MBB Heads To Syracuse For Tuesday Tilt

Tuesday, February 13

Syracuse, N.Y.

7 PM

North Carolina

Syracuse

Armando Bacot

Photo by: Maggie Hobson

February 12, 2024 | Men's Basketball

UNC Notes Syracuse Notes Watch Live Stats Media Central

• Seventh-ranked Carolina and Syracuse play for the second time this season when the Tar Heels travel north to play the Orange in the JMA Wireless Dome on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
• Through Feb. 11, the Tar Heels are one of two teams in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC with six road wins (with Creighton).
• UNC travels to upstate New York three days after playing in south Florida, beating the Miami Hurricanes, 75-72, on Saturday afternoon.
• The Tar Heels lead the ACC at 11-2 in the ACC and are 19-5 overall.
• RJ Davis scored a game-high 25 points, had seven rebounds, five assists and two steals and was 8 for 8 from the line against the Canes. Davis had his eighth 25-point game of the season, made five three-pointers for the second game in a row and extended his UNC record to 21 straight games making multiple three-pointers.
• Davis is the only player in the NCAA in the top 25 in scoring (ninth), free throw percentage (13th), 3FGs per game (14th) and three-point percentage (21st).
• Davis is one of three Tar Heels (with Marcus Paige and Joel Berry II) with 1,800 career points (1,819), 200 three-pointers (236) and 300 assists (389). He also has 490 rebounds and would be the first of those three players with 500 rebounds.
• Armando Bacot set the UNC career games played record, passed Sam Perkins for third all-time in UNC scoring, Tim Duncan for third in ACC rebounds and Lew Alcindor, Jerry Lucas and Mel Counts to tie for eighth in NCAA history in double-doubles.
• Elliot Cadeau scored a season-high 19 points, made two 3FGs for the first time, had an ACC-best eight assists and a season-high four steals.
• The win was Carolina's sixth in seven ACC road games this season and clinched a winning record in ACC away games for the 44th time in 71 seasons (first time since going 9-0 in 2018-19). It is the 55th time UNC has won at least half its ACC road games.
• Carolina has road games remaining at Syracuse, Virginia and Duke (who have a combined home record of 36-4).
• Syracuse is 15-9 overall, 6-7 in the ACC. Clemson, which beat Carolina in Chapel Hill last Tuesday, beat the Orange in the Dome on Saturday, 77-68.
• On January 13, the Tar Heels beat Syracuse, 103-67, in Chapel Hill.
• Should the Tar Heels win at Syracuse it would secure the 64th 20-win season in Carolina history and third in a row.
• Carolina is 12-3 all-time in the JMA Wireless Dome (formerly known as the Carrier Dome) and 34-17 all-time in domed stadiums.
• Davis leads the ACC in scoring at 21.5 ppg and Bacot leads in rebounding at 10.3 rpg. Not only would it be the first time since 2003-04 two Tar Heels led the ACC in scoring and rebounding, it also is the first time since 1967-68 one Tar Heel averages 20 points and another 10 rebounds (Larry Miller and Rusty Clark).

Game 25 Notebook
• The Tar Heels are 5-2 against AP-ranked opponents this season with wins over No. 20 Arkansas, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 16 Clemson and No. 7 Duke (rankings when UNC played those teams).
• ESPN ranks UNC's strength of record No. 6 in the country behind Purdue, UConn, Houston, Kansas and Arizona.
• Carolina's schedule is ranked 11th in the country by ESPN and 15th by KenPom.
• Through Sunday, February 11, the Tar Heels are one of two teams in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC with six road wins (with Creighton).
• Among the 28 teams in the country with 19 or more wins (through February 11), only Purdue (1) has a stronger strength of schedule per ESPN.
• The Tar Heels are No. 8 in the country in defensive efficiency (92.5 points allowed per 100 possessions) and No. 28 in offensive efficiency (116.9 points scored per 100 possessions).
• Overall, KenPom ranks UNC No. 8 in the country.
• From January 6-22 Carolina won seven straight ACC games by double digits, most since winning 10 straight in 1992-93.
• Carolina's defense has held ACC opponents to 40.4% from the floor and 29.9% from three-point range.
• Carolina is 30th nationally and second in the ACC (behind Virginia) in FG defense and 21st nationally and first in the ACC in three-point percentage defense.
• The Tar Heels have held ACC opponents below 70 points in 21 of the last 31 games.
• Carolina has out-rebounded its opponents in 13 straight games and is plus 136 on the boards in those games, 11 of which were victories.
• Carolina's 75-68 win at Florida State on January 27 was UNC's 750th regular-season ACC win, becoming the first program to win 750.
• Carolina has six players who have started 50 or more college games (155 by Armando Bacot, 109 by Cormac Ryan, 105 by RJ Davis, 86 by Harrison Ingram, 67 by Jae'Lyn Withers and 58 by Paxson Wojcik).
• Should the Tar Heels start the same lineup against Syracuse it has started the last 16 games (Elliott Cadeau, Ryan, Davis, Ingram and Bacot) that group would have a combined 479 career starts.

UNC-SYRACUSE
• The Tar Heels are 17-6 against the Orange, including three straight wins and 13-3 since Syracuse joined the ACC in 2013-14.
• On January 17 in Chapel Hill, Carolina beat the Orange, 103-67. The 103 points were the most UNC has scored against Syracuse (previous was 96 in an overtime win 11/21/87.
• The 36-point margin Carolina's largest win over the Orange. The previous was 23 twice (87-64 win in Charlotte on 1/8/83 and an 87-64 win in Syracuse on 12/10/83).
• More details on the January 17 game are on page 18.
• Carolina is 12-3 all-time in the JMA Wireless (formerly Carrier) Dome, including 5-2 against Syracuse and 7-1 in NCAA Tournament play.
• That includes a 72-68 win at Syracuse on 1/24/2023.
• Armando Bacot has averaged 16.8 points and 12.8 rebounds in his last five games vs. the Orange. He has four double-doubles, including 15 points and 12 rebounds and 18 & 15 in two games as a sophomore, 17 and 18 as a junior and 16 and 11 earlier this year. Last year, he had 18 and eight in the win at Syracuse.
• RJ Davis has scored 13.8 points per game and averaged 3.2 assists in five games vs. Syracuse. He scored in double figures three times with a high of 22 last month in Chapel Hill. Last year, he had took a key charge in the final seconds and had nine points and five assists but re-injured a finger on his shooting hand that affected his play for several games to follow.
• Cormac Ryan averaged 9.8 points in four games against the Orange while at Notre Dame and had nine in the first game this year. Last season he made four threes and scored 16 points at Notre Dame.
• Jae'Lyn Withers had 13 points and five rebounds at Syracuse in 2022 and 10 points and seven boards at Louisville last season while playing for the Cardinals. In January, Withers scored 10 points and six boards in the UNC win.
• Paxson Wojcik hit two three-pointers and scored eight points in 25 minutes for Brown at Syracuse in the 2021-22 season.

LAST YEAR AT SYRACUSE
UNC 72, SYRACUSE 68
• Carolina had 14 assists on 16 first-half field goals and finished with a season-best 21 assists on 26 buckets.
• Carolina scored 20 points off Syracuse turnovers, six more than the Orange.
• Pete Nance scored a game-high 21 points and Armando Bacot had 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
• The Tar Heels led for 36:42 and trailed for only 1:40, including for 1:04 at 68-66 before Nance made one FT and then scored the game-winner with 19 seconds to play after a missed FT and steal.
• Syracuse shot 50% from the floor. Carolina had lost the previous eight times opponents had shot 50% from the floor.

WINS/LOSSES
• Carolina is averaging 83.7 points in its 19 wins and 77.8 in the five losses (73 or more in all five losses).
• The Tar Heels allow only 67.3 points in the wins, while the opponents are scoring 82.2 per game in the five losses. UNC has given up 80 or more points in four of the five losses.
• Carolina is shooting 45.8% from the floor in the wins and 41.3% in the losses.
• The opponents are making 6.4 threes per game and shooting only 28.7% from three in UNC's wins. In the losses, the opponents are averaging 8.6 threes per game at 33.9%.
• The Tar Heels are shooting 76.5% from the free throw line in the wins and 68.4% in the losses.
• The Tar Heels make 7.7 more free throws per game in their wins, while the opponents have made 2.4 more per game in the losses.
• UNC has a positive rebound margin of 8.9 per game in the wins and a negative margin of 1.4 per game in its five losses.
• Carolina has shot a higher three-point percentage than its opponents in 11 of its last 15 games. It won all 11 games in which the Tar Heel shot a higher percentage from three and lost three of the four games (Kentucky, Georgia Tech and Clemson) in which the opponents shot a better percentage from three. The only game in the last 15 the Tar Heels won when an opponent shot better from three was the win at Florida State.
• RJ Davis, Armando Bacot, Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan have combined to score 67.8% of Carolina's points in the 19 wins and 80.5% in the losses.
• The opponents have scored more second-chance points in four of the five losses (UNC is 12-1 when it has more), more points off turnovers in four of the five losses (UNC is 12-1 when it has more) and more bench points in four of the five losses (UNC is 12-1 when it has more).

MILESTONE WATCH
• Armando Bacot has scored 2,149 points, third most all-time by a Tar Heel ... he passed Sam Perkins at Miami and needs 142 to pass Phil Ford (2,290) for second.
• Bacot has 1,581 rebounds, most ever by a Tar Heel and third most in ACC history ... he passed Wake Forest's Tim Duncan at Miami and needs 18 to pass NC State's Ronnie Shavlik (1,598)for second.
• Bacot is 17th in rebounds in NCAA history ... needs 12 to pass Providence's Marvin Barnes (1,592) for 16th and 18 to pass Shavlik for 15th.
• With 10 points and 15 rebounds at Miami Bacot passed Lew Alcindor, Mel Counts and Jerry Lucas and tied Oscar Robertson and Michael Brooks for eighth in NCAA history with 79 double-doubles... needs one to tie and two to pass Drexel's Mailk Rose (80) for seventh.
• Bacot is fifth in UNC history in field goals with 801 ... needs five to pass Charlie Scott (805) for fourth.
• Bacot has blocked 201 shots ... he became the only Tar Heel with 2,000 points, 1,500 rebounds, 200 blocks and 100 steals.
• With 25 points at Miami RJ Davis passed Joel Berry II (1,813) for 14th in UNC scoring ... needs 18 to pass Bobby Lewis (1,836) for 13th.
• Davis has made 236 three-pointers, the third most all-time by a Tar Heel ... with five at Miami he passed Shammond Williams (233) ... Paige is first (299) and Berry is second (266).
• Davis has 389 assists, 20th most in UNC history ... needs four to pass George Karl (392) for 19th.
• Davis needs 10 rebounds for 500 and 11 assists for 400 ... currently he is one of three Tar Heels (with Marcus Paige and Joel Berry II) with 1,800 career points (1,819), 200 three-pointers (236) and 300 assists (389) ... Davis has 490 rebounds and would be the first of those three players with 500 rebounds.
• Harrison Ingram has scored 982 points ... needs 18 for 1,000.

LEADING WITH DEFENSE
• Dating back to last season, the Tar Heels have held ACC teams (regular season and ACC Tournament games) under 70 points 21 times in the last 31 games.
• Carolina is holding its opponents to 40.4% shooting from the floor, lowest by the opponents since 2014-15 (39.8%).
• Carolina is holding its opponents to 29.9% shooting from three-point range, best in the ACC. That is the lowest percentage ever by the opponents in a season (30.0% in 2014-15).
• ACC opponents are shooting 27.7% from three-point range. Opponents have shot under 30% in eight of the 13 conference games (UNC 8-0) and better than 40% four times (UNC 3-1 with wins over Florida State twice and Louisville and a loss to Georgia Tech).
• In six of the eight games when the opponents shot under 30%, Carolina held those teams below 25% from three-point range – 5.6% by Clemson, 10.0% by NC State, 15.0% by Wake Forest, 17.2% by Pittsburgh, 17.6% by Boston College and 21.1% by Syracuse.
• The Tar Heels are 14-1 this season (loss to Villanova) when they make more three-pointers, including the win at Miami, when UNC hit 11 3FGs, five more than the Canes.
• Carolina has held the opponents below 40% from the floor in 27 of 48 halves and 11 of 24 games this season.
• Carolina has held ACC opponents under 30% shooting in a half five times.
• Carolina is allowing only 63.7 points in seven ACC road games and has won six of the seven.
• Carolina held Pittsburgh, Clemson and NC State under 60 points on their home courts in early January, the first time UNC did that in three straight road wins since 1998-99.
• Carolina's last eight opponents have combined to score 33 fastbreak points.
• UNC has held six teams without a fastbreak point (UNI, Villanova, Charleston Southern, at Clemson, Louisville and BC). Six other teams (Radford, Lehigh, UC Riverside, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Clemson in Chapel Hill) scored three or fewer fastbreak points.