Men's Basketball Visits FSU On Monday Night

GAME 30: AT FLORIDA STATE
• The Tar Heels begin the final week of the regular season and the final game in February on the road with a 7 p.m. start at Florida State on Monday, February 27 (ESPN).
• Both the Tar Heels and Seminoles are coming off exciting wins on Saturday. Carolina won its second straight, getting 22 points, four blocks from Pete Nance and 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists from RJ Davis and making nine first-half threes en route to a 71-63 victory over sixth-ranked Virginia.
• FSU produced the largest comeback in ACC history, storming back from 25 down to edge Miami, 85-84, in Coral Gables on Matthew Cleveland's last-second three-pointer.
• Nance topped the 20-point mark for the third time as a Tar Heel and became just the third Tar Heel with four three-pointers and four blocks in a game (with David Noel vs. George Mason in 2006 and Danny Green vs. Valparaiso in 2007).
• Nance made all four of his three-point attempts in the first half as Carolina raced to a 42-26 halftime lead by making nine of 16 threes and shooting 57.7% from the floor.
• That was Carolina's highest first-half field goal percentage of the season, a mere three days after converting 5 of 27 shots in the opening 20 minutes at Notre Dame, a percentage of .185 that was the lowest in a half since the 1979 game against Duke when UNC went 0 for 2 from the floor in the first half.
• UNC's win over No. 6 Virginia was Carolina's fourth top-10 win in Hubert Davis's two seasons as head coach and the first at home over a top-10 opponent since 2019 vs. Duke.
• Last season, the Tar Heels beat three top-10 teams late in the season (No. 4 Duke in Durham, No. 4 Baylor in the NCAA second round and No. 9 Duke in New Orleans in the Final Four).
• Carolina held the Cavaliers to under 40% shooting from the floor, just the fifth time a team has held UVA below 40% this season.
• The Tar Heels won despite not scoring any fastbreak points or points off turnovers and getting out-scored, 26-20, in the paint. UNC did out-score the Cavaliers, 30-12, from three-point range, and 17-5 from the free throw line.
• Armando Bacot continues to be the only player in the ACC in the top five (and the top 10) in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage. He is first in rebounding, fourth in scoring and fourth in field goal accuracy. The Richmond, Va., native also leads the league in offensive rebounds and double-doubles.
• Bacot had his 67th career double-double in the win at Notre Dame, tying NC State's Tom Burleson for fourth in ACC history.
• Bacot is averaging a single-season UNC record 4.36 offensive rebounds per game and has moved slightly ahead of Antawn Jamison for the highest career average by a Tar Heel (Bacot is averaging 3.63; Jamison averaged 3.62).
• RJ Davis went 4 for 4 from the free throw line against Virginia. He not only leads the ACC in free throw shooting this season (88.0%), he has tied Shammond Williams for the top spot in UNC history (84.8%).
• Davis had 10 rebounds against UVA for his third double-double in points and rebounds this season. The six-foot guard is averaging 5.1 rebounds, most by a Tar Heel lead guard since Cole Anthony's 5.7 in 2019-20.
• The Florida State game will be Leaky Black's 152nd career game, tying Deon Thompson for the all-time UNC record.
• Carolina's 11 losses are against teams with a combined record of 204-84 (.708) through February 25 (Alabama 25-4, Miami 23-6, NC State 22-8, Virginia 21-6, Duke 21-8, Pittsburgh 21-8, Indiana 20-9, Wake Forest 18-11, Iowa State 17-11, Virginia Tech 16-13).
• Every team that has beaten Carolina has a winning record and seven have 20 or more wins.
• Carolina went 8-3 against non-ACC opponents this season. The Tar Heels' non-conference schedule is currently the 23rd most difficult in the country.

UNC-FLORIDA STATE ALL-TIME
• Carolina is 52-16 against the Seminoles, including 42-15 since Florida State joined the ACC.
• The Tar Heels are 17-8 in Tallahassee, all in the Tucker Center.
• Florida State has won four of the last seven games in all locations and three straight in Tallahassee by one, six and seven points.
• Carolina's most recent win in the Tucker Center was in 2016, when Brice Johnson had 39 points and 23 rebounds and Marcus Paige scored 30 in a 106-90 victory.
• The teams played once last season, a 94-74 Tar Heel win in Chapel Hill (see details below).

LAST TIME VS. THE SEMINOLES
CAROLINA 94, FLORIDA STATE 74
February 12, 2022, in Chapel Hill
• The Tar Heels scored the first 18 points and eventually led by as many as 40 (64-24) 75 seconds into the second half.
• FSU scored its first point on a free throw with 13:03 to play in the first half and its first field goal with 11:31 left in the half.
• It was Carolina's largest win in the series since an 83-62 win in the 2013 ACC Tournament.
• Carolina shot 55.2% from the floor for the game.
• Caleb Love made a career-high six threes, including five in the first half, and had six assists.
• RJ Davis scored 16 points.
• Carolina had 22 assists, most in an ACC game last season (Love 6, Davis and Leaky Black 5).
• Armando Bacot had 17 points and 14 rebounds.

STATISTICAL RANKINGS
• Carolina leads the ACC in rebounding (39.9), is second in rebound margin (+5.4), fourth in scoring (77.1 ppg) and seventh in scoring margin (+5.3).
• The Tar Heels are eighth in the country in rebounds per game and 28th in rebound margin.
• The Tar Heels are 12th in the ACC in field goal percentage and sixth in FG defense.
• Carolina is 11th in the ACC in three-pointers per game (6.8), 15th in three-point shooting (.304) and sixth in three-point percentage defense (.335).
• Carolina leads the ACC in free throws made (17.0) and attempted (23.0) per game.
• The Tar Heels are 12th in the country in free throws made and 15th in attempts.
• Carolina is the only team with three players in the top 15 in the ACC in scoring. Armando Bacot is fourth (career-high 17.0), Caleb Love is tied for sixth (career-high 16.9) and RJ Davis is 13th (career-high 15.7).
• Bacot is the only player in the ACC in the top five as well as the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage.
• Bacot is third nationally in double-doubles and offensive rebounds and seventh in rebounds per game.
• 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 88.0%. That is on pace to be the third-highest percentage 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 is 28th in the country in FT%.
• Davis made 14 of 14 from the line at home vs. NC State, which equals the fourth best in a game this season in the NCAA.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (WINS & LOSSES)
• Carolina is averaging 80.8 points in its 18 wins and 71.1 (9.7 fewer) in the 11 losses.
• The opponents are scoring 77.1 points in their 11 wins and 68.6 in UNC's victories. Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Miami are the three teams to score 80 or more points in regulation in beating Carolina (Alabama had 78 in the four-overtime win in November).
• Carolina is shooting 46.1% from the floor in the wins and 39.7% in its losses.
• The Tar Heels make 7.6 threes at 33.8% in the wins and 5.5 threes at 24.8% in the losses.
• Carolina's best three-point percentage in a loss this season was 33.3% at Virginia (8 for 24).
• UNC is 46 for 187 (24.6%) from three-point range in its eight ACC losses.
• Carolina is 8-0 this season when shooting 35% or higher from three-point range with wins over Portland, The Citadel, Michigan, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Clemson and Virginia.
• The Tar Heels are 10-11 when shooting under 35% from three.
• Carolina has a rebounding edge of 7.6 per game in the wins and 1.9 per game in the losses.
• The Tar Heels are a combined plus 57 in assists/turnovers in the wins and minus 24 in the losses.
• The opponents are a combined plus 30 assist/turnovers in UNC's losses and have five more turnovers than assists in Carolina's wins.
• UNC averages 13.6 assists in its wins and 9.3 in the losses.
• UNC has outscored the opponents, 261-198, in points off turnovers in its 18 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, 150-87, 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, a 19-10 advantage at Virginia and 16-3 at NC State.
• Carolina is 10-2 in games when it has scored more points off turnovers than its opponents.
• The Tar Heels are 6-8 when the opponents score more points off turnovers (and 2-1 when even).
• The opponents have scored at least 40 paint points five times in the UNC losses, including 40 by Alabama, 50 by Indiana, 42 by Virginia Tech, 42 at Pittsburgh and 42 at NC State (the box score says 46 but the first two field goals were listed incorrectly as paint points).
• Carolina is 11-5 when it scores more paint points and 6-6 when the opponents have more.
• Carolina is 8-2 this season when holding the opponents to fewer than 30 paint points (only losses to Iowa State and to Pittsburgh in Chapel Hill). That includes 26 by Virginia on Saturday.
• Carolina has scored 80 or more points 13 times. The Tar Heels are 11-2 in those games, losing 103-101 in four overtimes vs. Alabama (scored 77 in the regulation) and 92-85 at Wake Forest.
• Bacot is averaging 18.7 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 15.7 in the nine losses other than Virginia and Virginia Tech.
• Caleb Love is shooting 39.8% from the floor, including 29.8% from three, and has 55 assists/40 turnovers in the wins; in the losses, Love is shooting 36.5% from the floor (31.5% from three) and has 24 assists/29 turnovers).
• RJ Davis is averaging 16.3 points, shooting 47.5% from the floor (40.7% from three) and has 65 assists/32 turnovers in the wins; in the losses, he is averaging 14.5 points, is shooting 35.7% from the floor (21.1% from three) and has 30 assists/23 turnovers.
• Pete Nance is shooting 45.1% from the floor (40.4% from three) in the wins and 39.3% from the floor (18.9% from three) in the losses. Nance is 42 for 48 (.875) from the free throw line in the wins and 18 for 26 in the losses (.692).

MISCELLANEOUS
• Carolina's three-point percentage (.304) is 329th in the country and is tied for the lowest in school history.
• Bacot is 18th in the country in offensive rebounding percentage and averages 5.5 offensive rebounds per 40 minutes. Puff Johnson is second on the team with 2.6 per 40 and Leaky Black is third at 2.2 per 40.
• Love made 7 of 12 field goals vs. Clemson (6 of 9 from three). The Tar Heels are 5-1 this season and 16-3 in his career when Love shoots 50% or higher from the floor.
• The Tar Heels are 10-2 this season and 38-12 in three seasons when Love has more assists than turnovers.
• Bacot leads Carolina in scoring (career-high 17.0 ppg), rebounding (10.9 rpg), offensive rebounding (career-high 4.4), blocks (29) and field goal percentage (.561). 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.
• The last player to lead the Tar Heels in scoring and rebounding in three straight seasons was Tyler Hansbrough, who is the only Tar Heel to accomplish that in four consecutive seasons (2006-07-08-09).
• Bacot is one of three Tar Heels with 1,700 career points, 1,000 rebounds and 150 blocks with Sam Perkins and Brice Johnson (block totals are unknown for Billy Cunningham).
• Carolina is 12-3 this season and 33-10 in his career when Bacot attempts more than six free throws in a game. The Tar Heels are 6-7 this season and 45-40 over the last four seasons when he attempts six or fewer.
• Carolina's bench has outscored the opponents eight times this season. The Tar Heels are 5-3 in those games.
• The opponents are averaging 5.2 more bench points per game, including a 23-2 advantage by Notre Dame last week.
• 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. Bacot scored his 1,000th point last year in Chapel Hill vs. NC State, Love vs. Portland in November and Davis in January at home vs. Wake Forest.
• With 16 points at Notre Dame, Bacot passed three-time first-team All-America Mike O'Koren for 15th in career scoring at UNC. Bacot added 11 vs. Virginia and needs 12 points to pass Michael Jordan for 14th place.
• Love passed Brendan Haywood and Deon Thompson in the win over UVA for 38th in career scoring.
• Bacot has 10 or more rebounds in a UNC-record 74 games. He passed Billy Cunningham, who had 61 in three seasons from 1962-65.
• Bacot is Carolina's all-time leader in rebounds (1,307), double-doubles (67) and offensive rebounds per game (3.63), is second in offensive rebounds (464) and sixth in rebounds per game (10.2). He is one of eight Tar Heels to average a career double-double (13.9/10.2).
• Sean May and Bacot are the only Tar Heels to average career double-doubles in the last 50 years.
• Bacot has 67 double-doubles in 128 games (double-doubles in 52.3% 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.
• Bacot is ninth in UNC history in free throw made and attempted (434 for 659).
• RJ Davis is tied for first 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 599 three-pointers, third most by a Tar Heel, and is 10th in made threes with 192.
• Love has made a three in 83 of 97 games.
• Love is one of four Tar Heels with 1,400 points, 300 assists, 175 three-pointers and 100 steals with Joel Berry II, Jeff Lebo and Marcus Paige.
• Leaky Black has played in 151 games in five seasons. He is tied with Nate Britt and Isaiah Hicks for the second-most games by a Tar Heel, will tie Deon Thompson's school record at Florida State and set the mark vs. Duke on March 4.
• Black is one of three current Tar Heels to start at least 100 career games. Bacot has made 127 starts, Black has 126 and Pete Nance, who played four seasons at Northwestern, has made 101 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.

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Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

RJ Davis

Puff Johnson

Caleb Love

Pete Nance

Tyler Nickel