MBB Heads To NYC For Big Game Vs. UCLA

• Carolina concludes the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule when it plays No. 18 UCLA in the 11th annual CBS Sports Classic on Saturday, December 21, at Madison Square Garden. The game will tip just after 3 p.m. on CBS.
• The Tar Heels have played the seventh-hardest schedule in the country (KenPom) and enter the game 6-5 after a 90-84 loss to No. 7 Florida on Tuesday in Charlotte.
• Carolina's five losses have come against four top-10 teams and another team (Michigan State) that has moved into the top 20 since it played the Tar Heels.
• This season is the second ever in which the Tar Heels played four top-10 opponents prior to New Year's Day. Carolina has played at No. 1 Kansas, No. 4 Auburn in Maui, No. 10 Alabama and No. 7 Florida in Charlotte.
• In December 1967 the Tar Heels lost to No. 8 Vanderbilt and defeated No. 4 Kentucky, No. 10 Princeton and No. 7 Utah.
• Following the UCLA game the Tar Heels will break for a week for the holidays, returning to action on Sunday, December 29, when they host Campbell.

CBS SPORTS CLASSIC
• The Tar Heels are 6-4 in the CBS Sports Classic after last season's 87-83 loss to Kentucky in Atlanta.
• Two seasons ago, Carolina edged Ohio State, 89-84, in overtime in Madison Square Garden. Pete Nance sent the game to overtime with a turnaround jumper at the buzzer. Armando Bacot (28), Caleb Love (22) and RJ Davis (21) combined for 71 of UNC's 89 points.
• Carolina is 2-0 vs. UCLA, 3-0 vs. Ohio State and 1-4 vs. Kentucky in the Classic.

Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic (6-4)
def. Ohio State, 82-74, 12/20/2014 (Chicago)
def. UCLA, 89-76, 12/19/2015 (Brooklyn)
lost to Kentucky, 100-103, 12/17/2016 (Las Vegas)
def. Ohio State, 86-72, 12/23/2017 (New Orleans)
lost to Kentucky, 72-80, 12/22/2018 (Chicago)
def. UCLA, 74-64, 12/21/2019 (Las Vegas)
def. Kentucky, 75-63, 12/19/2020 (Cleveland)
lost to Kentucky, 69-98, 12/18/2021 (Las Vegas)
def. Ohio State, 89-84 (OT), 12/17/2022 (New York)
lost to Kentucky, 83-87, 12/16/2023 (Atlanta)

UNC-UCLA
• Carolina is 11-3 all-time vs. the Bruins, including wins in each of the last six games and 10 of the last 11.
• The last time they played was March 25, 2022, in the NCAA East Region Sweet 16, a 73-66 Tar Heel win in Philadelphia in Hubert Davis' first season as head coach. Caleb Love scored 27 of his 30 points in the second half and hit the tying and go-ahead threes less than a minute apart, the latter coming with just over a minute to play. Armando Bacot scored 14 points and had 15 rebounds, including a key offensive board that led to Love's tying three.
• RJ Davis is the only current Tar Heel who played in the 2022 game. He scored 12 points and had seven rebounds and three assists.
• Carolina is 2-0 v. UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic.

UNC IN NEW YORK, MSG
• Carolina is 44-26 all-time in New York City (five different venues in Brooklyn and Manhattan).
• Carolina is 30-12 in the current Madison Square Garden, including an 87-76 loss a year ago to fifth-ranked and eventual national champion UConn in the Jimmy V Classic.
• The UCLA game marks the third consecutive season Carolina is playing in Madison Square Garden. Prior to the Ohio State game on 12/17/2022, the Tar Heels had not played in the Garden since the 2010-11 season.
• RJ Davis has scored 47 points his two previous games in the Garden. The All-America guard scored 21 vs. Ohio State two seasons ago and a game-high 26 vs. the Huskies last December.

HUBERT & THE GARDEN
• Head coach Hubert Davis was the first round draft pick by the New York Knicks in 1992. Davis played four seasons with the Knicks. In 1994, he was the team's fourth-leading scorer behind Patrick Ewing, John Starks and Charles Oakley as the Knicks advanced to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
• Davis played in the Garden three times as a Tar Heel. UNC split a pair of games his freshman season in 1988-89, losing to Missouri and defeating Indiana in the Preseason NIT, and losing to Notre Dame in 1991-92. He had 13 points in the win over the Hoosiers and 22 in the loss to Notre Dame.

CAROLINA BASKETBALL
• This is the 115th season of Carolina Basketball.
• The Tar Heels have won seven national championships (six NCAA Tournament titles), played in a record 21 Final Fours, won a record 133 NCAA Tournament games, played in the NCAA Tournament 53 times, been a No. 1 seed a record 18 times, won a record 33 regular season ACC titles, won 18 ACC Tournament championships and have had 10 former players inducted in the Naismith Hall of Fame.
• Carolina has the second-highest winning percentage (.733) and third-most wins (2,378) in college basketball history.
• The Tar Heels are led by Hubert Davis, in his fourth season as head coach at his alma mater. The 2022 National Coach-of-the-Year winner and the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year has led UNC to an 84-36 record.
• Davis' 78 wins through 2023-24 were the second most by a Carolina head coach and fourth most ever at a Power 4 Conference program after three years as a head coach.
• Carolina is the only major program in the country whose six coaches all played at their alma mater. Davis played for Hall of Famer Dean Smith from 1988-92. Jeff Lebo (1985-89) and Pat Sullivan (1990-95) also played at UNC for Smith, Brad Frederick played for Smith and Bill Guthridge (1996-99) and Sean May (2002-05) and Marcus Paige (2012-16) played for Hall of Famer Roy Williams.
• Vince Carter and Water Davis were inducted in the Naismith Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in October. They are the 13th and 14th Tar Heels inducted, the second most among all college basketball programs (Kansas).
• They were the seventh and eighth inducted as players, which is more than any other college's alumni in the Hall's history.
• They were the ninth and 10th individuals who played collegiately for Dean Smith. No other coach has more former players inducted in the Naismith Hall of Fame.

POLLING
• The Tar Heels fell out of the top 25 in last week's Associated Press poll (12/9/24).
• Carolina had been ranked in the AP top 25 in the previous 26 polls.
• The Tar Heels have been ranked 962 times in the AP poll, second most all-time.
• Nine of Carolina's opponents are ranked in the current AP poll – No. 2 Auburn, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 5, Duke, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Florida, No. 8 Kansas, No. 18 UCLA, No. 20 Michigan State, No. 22 Dayton and No. 25 Clemson.
• KenPom ranks Carolina's schedule the seventh-most difficult in the country.
• The five teams the Tar Heels have lost to were a combined 47-7 of December 19 (87.0%).

SLOW STARTS
• Tuesday's loss to Florida marked the sixth time in the first 11 games the Tar Heels fell behind by double digits in the first half and sixth time Carolina trailed after the first 20 minutes.
• In four of those six games the Tar Heels have rallied to take the lead, eventually beating Dayton, 92-90, and losing by three points to Kansas, by three points in overtime to Michigan State and six points to Florida.
– Kansas took its first double-digit lead with 9:27 left in the first half, extended the lead to 20 later in the half and led by 15 at the break. Led by three 3FGs by Jae'Lyn Withers, Carolina took its first lead of the second half with 7:09 to play and led, 87-83, with 3:15 to play. The Jayhawks closed the game on a 9-2 run to win, 92-89.
– Carolina led Dayton, 18-17, nine minutes into the game. The Flyers out-scored UNC, 34-15, over the final 11 minutes of the half for an 18-point lead, which Dayton extended to 21 points early in the second half. The Tar Heels still trailed by double figures with 11 minutes to play, took their first lead on an RJ Davis three with 1:52 remaining and won the game on a three by Drake Powell with 1:13 left.
– Two days later in Maui, Michigan State raced to a 10-2 lead, pushed the margin to 14 with 3:05 left in the half and led by nine at the break. The Tar Heels took their only lead of the second half on a Powell drive with 13:25 to play. Seth Trimble's three with four seconds to play sent the game to overtime, where the Spartans prevailed, 94-91.
– Florida jumped out to an early 16-6 lead and led by as much as 17 in the first half before Carolina scored the final four points of the opening period to cut the lead to a dozen. The Tar Heels opened the second half on an 11-0 run, took a 70-68 lead on a Trimble three-point play with 7:50 to play and led by four (81-77) at the 4:00 timeout. The Gators then outscored UNC 13-3, including eight second-chance points, for a 90-84 win.
• Carolina has scored 117 more points in the second half than in the first (10.6 more per game).
• The Tar Heels are averaging 37.5 first-half points (while allowing 39.8) and 48.2 in the second half (allowing 38.8).
• Carolina has shot a higher field goal percentage in the second half than it did in the first in 10 of the first 11 games (only against Georgia Tech did UNC shoot better in the first half).
• Carolina has shot 50% from the floor three times in the first half (vs. American, Michigan State and La Salle) and seven times in the second half (vs. Kansas, American, Hawai'i, Dayton, Michigan State, La Salle and Florida). That includes two second-half performances when UNC shot 62.9% from the floor against American and Florida.

NOTABLE
• The Tar Heels are 15th in the country in scoring at 86.5 points per game, but 334th in scoring defense (79.7).
• Factoring in the number of possessions, Carolina is 25th in the country in offensive efficiency and 44th in defensive efficiency.
• Carolina has allowed 20.7 more points in its five losses (91.0) than the opponents have averaged in UNC's six wins (70.3).
• UNC has allowed 90 or more points four times in 11 games. Opponents had only scored 90 or more six times in the previous three seasons. Four is the most in a season since 2001-02 (five times).
• Carolina is attempting 24.1 three-pointers per game, which is on pace for the most attempts in UNC single-season history. In 2028-19, a team that featured Coby White, Cameron Johnson and Luke Maye, the Tar Heels averaged 23.94 three-point attempts, the most in UNC history.
• The Tar Heels made 11 of 23 three-pointers (47.8%) against Michigan State in the final game in Maui and entered the Alabama game on December 4 shooting 37.7% from three. However, over the last four games UNC is 25 for 111 (22.5%).
• Carolina is averaging 20.3 made free throws in its six wins and 21.2 free throw attempts in the five losses.
• RJ Davis leads Carolina in scoring at 18.6 points per game. Davis is the only Tar Heel that has scored in double figures in all 11 games.
• Davis and freshman Ian Jackson are the only players to make a three in every game in which they played (all 11 for Davis and 10 for Jackson).
• Davis is averaging 16.2 field goal attempts per game. Last year, he averaged 16.4.
• Carolina's top four scorers are guards – Davis (18.6), Seth Trimble (15.0), Elliot Cadeau (11.5) and Jackson (10.8).
• Trimble, a 6-3 guard, leads the Tar Heels in rebounding (4.9 per game) and is third in offensive boards with 15. He has 22 rebounds (nine offensive) in the last three games.
• Trimble earned all-tournament honors in Maui after scoring 27, 17 and nine points, respectively. His three-pointer with 4.3 seconds to play sent the third-place game against Michigan State to overtime.
• Trimble set career scoring highs in each of the first two games this season (15 vs. Elon and 19 at Kansas) then surpassed those with a 27-point double-double in the comeback win over Dayton.
• Freshmen led UNC in scoring against Michigan State and Alabama. Drake Powell had 18 points in Maui against the Spartans, and Ian Jackson scored 23 vs. the Crimson Tide. It was the first time freshmen led UNC in scoring in back-to-back games since the 2021 ACC Tournament (RJ Davis vs. Virginia Tech and Caleb Love vs. Florida State).
• Powell (18) and Jackson (14) both scored in double figures against Michigan State, the first time two UNC freshmen scored in double figures in the same game since Caleb Love and Kerwin Walton vs. Florida State in the 2021 ACC Tournament.
• When Cade Tyson scored a game-high 23 points against La Salle, he became the seventh different Tar Heel to lead UNC in scoring this season. Last year, only four Tar Heels led Carolina in scoring.
• Tyson's 23-point effort was his 12th career 20-point game. He made five three-pointers, one more than he made in the first nine games this season. It was the 11th time in his career he made at least four in a game and the eighth time he made five or more.
• Tyson's five three-pointers vs. La Salle are the most by a Tar Heel this season.
• It was the third time in four games a non-starter led the Tar Heels in scoring (Powell vs. Michigan State, Jackson vs. Alabama and Tyson vs. La Salle).
• The loss to Michigan State was Carolina's first when it shot 50% from the floor in a game since 2/15/2020 against Virginia. Prior to the 94-91 overtime loss to the Spartans, Carolina had won the previous 33 games in which it shot 50% or better from the floor.
• UNC committed 31 turnovers in the first four games (7.8 per game) and 88 in the last seven games (12.6 per game).
• Carolina is 13th nationally in fastbreak points, averaging 17.0 per game. The Tar Heels outscored Florida, 16-9, in fastbreak points, including 12-1 in the second half.
• The Tar Heels allow 5.3 fastbreak points in their six wins. The opponents in the five losses have averaged 11.8 fastbreak points.
• Dayton, which is now No. 22 in the AP poll, led Carolina by 18 at the half and by 21 early in the second half before the Tar Heels rallied for a 92-90 win in the quarterfinals in Maui.
• The comeback win from 21 down tied the largest second-half comeback in UNC history (21 vs. Florida State in 1993) and was one point shy of the largest comeback win in any game in UNC history (22 vs. Wake Forest in 1992).

ANOTHER MAJOR MILESTONE FOR RJ
• RJ Davis' 29-point outing vs. Florida moved him into third place in UNC career scoring and first all-time among guards with 2,293 points.
• The Florida game was his 17th career 25-point game. It was also his 47th career game making at least three 3FGs.
• He finished his fourth season as the fifth-leading scorer in Carolina history and has passed Sam Perkins and Phil Ford thus far this season.
• Davis is the 13th-leading scorer in ACC history. NC State's David Thompson is 12th with 2,309 (in three seasons).
• Davis scored 784 points last season, the fourth most in Carolina history and the most since Tyler Hansbrough scored 882 in 2007-08.
• Davis' 784 points were the most in a season in Carolina history by a guard. He came into this season 784 points from tying Tyler Hansbrough for the all-time ACC and UNC records.
• Davis' career scoring average is 15.4, the eighth-highest by a Tar Heel guard.
• Davis has made 296 career three-pointers, second most all-time by a Tar Heel. Marcus Paige, currently an assistant coach at UNC, is first with 299.
• Davis is also Carolina's all-time leader in free throw percentage. He has made 51 of 59 this season (86.4%) and 473 of 551 in his career for 85.8%. Shammond Williams is second at 84.8%.
• Last year, Davis became the 19th Tar Heel to earn consensus first-team All-America honors. Those 19 players have won consensus first-team All-America honors a total of 28 times.
• Davis joined Lennie Rosenbluth in 1957, Phil Ford in 1978, Michael Jordan in 1983 and 1984, Kenny Smith in 1987, Jerry Stackhouse in 1995, Antawn Jamison in 1998, Joseph Forte in 2001 and Tyler Hansbrough in 2008 and 2009 as the only Tar Heels to make first-team All-America on each of the teams the NCAA recognizes to determine consensus first-team All-America.
• Davis was the 15th Tar Heel to win ACC Player-of-the-Year honors, the first since Justin Jackson in 2016-17. It is the 16th time a Tar Heel has won the award (Larry Miller won twice).

SMITH CENTER
• This is the 40th season the Tar Heels are playing in the Dean E. Smith Center.
• Carolina is 4-1 in the Smith Center this season and 481-88 (.845) all-time.
• The Tar Heels are 231-19 all-time against non-ACC opponents in the Smith Center (.924). Carolina's 19-game winning streak against non-conference teams in the Smith Center ended with the 94-79 loss to Alabama on December 4.

NOVEMBER SIGNEES
• Carolina signed Isaiah Denis of Concord, N.C., and Derek Dixon of Vienna, Va.
• Denis is a 6-5 guard at Davidson Day High School in Davidson, N.C. His parents are Nancy Denis and Frantz Denis, and he plays AAU for CP3.
• Dixon, the son of John and Kari Dixon, is a 6-3 guard at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. He also plays AAU for Team Takeover.

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Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Elliot Cadeau

RJ Davis

Ian Jackson

Drake Powell

Seth Trimble

Cade Tyson

Jae'Lyn Withers