Men's Basketball Visits Wake Forest Tuesday Night

• Carolina looks to bounce back from a one-point loss at home to Stanford when the Tar Heels make the trip west on I-40 to play at Wake Forest on Tuesday at 9 p.m. on ESPN.
• The Tar Heels are 12-7, 5-2 in the ACC.
• The Demon Deacons are 14-4, 6-1 in league play, having won five in a row and seven of their last eight. Wake Forest is 9-0 at home this season with ACC wins over Boston College, NC State and Stanford.
• Carolina is 3-2 on the road with wins at Hawai'i, Notre Dame and NC State.
• The Tar Heels led for nearly 25 minutes, held Stanford to 43.3% shooting and committed only five turnovers, but lost, 72-71, on a shot by Jaylen Blakes with 1.5 seconds to play.
• It was the first time this season UNC lost when leading at halftime and the first time UNC lost when an opponent scored fewer than 80 points.
• Maxime Raynaud (25 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks) and Blakes combined for 45 of the Cardinal's 72 points.
• RJ Davis led UNC with 19 points and five assists. Post players Jalen Washington and Ven-Allen Lubin combined for 21 points and nine rebounds and Elliot Cadeau had 12 points and five assists.
• Carolina had shot 50% or better from the floor in the second half 12 times this season but shot only 40% in the second half for the second consecutive game.
• The Tar Heels were just 5 for 18 from three-point range (made two of their last 13) and did not make a three over the final 11 minutes.
• KenPom ranks Carolina No. 6 in the country in strength of schedule behind Alabama, Auburn, Purdue, Baylor and Memphis.
• The Tar Heels have played three of the top 5, four of the top 10 and five of the top 12 teams in this week's Associated Press poll.
• Based on the January 20 poll, Carolina has already played No. 1 Auburn, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 8 Michigan State, No. 12 Kansas and No. 25 Louisville and will play home-and-home games against No. 2 Duke.
• Carolina is No. 32 overall in KenPom and 38th in the NET.
• Six of UNC's losses are Quad 1 games and five are against teams in the top 17 in the NET (four in the top nine).

UNC-WAKE FOREST
• Carolina has won 14 of the last 18 games and is 165-69 all-time against the Demon Deacons, the second-most wins by UNC vs. any opponent.
• Including NCAA Tournament games in 1993, 1997 and 2007, the Tar Heels are 21-13 in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
• The Tar Heels have lost their last three games at Wake Forest by an average of 15.3 points, but overall are 15-13 vs. the Demon Deacons in LJVM Coliseum.
• The teams played once last season, an 85-64 Tar Heel victory in Chapel Hill. Wake Forest led by a point at halftime but Carolina outscored the Deacons, 52-30 in the second half, when the Tar Heels shot 61.3% from the floor and held the visitors to just 26.7%.
• RJ Davis scored 36 points, which were a career high (since surpassed). He scored 23 second-half points, the second time he scored 20 or more in a half vs. Wake Forest (scored 22 in the second half in a 2023 home win).
• Davis has averaged 22.0 points, is 11 of 24 from three (45.8%) and has 14 assists in five previous games vs. Wake Forest. He has scored 18 and 16 in two games in Winston-Salem.
• Elliot Cadeau had 14 points and three assists.
• Seth Trimble's first career double-figure scoring game came against Wake Forest his freshman year, when he scored 11 points.
• Ven-Allen Lubin also scored in double figures vs. the Deacons as a freshman. While playing for Notre Dame in 2023, Lubin was 9 for 13 from the floor for 19 points and added eight rebounds and three blocks in 33 minutes in Winston-Salem.

CLOSE GAMES
• The Stanford game was the eighth this season decided by three or fewer points. The Tar Heels are 5-3 in those one-possession games.
• Carolina has played seven ACC games and four have been decided by one possessions – wins over Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and NC State and the home loss to the Cardinal.
• Carolina has scored more than 75 points just twice in ACC games – 82 in the win over SMU and 79 in beating Cal – and allowed more than 75 only one time (83 in the loss at Louisville).

HALF AND HALF
• In 15 of the 19 games this season, either UNC or its opponent has led by at least 10 points in the opening half.
• Carolina has established double-digit first-half leads eight times and won all eight games (Elon, American, at Hawai'i, La Salle, Campbell, at Notre Dame, SMU and Cal). Twice (Elon and Notre Dame), the Tar Heels lost the lead but went on to win the game.
• UNC has led by double digits in the first half in six of its eight home games.
• Seven times UNC has fallen behind by 10 more points in the first half. The Tar Heels rallied to beat Dayton and UCLA, took the lead but eventually lost to Kansas, Michigan State and Florida and lost to Auburn and Alabama.
• In all games, Carolina has scored 165 more points in the second half than in the first (8.7 more per game).
• The Tar Heels have scored more points in the second half in 16 of the 19 games (all except Elon, Notre Dame and Stanford).
• Carolina has been outscored in the second half in five of its last six games (all except Cal).
• Carolina has shot a higher field goal percentage in the second half than it did in the first in 16 of the first 19 games (better in the first half vs. Georgia Tech, Cal and Stanford).
• Carolina has shot 50% from the floor five times in the first half (vs. American, Michigan State, La Salle, Campbell and Cal) and 12 times in the second half (vs. Kansas, American, Hawai'i, Dayton, Michigan State, La Salle, Florida, UCLA, Campbell, at Louisville, at Notre Dame and SMU). That includes three second-half performances when UNC shot better than 62% from the floor (vs. American, Florida and Campbell).
• UNC is 4-1 when it shoots 50% in the first half.
• The Tar Heels have shot 50% or better in the second half in the second half in seven of the last 10 games, but shot 40% in the second half against both Cal and Stanford.

SCORING EFFICIENCY
• The Tar Heels are 33rd in the country in scoring at 82.3 points per game and have improved to 289th in scoring defense (75.8).
• The Tar Heels have allowed 65.2 points over the last five games with a high of 73 points by Notre Dame in UNC's win on January 4.
• Factoring in pace of play and the number of possessions, Carolina is 43rd in the country in offensive efficiency and 36th in defensive efficiency.
• The Tar Heels are 9-0 this season when holding opponents below 105 points per 100 possessions. That included a three-game stretch of wins against SMU (89.1), NC State (96.4) and Cal (73.8) where the Tar Heels played outstanding defense and limited those three teams to 67 or fewer points. Stanford snapped that streak of defensive efficiency and the Tar Heels' four-game win streak as the Cardinal scored 72 points (108.2 efficiency).
• Carolina is shooting 55.2% from two-point range, its highest two-point percentage since the 1997-98 ACC champions and NCAA East Regional champion Tar Heels shot 56.5% from two-point range.

WINS AND LOSSES
• In Carolina's 12 wins the Tar Heels are shooting 10.5% higher from the floor than their opponents (49.0 to 38.5%). In the losses, the opponents are out-shooting the Tar Heels 47.2 to 43.7%.
• In the losses, the opponents average two more made threes per game. In UNC's wins, the teams have made the same number of three-pointers (96), but Carolina has made eight more free throws (208) than the opponents have attempted (200).
• Carolina is plus 5.4 rebounds per game in its 12 wins and minus 4.0 per game on the boards in the seven losses.
• Carolina is shooting 35% from three in its wins and 28.3% in the losses.
• RJ Davis averages 17.2 points in Carolina's victories and 17.4 in the losses.
• Ian Jackson averages 16.1 points in the wins and 13.7 in the losses.
• Carolina is 3-2 when it makes more three-pointers (recent wins over SMU, NC State and Cal) and 5-5 when the opponent makes more 3FGs (including Stanford).
• Carolina is 7-2 when shooting 35% or better from three-point range and 5-5 when it shoots below 35% from three.

JACKSON'S RECORD-SETTING RUN
• Ian Jackson scored six points vs. Stanford, the first time he didn't score in double figures since a five-point game vs. La Salle on December 14. Jackson continues to lead Carolina in scoring in ACC play at 18.6 points per game and is eighth overall in scoring in league games.
• RJ Davis is second on the team in scoring in ACC games at 14.1 per game. No other Tar Heel is averaging more than 8.8 points in league play.
• Jackson scored a game-high 20 points vs. Cal, the sixth time in the last seven games he scored 20 or more and led UNC in scoring. Jackson and Ford are the only Tar Heel freshmen to score 20 or more points six times in a seven-game stretch.
• Previously, Jackson became the first Tar Heel freshman ever to score 23 or more points in four straight games. He scored 24 vs. UCLA, 26 vs. Campbell, 23 at Louisville and 27 at Notre Dame.
• He was the first UNC freshman to score 20 or more in four games in a row since Tyler Hansbrough (2005-06) and the first to lead UNC in scoring in four straight since Cole Anthony (2019-20).
• Jackson has scored in double figures 13 times, including 11 of the last 13 games.
• Jackson leads the team with seven 20-point games. Davis has five.
• Jackson was named ACC Rookie of the Week for his 26-point performance on December 29 against Campbell.
• Jackson's 24 points against UCLA were the second most ever by a Tar Heel freshman in Madison Square Garden (25 by Rashad McCants vs. Kansas in 2002).

TAR HEELS AND THE ACC
• Carolina is a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
• This is the 72nd season of ACC men's basketball.
• UNC has won the regular-season championship 33 times, including the 2023-24 season, when the Tar Heels went 17-3 to win the title outright for the 22nd time. Duke is second with 20 regular-season titles.
• The Tar Heels are 763-315 all-time in ACC regular-season play. The 763 wins are the most by any team.
• RJ Davis was the 2024 ACC Player of the Year and Hubert Davis was the Coach of the Year.
• Davis is the first Player of the Year to return the following season since UNC's Tyler Hansbrough won the award in 2008 and came back for his senior season in 2009, when he led the Tar Heels to an NCAA title.

MORE MILESTONES FOR RJ
• RJ Davis is one of three players in the top 10 in the ACC in both scoring and assists (with Duke's Cooper Flagg and Pitt's Jaland Lowe).
• Davis has played in 157 games over five seasons. He passed Leaky Black (155) for second in games by a Tar Heel behind Armando Bacot's ACC-record 169. Davis, Black and Bacot all played a fifth year as a result of Covid-19.
• Davis leads Carolina and is 10th in the ACC in scoring at 17.3 points per game and is 10th in the league in assists at 4.0 per game.
• Davis scored 26 points in the Tar Heels' 82-67 win over SMU. It was his 40th career game scoring 20 or more and his 18th with 25 or more. The Tar Heels are 31-9 when he scores at least 20 and 13-5 when he drops 25 or more.
• Davis is Carolina's all-time leader and is 12th in ACC history with 312 three-pointers. Duke's Jason Williams is 11th with 313.
• Davis is averaging 14.6 field goal attempts per game. Last year, he averaged 16.4. He is attempting 6.9 threes per game (7.7 per game last season).
• RJ Davis is the second-leading scorer in Carolina history with 2,416 points. He passed Armando Bacot, who also played in five seasons, for second place in the win at Notre Dame on January 4.
• Davis is eighth in ACC scoring after passing Duke's Kyle Singler in the Cal game. Christian Laettner is seventh (2,460).
• He broke the UNC career record for three-pointers on December 29 (now has 312) and has the highest free throw percentage ever by a Tar Heel (85.9%).
• Davis' 29-point outing vs. Florida on December 17 made him the highest scoring guard in Carolina history, eclipsing the mark held by Phil Ford.
• Davis' career scoring average is 15.4, the eighth-highest by a Tar Heel guard.
• 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.

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Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Elliot Cadeau

RJ Davis

Ian Jackson

Ven-Allen Lubin

Seth Trimble

Jalen Washington