Men's Basketball Set For Road Trip To Pitt

• Carolina begins a stretch of four out of five road games when it travels to Pittsburgh for Tuesday's game against the Panthers at 9 p.m. on ESPN.
• This is the first time the Tar Heels have played four ACC road games in a five-game stretch since playing four consecutive in 2020-21.
• The Tar Heels are 13-8 overall, 6-3 in the ACC after a 102-96 overtime win over Boston College.
• Pitt broke a four-game skid with a win at Syracuse and is 13-6, 4-4 in ACC play.
• The Tar Heels are 3-3 on the road this season, while Pitt is 9-2 at home. The Panthers are 2-2 at home in league play with losses to Louisville and Clemson, two of the top three teams in the ACC standings.
• Seth Trimble scored the final four points of regulation, including a game-tying basket with 12.9 seconds to play, then made every shot from the floor and free throw line in overtime to defeat Boston College, 102-96, on Saturday.
• RJ Davis scored 22 points and had five rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers, freshman Ian Jackson scored 19, Trimble had 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds and Jalen Washington career highs with 18 points and three assists.
• Offense was on dipslay as both teams shot roughly 55 percent from the floor (55.6% for Carolina and 54.5% for the Eagles) and committed fewer than 10 turnovers. The Tar Heels were 26 for 33 from the free throw line and BC made 14 of 24 three-pointers.
• Carolina's adjusted points per possession was 135.7, its second-highest of the season (American) and highest in an ACC game.
• Boston College's offensive efficiency was 127.7, the highest by an opponent this season.
• BC's 127.7 was the fourth-highest offensive efficiency by an opponent in a Tar Heel victory since the start of the 1986-87 season, when offensive rebounds became official. The only higher offensive efficiencies in a Carolina win were by Fairfield in the 1997 NCAA first round (130), Pitt in 2016-17 (1.29) and Notre Dame in the 2016 NCAA Sweet 16 (128).
• BC made 14 of 24 three-pointers. The Eagles' percentage (.583) was the sixth highest by an opponent in Smith Center history and the best since Pitt shot 58.8% in beating Carolina on 2/16/2022.
• It was the third time ever the Tar Heels won when the opponent made 14 or more three-pointers on at least 50% from three-point range (Iowa in 2004-05 and Tennessee in 2006-07). Carolina scored 100-plus points in all three of those wins.

CAROLINA-PITT
• The Tar Heels are 17-8 all-time against the Panthers, including 10-7 since the Panthers joined the ACC in 2013-14.
• Carolina is 7-3 on the road, including 4-3 in the Petersen Center.
• Last season, the Tar Heels won both games – 70-57 in early January at Pitt and 72-65 in the ACC quarterfinals in Washington, D.C.
• On 1/2/24, Armando Bacot led UNC with 16 points, Harrison Ingram grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds, RJ Davis scored 15 and Seth Trimble had 10 points. The Tar Heels missed their first 10 field goal attempts and shot 36.5% but out-scored the Panthers, 15-1, on second-chance points. Carolina held the Panthers to 30.9% from the floor, including 26.5% (9 of 34) in the second half.
• On 3/15/24, Davis scored a game-high 25 points and Bacot had 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal to overcome a nine-point Pitt lead to advance to the ACC semifinals. Carolina held Pittsburgh to 33.3% from the floor in the second half and 38.5% for the game. Pitt led for 16:34.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
• The six-point win over Boston College doesn't count as a one-possession game, but it did go to overtime after RJ Davis' last-second heave went off the mark at the end of regulation.
• Including the 67-66 loss at Wake Forest on January 21, the Tar Heels have already played nine one-possession games (decided by one, two or three points) this season. That equals the most played by the Tar Heels in a season in the three-point era, which began in 1986-87. The 2010-11 team played nine one-possession games and won eight.
• The five one-possession wins this season already equal the second most. UNC also won five in 1998-99 (5-3), 2002-03 (5-2) and 2016-17 (5-1).
• The losses to Stanford and Wake Forest were just the fourth time ever Carolina lost by a point in back-to-back games. The other instances include the 1929-30 season (Loyola Chicago and Duke), 1940-41 (Fordham and St. Joseph's) and 1967-68 (South Carolina and Duke).

SCHEDULE
• Beginning with Tuesday's game at Pitt the Tar Heels' next four games are against teams whose records are a combined 47-12 overall, 22-5 in ACC play.
• Carolina's strength of schedule dropped to No. 10 in the country overall (seventh in non-conference games).
• The Tar Heels have played three of the top five, four of the top 10 and five of the top 11 teams in this week's Associated Press poll.
• Based on the January 27 AP poll, Carolina has already played No. 1 Auburn, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 11 Kansas and No. 21 Louisville and will play No. 2 Duke this Saturday.
• Carolina is No. 38 overall in KenPom and 40th in the NET.
• Seven of UNC's losses are Quad 1 games and five are against teams in the top 17 in the NET (four in the top eight).

HALF AND 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.
• 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 166 more points in the second half than in the first (7.9 more per game).
• In ACC games, the Tar Heels average only 2.9 more points in the second half than the first.
• Carolina has been outscored in the second half in seven of its last eight games (all except Cal).
• Carolina has shot a higher field goal percentage in the second half than it did in the first in 17 of the first 21 games (better in the first half vs. Georgia Tech, Cal, Stanford and Boston College).
• Carolina has shot 50% from the floor six times in the first half (vs. American, Michigan State, La Salle, Campbell, Cal and Boston College) 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 5-1 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 12 games but less than 50% in each of the last five games.

SCORING EFFICIENCY
• The Tar Heels are 29th in the country in scoring at 82.5 points per game and have improved to 297th in scoring defense (76.4).
• Boston College (96 points, including 89 in regulation) was the first opponent to score more than 73 points in the last seven games.
• Factoring in pace of play and the number of possessions, Carolina is 46th in the country in offensive efficiency and 48th in defensive efficiency (defense dropped 17 spots after the BC game).
• The Tar Heels are 9-1 this season when holding opponents below 105 points per 100 possessions. Wake Forest (92.0 ppp) is the only team to beat UNC despite scoring fewer than 105 points per 100 possessions.
• Carolina is shooting 55.5% from two-point range, its highest two-point percentage since the 1997-98 ACC champion and NCAA East Regional champion Tar Heels shot 56.5% from two-point range.
• Carolina is 11-3 this season when it makes 30% or better from three-point range and 2-5 (wins over Georgia Tech and Notre Dame) when it makes less than 30% of its three-point attempts.
• The Tar Heels went 13 for 50 (26%) on three-pointers in the back-to-back one-point losses to Stanford (5 of 18) and Wake Forest (8 of 32).

WINS AND LOSSES
• In Carolina's 12 wins the Tar Heels are shooting 9.8% higher from the floor than their opponents (49.6 to 39.8%). In the losses, the opponents are out-shooting the Tar Heels 46.4 to 43.2%.
• The opponents average 84.6 points in UNC's eight losses and just 71.3 in the Tar Heels' wins.
• Carolina is plus 6.0 rebounds per game in its 13 wins and minus 4.5 per game on the boards in the eight losses. The opponents have out-rebounded the Tar Heels in six of the eight losses (UNC was plus-one at Kansas and plus-two vs. Alabama).
• Carolina is shooting 35.2% from three in its wins and 27.7% in the losses.
• RJ Davis averages 17.5 points in Carolina's victories and 17.9 in the losses.
• Ian Jackson averages 16.3 points in the wins and 12.9 in the losses.
• Carolina is 7-3 when it makes the same or more three-pointers and is 6-5 when the opponents make more 3FGs.

JACKSON'S 20-POINT RUN
• Ian Jackson scored a game-high 20 points on January 15 vs. Cal, the sixth time in seven games he scored 20 or more and led UNC in scoring. Jackson joined Phil Ford (in 1975) as the only Tar Heel freshmen to score 20 or more points six times in a seven-game stretch.
• Jackson had previously become the first Tar Heel freshman ever to score 23 or more points in four straight games (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 14 times, including 12 of the last 15 games, including 19 points (15 in the second half) against Boston College.
• Jackson and RJ Davis shared the team lead with seven 20-point games.
• Despite his seven points at Wake Forest, he also leads UNC in scoring on the road. In six true road games, Jackson is averaging 16.5 points, 2.2 more than Davis, who is second.
• Jackson has made 13 3FGs on the road, five more than Davis, who is second.
• 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).

MORE MILESTONES FOR RJ
• RJ Davis and Duke's Cooper Flagg are the only players in the top eight in the ACC in both scoring and assists.
• Davis has played in 159 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 eighth in the ACC in scoring at 17.7 points per game and is eighth in the league in assists at 3.9 per game.
• Davis has 82 assists and 35 turnovers. His assist/error rate of 2.34 is .01 off his career-best rate of 2.35, which he set last season.
• The White Plains, N.Y., native is averaging a career-high 3.9 assists this season. His previous season bests were 3.6 per game in 2021-22 and 3.5 last season.
• Davis scored 21 points at Wake Forest and 22 in the OT win over Boston College, when he scored seven points in the extra period. He has 42 career 20-point games. The Tar Heels are 32-10 when he scores at least 20 and 13-5 when he drops 25 or more.
• Davis is Carolina's all-time leader and is 11th in ACC history with 317 three-pointers. Former Wake Forest guard Justin Gray is 10th with 319.
• Davis is averaging 14.5 field goal attempts per game this season. Last year, he averaged 16.4. He is attempting 7.0 threes per game (7.7 per game last season).
• Davis is the second-leading scorer in Carolina history with 2,459 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. Duke's Christian Laettner is seventh (2,460).
• He broke the UNC career record for three-pointers on December 29 (now has 317) and has the highest free throw percentage ever by a Tar Heel (86.1%).
• 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 15.5, 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.

SMITH CENTER
• This is the 40th season the Tar Heels are playing in the Dean E. Smith Center.
• Carolina is 8-2 in the Smith Center this season and 485-89 (.845) all-time.
• The Tar Heels are 253-70 against ACC opponents in the Smith Center.

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

RJ Davis

Harrison Ingram

Ian Jackson

Seth Trimble

Jalen Washington