Men's Basketball Hosting Deacs Monday Night

• Carolina, winner of eight straight games and 7-0 in the ACC, hosts Wake Forest in the Smith Center on Monday, January 22, at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
• The Tar Heels are 15-3 overall, while the Demon Deacons are 13-5, 5-2 in the ACC.
• The Tar Heels are 80-18 all-time vs. Wake Forest, including 25-5 in the Smith Center.
• Carolina is No. 7 in the country in the NET and No. 7 in KenPom. The Associated Press poll will be released Monday. UNC was No. 4 in the AP poll and No. 3 in the coaches poll last week.
• The eight-game winning streak is Carolina's longest since 2018-19, when UNC closed the regular season with seven wins and added an eighth in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
• The last time Carolina won at least nine consecutive games was 2017, when the Tar Heels won six games in the NCAA Tournament to win the national championship and began the following season with five more wins for 11 in a row.
• Carolina is 7-0 in ACC play for the first time since winning its first eight in 2015-16. The Tar Heels finished 14-4 in the ACC that season and advanced to the national championship game in Houston.
• This is the 12th time the Tar Heels have started ACC play 7-0.
• The Tar Heels have led by double figures in all seven of their ACC games and won each of the last six by 10 or more points.
• Carolina has won six consecutive ACC games by double-digits for the first time since doing that in 10 consecutive ACC games in 1992-93.
• This is the sixth time UNC has won six or more consecutive ACC games by double-digits (10 in a row in 1992-93, six straight in 1990-91, six straight in 1988-89, 10 straight in 1983-84 and seven straight over two seasons in 1967-68/1968-69).
• Carolina has won eight straight games in the same season by 10 or more points for the first time since 2008-09, when it won its first 13 games by double digits.
• In ACC games, Carolina is averaging 77.9 points and allowing 62.7. Florida State and Louisville both scored 70 points vs. the Tar Heels; the other five ACC opponents scored fewer than 70. UNC allowed 57, 55, 54 and 66 in its four ACC road wins at Pittsburgh, Clemson, NC State and Boston College, and 67 at home to Syracuse.
• RJ Davis led four Tar Heels in double figures with 16 points, and Harrison Ingram had 13 rebounds and hit a key three-pointer as the Tar Heels won at Boston College, 76-66. It was UNC's eighth straight win at BC, which matches its most consecutive road wins against an ACC team (also eight vs. Wake Forest from 1980-87).
• Davis made a pair of three-pointers, which extended his streak of games with multiple 3FGs to 15, tying Justin Jackson (2016-17) for the longest streak by a Tar Heel. Davis, the ACC's leading scorer, has made 49 threes in the last 15 games.
• The Eagles made 25 of 29 free throws. It was the first time UNC won when an opponent made 25 free throws since Oregon went 25 for 28 in the 2017 national semifinals.

GAME 19 NOTEBOOK
• The Tar Heels are 4-2 against AP-ranked opponents this season with wins over No. 20 Arkansas, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 16 Clemson (rankings when UNC played those teams).
• ESPN ranks UNC's strength of record No. 4 in the nation behind Purdue, UConn and Houston.
• Carolina's schedule ranked 12th in the country by ESPN and 13th by KenPom.
• Carolina, Syracuse (16th), Clemson (21st) and Georgia Tech (27th) are among the teams in the top 30 in KenPom's strength of schedule.
• The Tar Heels are No. 4 in the country in defensive efficiency (93.3 points allowed per 100 possessions) and No. 15 in offensive efficiency (119.2 points scored per 100 possessions).
• Since Ken Pomeroy began tracking points per possessions in 2001-02 the Tar Heels' highest national finish in defensive efficiency was fourth in 2010-11 (90.4).
• UNC is one of seven teams (with Arizona, Auburn, BYU, Houston, Purdue and Tennessee) that rank in the top 20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

UNC-WAKE FOREST
• Carolina is 164-69 against Wake Forest, the second-most wins by UNC against an opponent (165 vs. NC State).
• The Tar Heels are 80-18 in Chapel Hill, including 25-5 in the Smith Center.
• The teams have split the last six games.
• Carolina has won the last eight games in Chapel Hill from 2011-2023.
• Armando Bacot has averaged 15.6 points and 9.0 rebounds in five games against Wake Forest. He has two doubles-doubles and highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds. He did not play against the Demon Deacons as a freshman due to a sprained ankle.
• RJ Davis has averaged 18.5 points and 3.0 assists in four games. He's scored 13, 18, 27 and 16, respectively, and has made 7 of 16 three-pointers. He made 9 of 14 shots from the floor, including 5 of 8 3FGs, and had four assists in the win in Chapel Hill a year ago.
• Cormac Ryan has scored in double figures in all five of his previous games vs. Wake Forest, averaging 12.6 points with a high of 14 in the 2021 ACC Tournament. Ryan is 8 for 22 from three in those five games.
• Jae'Lyn Withers had six points and eight rebounds at Louisville as a sophomore and 11 points and five boards at home as a junior.
• Seth Trimble scored a season-high 11 points and led all players with a plus 16 in the Tar Heels' win in the Smith Center last season. He gave UNC the lead at 65-64 and was on the floor for the final 14:09.

LAST SEASON VS. THE DEMON DEACONS
• Each team won on their respective home courts with the Tar Heels winning, 88-79, in Chapel Hill on January 4 and the Demon Deacons prevailing in Winston-Salem, 92-85, on February 7.
• The game in the Smith Center featured 20 lead changes.
• RJ Davis made five three-pointers and scored a season-high 27 points, 22 of which he scored in the second half.
• Leaky Black scored a career-high 18 points.
• Armando Bacot scored 21 points and had five assists.
• Seth Trimble scored a season-high 11 points and was a game-high and season-best plus 16.
• Carolina shot 60% from the floor and scored 51 points in the second half.
• Carolina scored a season-high 32 points off 15 Wake Forest turnovers.
• The Tar Heels committed eight turnovers in the first half that led to eight Wake Forest points. In the second half, Carolina committed only one turnover that led to no points.
• Just over a month later, the Demon Deacons beat the Tar Heels for the third straight time in Winston-Salem for the first time since UNC lost four in a row from 1961-64 at Memorial Coliseum.
• Carolina out-rebounded the Demon Deacons, 50-35. That included 15 offensive rebounds, but UNC converted them into only 11 second-chance points.
• Carolina scored 25 points in the first half and 60 in the second. The 60 points were the most scored in any half by the Tar Heels all season.
• 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.
• UNC had won the previous 35 times it had scored 60 or more points in a half.
• Wake Forest's largest lead was 26 early in the second half. That was the largest deficit of the season for the Tar Heels.
• Wake Forest's Tyree Appleby scored 35 points and had 11 assists. He set all-time single-game ACC records for free throws made (23) and attempted (28). He was 21 for 26 from the line in the second half, including making 15 in a row in one stretch.
• Appleby scored 15 of Wake Forest's final 18 points from the free throw line, including 11 straight points from 1:58 to 0:24 remaining in the game.
• Wake Forest went 33 for 42 from the free throw line. The 33 made free throws were the most by an opponent since Duke went 33 for 37 in the 2017 ACC Tournament semifinals.
• Caleb Love scored 22 of his UNC-high 24 points in the second half.
• Bacot had 17 points and 11 rebounds but fouled out after playing only 21:42, one of his shortest stints of the season.

MILESTONE WATCH
• Armando Bacot has scored 2,071 points, fourth most all-time by a Tar Heel ... he needs 75 to pass Sam Perkins for third.
• Bacot is fifth in games played by a Tar Heel with 150 ... Leaky Black holds the record (155), Deon Thompson is second (152) and Nate Britt and Isaiah Hicks are tied for third with 151.
• Bacot has 1,523 rebounds, most ever by a Tar Heel and fourth in ACC history ... he passed Virginia's Ralph Sampson, a three-time National Player of the Year, for fourth in the win over Louisville ... he needs 48 to pass Wake Forest's Tim Duncan (1,570) for third.
• Bacot is 23rd in rebounds in NCAA history ... needs 15 to pass Syracuse's Derrick Coleman (1,537) for 22nd.
• Bacot has grabbed 994 defensive rebounds, which by themselves would be the 11th most in school history ... offensive rebounds weren't recorded separately until 1986-87 but no Tar Heel has ever had 1,000 defensive rebounds.
• Bacot is seventh in UNC history in field goals with 771 ... needs 16 to pass Perkins (786) and 17 to pass Antawn Jamison (787).
• RJ Davis has made 215 three-pointers, seventh most all-time by a Tar Heel ... needs seven to pass Donald Williams and Rashad McCants (both with 221) for fifth.
• Davis has scored 1,667 points ... needs 28 to pass Wayne Ellington (1,694) for 22nd in UNC history.
• Davis has 367 assists...needs four to pass John Kuester (370) for 22nd place in UNC history.
• The Wake Forest game will be Davis' 100th start in 120 games as a Tar Heel ... he has started every game since the first game of his sophomore season except Senior Night in 2023.
• The Wake Forest game will be Jae'Lyn Withers' 100th collegiate game (played 81 for Louisville).

DAVIS STARTS WITH 'D'
• Dating back to last season, the Tar Heels have held ACC teams (regular season and ACC Tournament games) under 70 points 19 times in the last 25 games.
• Per KenPom, Carolina is No. 5 in defensive efficiency at 93.3 points allowed per 100 possessions. The last time UNC finished in the top 10 in defensive efficiency was 2010-11, when the Tar Heels were fourth at 90.4 points per 100.
• Carolina's 93.3 points allowed per 100 possession are its lowest since 2020-21 (91.7).
• The opponents are averaging 69.3 points, the lowest average since 2014-15 (68.8).
• Carolina is 6-1 this season when it scores fewer than 80 points. The Tar Heels went 22-20 when scoring fewer than 80 in the previous two seasons.
• Carolina is holding its opponents to 39.8% shooting from the floor, lowest by the opponents since 2014-15 (39.8%).
• Carolina is holding its opponents to 29.1% shooting from three-point range, on track to be the lowest ever by the opponents in a season (previous low is 30.0% in 2014-15).
• Carolina has held the opponents below 40% from the floor in 22 of 36 halves this season.
• The Tar Heels held Syracuse to 29.0% from the floor in the first half as the Tar Heels built a 53-30 lead. It was the fourth time in four games an opponent shot under 30% in a half (second half by Pitt, both halves by NC State and the first half by Syracuse).
• The Tar Heels have outscored the opponents by
51 points in the second half in the last six games. That includes 39-29 at Pittsburgh (+10), 31-21 at Clemson (+10), 37-26 at NC State (+11), 51-37 (+14) vs. Syracuse and 41-35 (+7) at Boston College.
• Carolina has outscored the opponents by 105 points in the first half and by 151 in the second.
• Hubert Davis uses 42% as a benchmark for the opponents' field goal percentage. Carolina has held the opponents below 42% in 12 of the 18 games and has won 10 of those 12 (except Villanova and Kentucky).
• Louisville is the only opponent to shoot better than 42% in the last nine games (the Cards shot 49.1%). UNC has the other eight opponents below 42%, losing only to Kentucky in that stretch of games. That includes Boston College shooting 34.5%.
• Carolina has held the opponents to 32.0% from the floor, including 13.1% from three-point range in its four ACC road victories. Pittsburgh, Clemson, NC State and Boston College have combined to make 79 of 247 field goal attempts, including 11 of 84 from beyond the three-point line. The home teams are averaging just 58.0 points in those four games.
• The 67-54 win at NC State was Carolina's third straight game holding the opponents under 60 points, the first time it did that in three straight road wins since 1998-99 (72-54 win at Florida State, 59-56 win at NC State and 52-40 win at Wake Forest).
• It was the first time Carolina held three straight teams under 60 points since 2010-11 (Rutgers, Saint Francis of Pennsylvania and Virginia).
• Boston College did not score a fastbreak point. It was the second game in a row (Louisville) and sixth time this season UNC did not allow a fastbreak point.
• UNI, Villanova, Charleston Southern, Clemson, Louisville and BC did not score a fastbreak point and three other teams (Radford, Lehigh and UC Riverside) scored three or fewer fastbreak points.

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Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

RJ Davis

Harrison Ingram

Caleb Love

Cormac Ryan

Seth Trimble

Jae'Lyn Withers

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