse.
• The opponents have outscored the Tar Heels, 123-77, in points off turnovers in the losses. That includes a 15-point advantage by Iowa State, a seven-point edge by Alabama, a 17-4 advantage at Indiana, a 12-6 margin at Pittsburgh and 19-10 advantage by Virginia.
• Carolina is 8-2 in games when it has scored more points off turnovers than its opponents.
• The Tar Heels are 5-6 when the opponents score more points off turnovers (and 2-1 when even).
• The opponents have scored at least 40 paint points four times in the UNC losses, including 40 by Alabama, 50 by Indiana, 42 by Virginia Tech and 42 at Pittsburgh.
• Carolina is 9-4 when it scores more paint points and 5-5 when the opponents have more.
• Carolina has scored 80 or more points 12 times. The Tar Heels are 10-2 in those games, losing 103-101 in four overtimes vs. Alabama (scored 77 in the regulation) and 92-85 at Wake Forest.
• The Tar Heels have averaged 65.0 points in the other seven losses with a high of 74 at Pittsburgh.
• Bacot is averaging 19.3 points in the wins and 14.1 in the losses. However, Bacot only played 1:18 in the loss at Virginia and did not play at Virginia Tech (he is averaging 16.1 in the other six losses).
• Caleb Love is shooting 39.8% from the floor, including 27.7% from three, and has 49 assists/34 turnovers in the wins; in the losses, Love is shooting 35.9% from the floor (31.9% from three) and has 21 assists/22 turnovers in the losses.
• RJ Davis is averaging 16.6 points, is shooting 47.6% from the floor (42.5% from three) and has 56 assists/26 turnovers in the wins; in the losses, he is averaging 14.4 points, is shooting 35.7% from the floor (20.5% from three) and has 25 assists/21 turnovers.
• Pete Nance is shooting 48.4% from the floor (40.5% from three) in the wins and 40.5% from the floor (18.8% from three) in the losses. Nance is 33 for 39 (.846) from the free throw line in the wins and 16 for 24 in the losses (.667).

MISCELLANEOUS
• KenPom ranks Carolina's strength of schedule 25th overall and 15th in non-conference play when the Tar Heels went 8-3.
• Carolina's nine losses are against teams with a combined record of 136-54 (.716) through 2/9/23 (Alabama 21-3, Virginia 18-4, Duke 17-7, Pittsburgh 17-7, Indiana 17-7, Iowa State 16-7, Wake Forest 16-9 and Virginia Tech 14-10).
• Carolina has played five teams that are ranked in the February 6 Associated Press Top 25 – losing to No. 3 Alabama, No. 8 Virginia, No. 11 Iowa State and No. 18 Indiana and defeating No. 22 NC State.
• Armando Bacot leads Carolina in scoring (career-high 17.5 ppg), rebounding (11.3 rpg), offensive rebounding (career-high 4.4), blocks (25) and field goal percentage (.557). Last season, he 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.
• Carolina is 12-2 this season and 33-9 in his career when Bacot attempts more than six free throws in a game. The Tar Heels are 3-6 this season and 42-39 over the last four seasons when he attempts six or fewer.
• Davis and Bacot lead the Tar Heels in plus/minus at plus 148 and plus 147, respectively.
• Bacot has led UNC in plus/minus eight times. Pete Nance is second with four.
• Puff Johnson led UNC in plus/minus at Wake Forest at plus 4. It was the second time this season (Alabama) he came off the bench and led UNC in plus/minus. Non-starters have led UNC six times, including Johnson twice, Tyler Nickel at Virginia Tech, Seth Trimble vs. Wake Forest, Jalen Washington at Virginia and D'Marco Dunn at Louisville.
• Dunn leads the non-starters in plus/minus at plus 47. Johnson is next at plus 39. Johnson has an even or positive plus/minus in each of his last eight games.
• Dunn came off the bench at Louisville to tie for the team lead in scoring with a career-high 14 points. He also set career highs that day in minutes (25:56), points, field goals (5), three-pointers (2), offensive rebounds (2), rebounds (5), steals (2) and plus/minus (+25) and tied his career highs in free throws (2), assists (1), turnovers (1) and blocks (1)
• Carolina's bench has outscored the opponents five times this season (16-12 in the loss at Virginia Tech, 42-18 vs. The Citadel, 10-9 in the loss at Pittsburgh, 22-12 vs. Notre Dame and 26-10 at Louisville).
• The opponents are averaging 5.5 more bench points per game this season. The UNC bench combined for 15 points at Wake Forest, which equaled the point production off the bench in UNC's previous four games.
• Freshman Tyler Nickel's 16 points vs. The Citadel were his season high and the most by a Tar Heel non-starter this season. They were the most by a Tar Heel non-starter (in a non-Senior Day game) since Johnson had 16 in the win at NC State last February.

RECORD BOOK UPDATES
• 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.
• Bacot passed Wayne Ellington and tied Rick Fox for 20th in scoring at UNC with 1,703 points.
• Bacot needs seven points to pass Billy Cunningham, 14 to pass Brice Johnson and 19 to pass Rashad McCants for 17th place.
• RJ Davis scored 27 points against Wake Forest on January 4 to pass the 1,000-point mark in his 83rd game, the 38th-fewest games needed by a Tar Heel to score 1,000 points (standout UNC guards Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson both scored their 1,000th points in their 84th games).
• Bacot has 10 or more rebounds in a UNC-record 71 games. He passed Billy Cunningham, who had 61 in three seasons from 1962-65.
• Bacot is Carolina's all-time leader in rebounds (1,261) and double-doubles (64), is second in offensive rebounds per game (3.60), second in offensive rebounds (443) and tied for fifth in rebounds per game (10.3). He is one of eight Tar Heels to average a career double-double (13.8/10.3).
• Sean May and Bacot are the only Tar Heels to average career double-doubles in the last 50 years.
• Bacot has 64 double-doubles in 123 games (double-doubles in 52.1% of his games). Only Cunningham (87.0%) 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 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.
• RJ Davis has tied Marcus Paige for fourth and Caleb Love is 15th all-time at UNC in free throw percentage.
• Love made at least one three-pointer in a UNC-record 45 consecutive games, a streak that began last season and ended at Louisville on January 14. 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).
• Love has attempted the sixth-most three-pointers in UNC history (556) and made the 13th most (177).
• Love is one of eight Tar Heels with 1,300 points, 300 assists and 150 three-pointers (also Joel Berry II, Jason Capel, Rick Fox, Justin Jackson, Jeff Lebo, Marcus Paige and Shammond Williams).
• Love is two steals from 100. Berry, Capel, Fox, Lebo and Paige also had 100 steals.
• Leaky Black has played in 146 games in four-plus seasons. He is on pace to 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 122 starts and Black has 121. Pete Nance has made 96 career starts.

BACOT: SIX-TIME ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Bacot has earned three ACC Player-of-the-Week awards this season.
• Bacot has won ACC Player of the Week six times in his career (all in the last two seasons), which equals Phil Ford for the third most all-time by a Tar Heel.
• Antawn Jamison (ACC-record 12) and Tyler Hansbrough (11) are the only Tar Heels to have won the award more than Bacot.
• Bacot's ACC Player-of-the-Week honors this season were a product of his performances against The Citadel and Ohio State in December, Wake Forest and Notre Dame games in early January and Boston College and NC State games in mid-January.

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.