MBB To Open ACC Play Vs. Yellow Jackets Saturday

• Carolina looks to end a three-game slide when it returns to the Smith Center for the Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Saturday, December 7, vs. Georgia Tech. Tipoff is scheduled for just after 2 p.m. The ACC Network will televise the game.
• The Tar Heels lost, 94-79, to Alabama on Wednesday in the ACC-SEC Challenge, ending their 19-game home non-conference winning streak. It was UNC's first home loss to a non-ACC opponent since Marquette in February 2022.
• UNC is 4-4, its fewest wins in the first eight games since 2001-02 (3-5).
• Tenth-ranked Alabama was the Tar Heels' third top-10 opponent in the first eight games (also No. 1 Kansas and No. 4 Auburn). It was the first time UNC has played at least three top-10 teams in its first eight games since 1967-68 (played four in 1967-68 and three in 1955-56 and 1958-59).
• In 29 seasons of ACC vs. Big East/Big 10/SEC Challenges, it was the 16th time the Tar Heels played a top-10 opponent.
• Carolina has lost three in a row for the first time since February 1-7, 2023 (Pitt, Duke and Wake Forest).
• It is the first time UNC has lost three straight non-conference games since November 25-30, 2022 (Iowa State, Alabama and Indiana).
• UNC hasn't lost four straight since a seven-game stretch in February 2020.
• Georgia Tech is also 4-4 after a 76-61 loss at Oklahoma in the ACC-SEC Challenge.
• Following Saturday's ACC opener the Tar Heels are off for a week for exams, resuming play on Saturday, December 14 in the Smith Center against La Salle.

RIDGE ROAD CLOSED
• A construction project has closed Ridge Road on the UNC campus from December 1 through Wednesday January 8, and the closure will disrupt traffic to home Tar Heel athletic events between now and the first week of January. Affected events will include this week's ACC/SEC Challenge home games for both the men's and women's basketball teams.
• During this time, Ridge Road will be closed to through traffic between Stadium Drive and the Boshamer Stadium Parking Lot. Traffic will be detoured along Manning Drive and South Road/Raleigh Road.
• Game day fans with RD permits for Carolina athletic events and patrons with an accessibility permit (ADA plate, placard or permit) for game day will be instructed to detour via Stadium Drive, but all others will need to use the official route.

ACC OPENER
• Carolina is 57-14 in ACC openers and 63-8 in home ACC openers.
• Last year, the Tar Heels opened conference play at home by overcoming a 14-point deficit and defeating Florida State, 78-70. The Tar Heels went on a 22-0 run in the second half.

CAROLINA & GEORGIA TECH
• The Tar Heels are 72-28 against Georgia Tech, including 32-6 in Chapel Hill.
• UNC is 27-5 vs. the Yellow Jackets in the Smith Center, winning the last two times the teams have played in Chapel Hill (1/15/2022 and 12/10/2022).
• Georgia Tech won the only time the teams played last season, 74-73, in Atlanta. The loss snapped UNC's 10-game winning streak.
• UNC led by 11 in the first half but Tech drew even at 37 by halftime.
• The Tar Heels shot just 36.4% from the floor and made only nine of 17 free throws. UNC grabbed 22 offensive rebounds, which it converted into 23 points.
• RJ Davis led Carolina with 28 points.
• Ty Claude had nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks for the Yellow Jackets. He transferred to Carolina prior to this season after playing one year at Georgia Tech.

SMITH CENTER
• This is the 40th season the Tar Heels are playing in the Dean E. Smith Center.
• Carolina is 2-1 in the Smith Center this season and 479-88 (.845) all-time, including 249-69 in ACC play (.783).

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 (2,376) 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 a 82-34 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 are No. 20 in this week's Associated Press poll.
• Carolina is ranked in the AP top 25 for the 26th straight poll.
• Last year marked the 39th time Carolina was ranked in the top 10 (finished seventh) in the final AP poll.
• This week's poll is the 962nd in which the Tar Heels are ranked, second most all-time.
• Six of Carolina's opponents are ranked in this week's poll – No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Auburn, No. 9 Duke, No. 10 Alabama, No. 13 Florida and No. 18 Pitt.
• KenPom ranks Carolina's schedule the seventh-most difficult in the country.

TRENDING
• Carolina has led for only 11:11 out of 165 minutes in the last four games (8:04 vs. Dayton, 0:00 vs. Auburn, 1:08 in the overtime loss to Michigan State and 2:01, all in the first half, vs. Alabama).
• Carolina has fallen behind by at least 14 points in the first half in each of those four games. Dayton 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 opponents have scored 40 or more points in the first half in all four games and UNC has shot under 45% from the floor in three of those four.
• 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).
• Carolina lost by 15 to Alabama even though the Tar Heels outrebounded the Crimson Tide (42-40), had one fewer turnover and had more points off turnovers (17-9), second chance points (15-8), fastbreak points (18-15), paint points (50-44) and bench points (39-32).
• The Tide made three more field goals, two more free throws and outscored Carolina, 36-15, from three-point range. The Tar Heels missed 16 consecutive three-point attempts and finished 5 for 28, a season-worst 17.9%.
• Carolina is allowing 81.9 points per game, which is on pace to set the all-time record for scoring by the opponents (the record is 79.7 in 1988-89, when Carolina won the ACC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16).
• The Tar Heels are 10th in the country in scoring at 88.4 points per game, but 340th in scoring defense.
• In the last four games, the opponents have scored 90 (Dayton), 85 (Auburn), 94 (Michigan State in overtime) and 94 (Alabama) points, an average of 90.8 points.
• Carolina is averaging 23.5 made free throws in its four wins and 21.8 free throw attempts in the four losses.
• RJ Davis leads Carolina in scoring at 18.4 points per game. Davis is the only Tar Heel that has scored in double figures in all eight games.
• Davis is averaging 16.6 field goal attempts per game. Last year, he averaged 16.4.
• Carolina's top four scorers are guards – Davis (18.4), Seth Trimble (15.6), Elliot Cadeau (12.8) and freshman Ian Jackson (11.0).
• 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 is scoring 10.4 more points per game than he did last season.
• Trimble set a career scoring high 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.
• Trimble leads Carolina in plus/minus in all games at plus 51 (Davis is plus 48 and Cadeau is plus 47).
• In each of the last two games against Michigan State and Alabama, freshmen came off the bench to lead UNC in scoring. 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.
• Jackson is shooting 50% from the floor (27 of 54), 50% from three (11 of 22) and 80% from the line (12 of 15). He has scored in double figures four times in seven games (he did not play vs. America due to a lower leg injury).
• Junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin leads Carolina in offensive rebounds with 13 while averaging 14.8 minutes per game, eighth most on the team. Lubin had a season-high four offensive boards against Elon and Auburn.
• Carolina has shot 50% or better from the floor twice in the first half (vs. American and Michigan State) and five times in the second half (Kansas, American, Hawai'i, Dayton and Michigan State).
• 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 had also won the previous 13 times it scored 90 or more points.
• Carolina has scored 86 more points in the second half than in the first (10.8 more per game).
• The Tar Heels are seventh in the country in turnover percentage (committing turnovers on 13.1% of their possessions).
• Carolina is 17th nationally in fastbreak points, averaging 17.4 per game.

RJ DAVIS
• Davis has scored the second-most points ever by a Tar Heel guard (2,235). He trails only 1978 Wooden Award winner Phil Ford. Davis has scored the fourth-most points among all players ever to play at Carolina.
• His 18-point game at Hawai'i on November 22 moved Davis past Sam Perkins for No. 4 in UNC history.
• Davis had seven rebounds and five assists in addition to 30 points vs. Dayton on November 25. It was the fourth instance in the last 40 years when a Tar Heel had at least 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists, joining Brad Daugherty vs. Wake Forest in 1985-86, Joseph Forte vs. Tulsa in 2000-01 and Cole Anthony vs. Notre Dame in 2019-20.
• 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.
• Davis' career scoring average is 15.3, the eighth-highest by a Tar Heel guard.
• Davis has made 289 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 38 of 43 this season (88.4%) and 460 of 535 in his career for 86.0%. 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).

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Elliot Cadeau

Ty Claude

RJ Davis

Ian Jackson

Ven-Allen Lubin

Drake Powell

Seth Trimble

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