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University of North Carolina Athletics
Thursday, March 21
Charlotte, N.C.
2:45 PM
North Carolina
vs
Wagner (First Round)
Photo by: ACC
Top-Seeded Tar Heels Will Face Wagner In NCAA First Round Thursday
March 19, 2024 | Men's Basketball
• Carolina is 27-7 and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA West Region.
• The Tar Heels will play Wagner, which beat Howard on Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio, in the first round at Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Thursday, March 21, at 2:45 p.m. on CBS.
• Carolina won its unprecedented 33rd regular-season ACC title (22nd outright) with a 17-3 record, two games ahead of Duke.
• The 17 wins tied Virginia (17-1 in 2017-18) for the most in a season in ACC history and were the most since the league went to a 20-game schedule in 2019-20.
• UNC defeated Florida State and Pittsburgh to advance to the ACC Tournament championship game, where the Tar Heels lost to NC State, 84-76, on March 16.
• UNC played in the ACC championship game for a record 36th time.
• The Tar Heels are ranked No. 4 on the NCAA seed list and No. 5 in the Associated Press and USA Today/Coaches polls.
• Five is the highest Carolina has entered the NCAA Tournament in the AP poll since 2019, when the Tar Heels were No. 3 in the final AP Poll (which up until this year was the final AP poll each season).
• Carolina is sixth nationally in KenPom's defensive efficiency, 24th in offense and No. 9 overall.
TAR HEELS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• This is Carolina's 53rd NCAA Tournament appearance, second most all-time. The Tar Heels are 131-49 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Carolina has the most wins in NCAA Tournament history (131), most Final Fours (21), second-highest winning percentage (.728), second-most games (180) and third-most NCAA titles (6).
• The Tar Heels won NCAA titles in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017.
• Carolina played in the national championship game six other times (1946, 1968, 1977, 1981, 2016 and 2022).
• This is Carolina's 18th time as a No. 1 seed, the most in NCAA Tournament history.
• Carolina's No. 1 seeds include 1979, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2024.
• Carolina advanced to the Final Four as a No. 1 seed 10 times (1982, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017) and won NCAA titles as a No. 1 seed in 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017.
• The Tar Heels advanced to the Final Four out of the West Region in 1981.
• This is the eighth time UNC will play in the West Region: 1978, 1981 (2 seed), 1986 (3 seed), 1988 (2 seed), 1999 (3 seed), 2015 (4 seed), 2018 (2 seed), 2024 (1 seed).
TAR HEELS IN CHARLOTTE
• The Tar Heels are 166-27 all-time in Charlotte.
• That includes a 16-2 record in Spectrum Center from 2006-24.
• Carolina has played in Spectrum Center in each of the last two seasons in the Jumpman Invitational. The Tar Heels beat Michigan on 12/21/2022, and Oklahoma on 12/20/2023.
• The Tar Heels are 12-1 in the NCAA Tournament in Charlotte (1-0 in 1975, 1-0 in 1982, 1-0 in 1984, 2-0 in 1987, 2-0 in 2005, 2-0 in 2008, 2-0 in 2011 and 1-1 in 2018).
• In 2018 in the most recent NCAA Tournament in Charlotte, the No. 2 seeded Tar Heels beat Lipscomb and lost to Texas A&M.
• UNC is 34-2 in NCAA Tournament games in the state of North Carolina: 12-1 in Charlotte, 7-0 in Greensboro, 9-1 in Raleigh and 6-0 in Winston-Salem.
MORE UNC & THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• Carolina has never played Wagner.
• Carolina is the only team to play in the Final Four and a national championship in nine straight decades (the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s).
• Hubert Davis is the fourth Tar Heel head coach to lead a team to a No. 1 seed (Dean Smith eight times, Roy Williams eight times, Bill Guthridge once).
• Seven Tar Heels on the current roster have played in the NCAA Tournament.
• Armando Bacot played in 2021 vs. Wisconsin (15 points and four rebounds) and six games in 2022, earning Most Outstanding Player honors in the East Regional and was a member of the All-Final Four team. In the 2022 NCAA Tournament Bacot:
– averaged 15.3 points and 16.5 rebounds.
– became the only player in NCAA Tournament history with double-doubles in all six games in one tournament.
– set UNC single-game rebound records for regional final, national semifinal and national championship games.
– shattered UNC's single-Tournament record for rebounds with 99 (previous was 69 in six games by Kennedy Meeks in 2017).
–averaged 6.3 offensive rebounds.
– grabbed 15 or more rebounds in the last five games.
– tied the UNC record for rebounds in an NCAA Tourney game with 22 vs. Saint Peter's and became the only Tar Heel with two 20-rebound NCAA games when he had 21 vs. Duke in the national semifinals.
– his 21 rebounds vs. Duke were the most by any player in the Final Four since 2003 and were the most ever by a Tar Heel in 21 national semifinal games.
– became the 12th player in NCAA history with 21 or more rebounds in a Final Four game – the list includes Bill Russell (twice), Elvin Hayes, Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton, Elgin Baylor and Artis Gilmore.
– had 15 points and 15 rebounds in the national championship game vs. Kansas.
• RJ Davis played against Wisconsin in 2021 (five points) and six games in 2022.
– Davis averaged 14.7 points over a team-high 37.7 minutes per game, had 30 assists/12 turnovers and made 29 for 31 from the free throw line in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
– the 30 assists and 5.0 assists per game were the second most by a Tar Heel in a six-game NCAA Tournament series.
– played the entire 45 minutes vs. Baylor and 40 in the title game vs. Kansas.
– career-high 12 rebounds (six offensive) and first career double-double with 15 points in the national championship game vs. Kansas.
– scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half and had four assists and just one turnover in the national semifinal win over Duke.
– then-career-high 30 points, six assists and five rebounds vs. defending champion Baylor in the second round.
– career-high 12 assists and only one turnover in first round win over Marquette.
• Cormac Ryan played in three NCAA Tournament games for Notre Dame in 2021.
– Ryan scored a then-career-high 29 points, most ever by a Mike Brey-coached player in an NCAA Tournament game, in a first-round win over No. 6-seed Alabama.
– he made a career-best 10 of 13 from the floor vs. the Tide, including 7 of 9 from three.
– the seven three-pointers are the NCAA Tournament-record by a Notre Dame player.
– scored 16 points in a career-high 46 minutes in double-overtime win over Rutgers in the NCAA First Four.
– Ryan made three steals vs. Rutgers, one of which led to him scoring to gave the Irish the lead in the first overtime.
• Duwe Farris played vs. Wisconsin 2021 and Marquette in 2022, Paxson Wojcik played in one game for Loyola Chicago in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Creighton Lebo played vs. Marquette in 2022 and James Okonkwo had six rebounds for West Virginia vs. Maryland in 2023.
• All six members of the UNC coaching staff had playing experience in the NCAA Tournament, combining for 70 games and 718 points.
• Head coach Hubert Davis averaged 13.6 points in 12 games, including 25 points in the 1991 Final Four vs. Kansas. He earned All-East Regional honors in 1991.
• Sean May averaged 15.9 points in eight games. He was the Most Outstanding Player in both the East Regional and Final Four in 2005, when he led UNC to a national championship. May had 26 points and 10 rebounds in the title game vs. No. 1-ranked Illinois.
• Jeff Lebo averaged 11.1 points in 14 games and played in regional finals in 1987 and 1988.
• Pat Sullivan played in 19 games, more than any other Tar Heel player in NCAA Tournament history and was a member of the 1993 NCAA champions. He played in 16 NCAA Tournament wins, also the most by any Tar Heel.
• Marcus Paige holds the UNC record for most three-pointers in NCAA play with 39. He averaged 15.2 points in 13 games. He earned All-East Regional honors in 2016 after scoring 21 points with six assists in the Sweet 16 win over Indiana and had a game-high 21 points in the national championship game vs. Villanova.
• Brad Frederick was a member of two Final Four teams in 1997 and 1998.
2023-24 GENERAL
• Carolina has won 27 games, extending its NCAA-record number of 25-win seasons to 41. It is the 64th season with 20 or more wins.
• The Tar Heels are 7-4 vs. teams in the 2024 NCAA Tournament (2-0 vs. Duke, 2-1 vs. NC State, 1-0 vs. Tennessee and Virginia, 1-1 vs. Clemson and 0-1 vs. UConn and Kentucky).
• Hubert Davis has 76 wins in three seasons, the second-most wins by a Carolina head coach in his first three seasons (Bill Guthridge won 80 from 1997-2000).
• Davis and Guthridge are the only Tar Heel head coaches to win 20 or more games in each of their first three seasons.
• The Tar Heels are 6-2 against AP-ranked opponents this season with wins over No. 20 Arkansas, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 16 Clemson, No. 7 Duke and No. 9 Duke (rankings when UNC played those teams).
• The Tar Heels lead the ACC in rebounding, offensive rebounds and rebound margin.
• Carolina has outrebounded its opponents in 23 straight games (+226), which include 19 wins.
• Carolina led by double digits 19 times in 23 ACC games (regular season and Tournament).
• The Tar Heels secured at least a share of the ACC regular-season championship with an 84-51 win over Notre Dame on March 5 and won the title outright with an 84-79 victory at Duke four nights later.
• The title is Carolina's 33rd regular-season championship in 71 seasons of ACC Basketball. That is the most regular-season titles in ACC history. Duke is second with 20.
• Including seven Southern Conference first-place finishes, this is Carolina's 40th regular-season conference championship. UNC has the third-most in college basketball history behind Kansas (64) and Kentucky (54).
• 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 won 17 regular-season ACC games for the first time since the league went to an 18-game slate in 2012-13 and 20 games in 2019-20. UNC's previous high for wins was in 2018-19, when it went 16-2 to tie Virginia for the title.
• UNC is the second team to win 17 ACC regular-season games in one year. Since the league went to 18- and then 20-game schedules, Virginia (17-1 in 2017-18) is the only other team to win 17 games.
• Carolina's previous best 20-game ACC record was 15-5 in 2021-22, Hubert Davis' first season as head coach.
• Carolina went 8-2 this season on the road (all in ACC play).
• The Tar Heels were one of five teams in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC with eight or more road wins (UNC, UConn, Creighton, South Carolina and Tennessee).
• UNC's road winning percentage (.800) was the highest among teams in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC.
• From January 6-22, Carolina won seven straight ACC games by double digits, most since winning 10 straight in 1992-93. UNC had 10 double-digit nine wins in its 17 ACC wins and had a scoring margin of 10.5 in league play, the highest in the conference.
• Carolina has six players who have started 50 or more college games (165 by Armando Bacot, 118 by Cormac Ryan, 115 by RJ Davis, 95 by Harrison Ingram, 67 by Jae'Lyn Withers and 58 by Paxson Wojcik).
• The lineup UNC started in the ACC Tournament has started the last 26 games (other than Senior Night vs. Notre Dame, when the three senior walk-ons joined Bacot and Davis in the starting lineup). Elliott Cadeau, Ryan, Davis, Ingram and Bacot have a combined 521 career starts.
• The Tar Heels went 6-1 in November, 3-2 in December, 8-1 in January, 5-2 in February and 5-1 thus far in March.
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• The Tar Heels will play Wagner, which beat Howard on Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio, in the first round at Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Thursday, March 21, at 2:45 p.m. on CBS.
• Carolina won its unprecedented 33rd regular-season ACC title (22nd outright) with a 17-3 record, two games ahead of Duke.
• The 17 wins tied Virginia (17-1 in 2017-18) for the most in a season in ACC history and were the most since the league went to a 20-game schedule in 2019-20.
• UNC defeated Florida State and Pittsburgh to advance to the ACC Tournament championship game, where the Tar Heels lost to NC State, 84-76, on March 16.
• UNC played in the ACC championship game for a record 36th time.
• The Tar Heels are ranked No. 4 on the NCAA seed list and No. 5 in the Associated Press and USA Today/Coaches polls.
• Five is the highest Carolina has entered the NCAA Tournament in the AP poll since 2019, when the Tar Heels were No. 3 in the final AP Poll (which up until this year was the final AP poll each season).
• Carolina is sixth nationally in KenPom's defensive efficiency, 24th in offense and No. 9 overall.
TAR HEELS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• This is Carolina's 53rd NCAA Tournament appearance, second most all-time. The Tar Heels are 131-49 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Carolina has the most wins in NCAA Tournament history (131), most Final Fours (21), second-highest winning percentage (.728), second-most games (180) and third-most NCAA titles (6).
• The Tar Heels won NCAA titles in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017.
• Carolina played in the national championship game six other times (1946, 1968, 1977, 1981, 2016 and 2022).
• This is Carolina's 18th time as a No. 1 seed, the most in NCAA Tournament history.
• Carolina's No. 1 seeds include 1979, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2024.
• Carolina advanced to the Final Four as a No. 1 seed 10 times (1982, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017) and won NCAA titles as a No. 1 seed in 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017.
• The Tar Heels advanced to the Final Four out of the West Region in 1981.
• This is the eighth time UNC will play in the West Region: 1978, 1981 (2 seed), 1986 (3 seed), 1988 (2 seed), 1999 (3 seed), 2015 (4 seed), 2018 (2 seed), 2024 (1 seed).
TAR HEELS IN CHARLOTTE
• The Tar Heels are 166-27 all-time in Charlotte.
• That includes a 16-2 record in Spectrum Center from 2006-24.
• Carolina has played in Spectrum Center in each of the last two seasons in the Jumpman Invitational. The Tar Heels beat Michigan on 12/21/2022, and Oklahoma on 12/20/2023.
• The Tar Heels are 12-1 in the NCAA Tournament in Charlotte (1-0 in 1975, 1-0 in 1982, 1-0 in 1984, 2-0 in 1987, 2-0 in 2005, 2-0 in 2008, 2-0 in 2011 and 1-1 in 2018).
• In 2018 in the most recent NCAA Tournament in Charlotte, the No. 2 seeded Tar Heels beat Lipscomb and lost to Texas A&M.
• UNC is 34-2 in NCAA Tournament games in the state of North Carolina: 12-1 in Charlotte, 7-0 in Greensboro, 9-1 in Raleigh and 6-0 in Winston-Salem.
MORE UNC & THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• Carolina has never played Wagner.
• Carolina is the only team to play in the Final Four and a national championship in nine straight decades (the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s).
• Hubert Davis is the fourth Tar Heel head coach to lead a team to a No. 1 seed (Dean Smith eight times, Roy Williams eight times, Bill Guthridge once).
• Seven Tar Heels on the current roster have played in the NCAA Tournament.
• Armando Bacot played in 2021 vs. Wisconsin (15 points and four rebounds) and six games in 2022, earning Most Outstanding Player honors in the East Regional and was a member of the All-Final Four team. In the 2022 NCAA Tournament Bacot:
– averaged 15.3 points and 16.5 rebounds.
– became the only player in NCAA Tournament history with double-doubles in all six games in one tournament.
– set UNC single-game rebound records for regional final, national semifinal and national championship games.
– shattered UNC's single-Tournament record for rebounds with 99 (previous was 69 in six games by Kennedy Meeks in 2017).
–averaged 6.3 offensive rebounds.
– grabbed 15 or more rebounds in the last five games.
– tied the UNC record for rebounds in an NCAA Tourney game with 22 vs. Saint Peter's and became the only Tar Heel with two 20-rebound NCAA games when he had 21 vs. Duke in the national semifinals.
– his 21 rebounds vs. Duke were the most by any player in the Final Four since 2003 and were the most ever by a Tar Heel in 21 national semifinal games.
– became the 12th player in NCAA history with 21 or more rebounds in a Final Four game – the list includes Bill Russell (twice), Elvin Hayes, Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton, Elgin Baylor and Artis Gilmore.
– had 15 points and 15 rebounds in the national championship game vs. Kansas.
• RJ Davis played against Wisconsin in 2021 (five points) and six games in 2022.
– Davis averaged 14.7 points over a team-high 37.7 minutes per game, had 30 assists/12 turnovers and made 29 for 31 from the free throw line in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
– the 30 assists and 5.0 assists per game were the second most by a Tar Heel in a six-game NCAA Tournament series.
– played the entire 45 minutes vs. Baylor and 40 in the title game vs. Kansas.
– career-high 12 rebounds (six offensive) and first career double-double with 15 points in the national championship game vs. Kansas.
– scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half and had four assists and just one turnover in the national semifinal win over Duke.
– then-career-high 30 points, six assists and five rebounds vs. defending champion Baylor in the second round.
– career-high 12 assists and only one turnover in first round win over Marquette.
• Cormac Ryan played in three NCAA Tournament games for Notre Dame in 2021.
– Ryan scored a then-career-high 29 points, most ever by a Mike Brey-coached player in an NCAA Tournament game, in a first-round win over No. 6-seed Alabama.
– he made a career-best 10 of 13 from the floor vs. the Tide, including 7 of 9 from three.
– the seven three-pointers are the NCAA Tournament-record by a Notre Dame player.
– scored 16 points in a career-high 46 minutes in double-overtime win over Rutgers in the NCAA First Four.
– Ryan made three steals vs. Rutgers, one of which led to him scoring to gave the Irish the lead in the first overtime.
• Duwe Farris played vs. Wisconsin 2021 and Marquette in 2022, Paxson Wojcik played in one game for Loyola Chicago in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Creighton Lebo played vs. Marquette in 2022 and James Okonkwo had six rebounds for West Virginia vs. Maryland in 2023.
• All six members of the UNC coaching staff had playing experience in the NCAA Tournament, combining for 70 games and 718 points.
• Head coach Hubert Davis averaged 13.6 points in 12 games, including 25 points in the 1991 Final Four vs. Kansas. He earned All-East Regional honors in 1991.
• Sean May averaged 15.9 points in eight games. He was the Most Outstanding Player in both the East Regional and Final Four in 2005, when he led UNC to a national championship. May had 26 points and 10 rebounds in the title game vs. No. 1-ranked Illinois.
• Jeff Lebo averaged 11.1 points in 14 games and played in regional finals in 1987 and 1988.
• Pat Sullivan played in 19 games, more than any other Tar Heel player in NCAA Tournament history and was a member of the 1993 NCAA champions. He played in 16 NCAA Tournament wins, also the most by any Tar Heel.
• Marcus Paige holds the UNC record for most three-pointers in NCAA play with 39. He averaged 15.2 points in 13 games. He earned All-East Regional honors in 2016 after scoring 21 points with six assists in the Sweet 16 win over Indiana and had a game-high 21 points in the national championship game vs. Villanova.
• Brad Frederick was a member of two Final Four teams in 1997 and 1998.
2023-24 GENERAL
• Carolina has won 27 games, extending its NCAA-record number of 25-win seasons to 41. It is the 64th season with 20 or more wins.
• The Tar Heels are 7-4 vs. teams in the 2024 NCAA Tournament (2-0 vs. Duke, 2-1 vs. NC State, 1-0 vs. Tennessee and Virginia, 1-1 vs. Clemson and 0-1 vs. UConn and Kentucky).
• Hubert Davis has 76 wins in three seasons, the second-most wins by a Carolina head coach in his first three seasons (Bill Guthridge won 80 from 1997-2000).
• Davis and Guthridge are the only Tar Heel head coaches to win 20 or more games in each of their first three seasons.
• The Tar Heels are 6-2 against AP-ranked opponents this season with wins over No. 20 Arkansas, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 16 Clemson, No. 7 Duke and No. 9 Duke (rankings when UNC played those teams).
• The Tar Heels lead the ACC in rebounding, offensive rebounds and rebound margin.
• Carolina has outrebounded its opponents in 23 straight games (+226), which include 19 wins.
• Carolina led by double digits 19 times in 23 ACC games (regular season and Tournament).
• The Tar Heels secured at least a share of the ACC regular-season championship with an 84-51 win over Notre Dame on March 5 and won the title outright with an 84-79 victory at Duke four nights later.
• The title is Carolina's 33rd regular-season championship in 71 seasons of ACC Basketball. That is the most regular-season titles in ACC history. Duke is second with 20.
• Including seven Southern Conference first-place finishes, this is Carolina's 40th regular-season conference championship. UNC has the third-most in college basketball history behind Kansas (64) and Kentucky (54).
• 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 won 17 regular-season ACC games for the first time since the league went to an 18-game slate in 2012-13 and 20 games in 2019-20. UNC's previous high for wins was in 2018-19, when it went 16-2 to tie Virginia for the title.
• UNC is the second team to win 17 ACC regular-season games in one year. Since the league went to 18- and then 20-game schedules, Virginia (17-1 in 2017-18) is the only other team to win 17 games.
• Carolina's previous best 20-game ACC record was 15-5 in 2021-22, Hubert Davis' first season as head coach.
• Carolina went 8-2 this season on the road (all in ACC play).
• The Tar Heels were one of five teams in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC with eight or more road wins (UNC, UConn, Creighton, South Carolina and Tennessee).
• UNC's road winning percentage (.800) was the highest among teams in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC.
• From January 6-22, Carolina won seven straight ACC games by double digits, most since winning 10 straight in 1992-93. UNC had 10 double-digit nine wins in its 17 ACC wins and had a scoring margin of 10.5 in league play, the highest in the conference.
• Carolina has six players who have started 50 or more college games (165 by Armando Bacot, 118 by Cormac Ryan, 115 by RJ Davis, 95 by Harrison Ingram, 67 by Jae'Lyn Withers and 58 by Paxson Wojcik).
• The lineup UNC started in the ACC Tournament has started the last 26 games (other than Senior Night vs. Notre Dame, when the three senior walk-ons joined Bacot and Davis in the starting lineup). Elliott Cadeau, Ryan, Davis, Ingram and Bacot have a combined 521 career starts.
• The Tar Heels went 6-1 in November, 3-2 in December, 8-1 in January, 5-2 in February and 5-1 thus far in March.
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Players Mentioned
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