• Following a 76-74 win over UCLA in New York on December 21 and an eight-day break, the Tar Heels return to action and close out the calendar year with a home game against Campbell.• The Tar Heels play host to the Camels at 8 p.m. on Sunday, December 29, in the first-ever meeting between […]
• Following a 76-74 win over UCLA in New York on December 21 and an eight-day break, the Tar Heels return to action and close out the calendar year with a home game against Campbell.
• The Tar Heels play host to the Camels at 8 p.m. on Sunday, December 29, in the first-ever meeting between the schools. ACC Network will televise and stream the game live.
• Carolina is 7-5 after rallying from a 16-point deficit with 12:35 to play in its seventh consecutive win over UCLA. RJ Davis hit the tying and winning free throws with 13.6 seconds to play, and Elliot Cadeau defended the Bruins’ final shot in the lane to secure the victory.
• Campbell is 5-7 coming off a 77-55 loss to Newberry on December 18.
• Freshman Ian Jackson led the Tar Heels with 24 points vs. the Bruins, a season high and the second-most points ever by a Carolina freshman in Madison Square Garden (25 by Rashad McCants vs. Kansas in 2002).
• The UCLA game was the seventh this season in which Carolina fell behind by double figures in the first half and the second time UNC rallied from a deficit of at least 15 points for a win (also Dayton).
• RJ Davis hit a pair of threes against the Bruins and has made 298 career three-pointers. He needs one to tie Marcus Paige and two to set the all-time Tar Heel record.
• The Tar Heels take the road next week as they return to ACC play with games at Louisville (Jan. 1) and Notre Dame (Jan. 4). UNC is 1-0 in the ACC with a 68-65 win over Georgia Tech.
• Carolina is 178-18 all-time against in-state, non-ACC opponents, including 48 straight wins.
• This is Carolina’s first game against an in-state, non-ACC opponent since beating Gardner-Webb on 11/15/2022.
• KenPom ranks Carolina’s strength of schedule the fifth-hardest in the country behind Florida A&M, Mississippi Valley State, Jackson State and Memphis.
• Carolina is one of three teams among the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC whose strength of schedule is ranked in the top 10 – UNC (5), Purdue (6) and Auburn (9).
• Carolina’s non-conference strength of schedule is No. 3 in the country,
• The five teams the Tar Heels have lost to were a combined 52-7 (.881) as of December 26.
• Seven of Carolina’s opponents are ranked in the current AP poll – No. 2 Auburn, No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Florida, No. 7 Kansas, No. 18 Michigan State and No. 22 UCLA.
• This season is the second ever in which the Tar Heels played four top-10 opponents prior to New Year’s Day. Carolina played at No. 1 Kansas, No. 4 Auburn in Maui, No. 10 Alabama and No. 7 Florida in Charlotte.
• In December 1967 the Tar Heels lost to No. 8 Vanderbilt and defeated No. 4 Kentucky, No. 10 Princeton and No. 7 Utah.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 (2,379) 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 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year has led UNC to an 85-36 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.ANOTHER MAJOR MILESTONE FOR RJ
• RJ Davis’ 29-point outing vs. Florida on December 17 in Charlotte moved him into third place in UNC career scoring and first all-time among guards. He scored 17 more against UCLA to pass David Thompson for 12th in ACC history with 2,310 points.
• Virginia’s Jeff Lamp is 11th with 2,317 and Duke’s Mike Gminski is 10th with 2,323.
• The Florida game was Davis’ 17th career 25-point game.
• He finished his fourth season as the fifth-leading scorer in Carolina history and has passed Sam Perkins and Phil Ford thus far this season.
• Davis needs 38 points to pass Armando Bacot, who also played in five seasons, for second.
• Davis’ career scoring average is 15.4, the eighth-highest by a Tar Heel guard.
• Davis has made 298 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 56 of 65 this season (86.2%) and 478 of 557 in his career for 85.8%. 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).ANOTHER SECOND-HALF COMEBACK
• With 12:35 to play, the Tar Heels trailed UCLA, 59-43, after the Bruins’ Tyler Bilodeau made three straight three-pointers. The Tar Heels pulled within five with 7:06 remaining, within one 90 seconds later and finally drew even at 72 on Jalen Washington’s second-chance bucket with 1:32 to play.
• Carolina took its first and only lead of the second half with 13.6 seconds to go on a pair of free throws by RJ Davis.
• The UCLA game was the seventh time in the first 12 games the Tar Heels fell behind by double digits in the first half and seventh time Carolina trailed after the first 20 minutes.
• In five of those seven games the Tar Heels have rallied to take the lead, eventually beating Dayton, 92-90, and UCLA, 76-64. UNC lost by three points to Kansas, by three points in overtime to Michigan State and six points to Florida.
• This is the first time since 2011 the Tar Heels have rallied for two wins when trailing by at least 15 points. In 2011, UNC overcame a 19-point deficit to Miami and a 16-point deficit against Virginia Tech.
– Kansas took its first double-digit lead with 9:27 left in the first half, extended the lead to 20 later in the half and led by 15 at the break. Led by three 3FGs by Jae’Lyn Withers, Carolina took its first lead of the second half with 7:09 to play and led, 87-83, with 3:15 to play. The Jayhawks closed the game on a 9-2 run to win, 92-89.
– Carolina led Dayton, 18-17, nine minutes into the game. The Flyers out-scored UNC, 34-15, over the final 11 minutes of the half for an 18-point lead, which Dayton extended to 21 points early in the second half. The Tar Heels still trailed by double figures with 11 minutes to play, took their first lead on an RJ Davis three with 1:52 remaining and won the game on a three by Drake Powell with 1:13 left.
–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).
– Two days later in Maui, Michigan State raced to a 10-2 lead, pushed the margin to 14 with 3:05 left in the half and led by nine at the break. The Tar Heels took their only lead of the second half on a Powell drive with 13:25 to play. Seth Trimble’s three with four seconds to play sent the game to overtime, where the Spartans prevailed, 94-91.
– Florida jumped out to an early 16-6 lead and led by as much as 17 in the first half before Carolina scored the final four points of the opening period to cut the lead to a dozen. The Tar Heels opened the second half on an 11-0 run, took a 70-68 lead on a Trimble three-point play with 7:50 to play and led by four (81-77) at the 4:00 timeout. The Gators then outscored UNC 13-3, including eight second-chance points, for a 90-84 win.
• Carolina has scored 129 more points in the second half than in the first (10.8 more per game).
• The Tar Heels are averaging 37.1 first-half points (while allowing 39.8) and 47.8 in the second half (allowing 38.4).
• Carolina has shot a higher field goal percentage in the second half than it did in the first in 11 of the first 12 games (only against Georgia Tech did UNC shoot better in the first half).
• Carolina has shot 50% from the floor three times in the first half (vs. American, Michigan State and La Salle) and eight times in the second half (vs. Kansas, American, Hawai’i, Dayton, Michigan State, La Salle, Florida and UCLA). That includes two second-half performances when UNC shot 62.9% from the floor against American and Florida.SMITH CENTER
• This is the 40th season the Tar Heels are playing in the Dean E. Smith Center.
• Carolina is 4-1 in the Smith Center this season and 481-88 (.845) all-time.
• The Tar Heels are 231-19 all-time against non-ACC opponents in the Smith Center (.924). Carolina’s 19-game winning streak against non-conference teams in the Smith Center ended with the 94-79 loss to Alabama on December 4.NOTABLE
• The Tar Heels are 19th in the country in scoring at 85.7 points per game but 326th in scoring defense (79.3).
• Factoring in the number of possessions, Carolina is 21st in the country in offensive efficiency and 46th in defensive efficiency.
• Carolina has allowed 20.2 more points in its five losses (91.0) than the opponents have averaged in UNC’s seven wins (70.9).
• UNC has allowed 90 or more points four times in 12 games. Opponents had only scored 90 or more six times in the previous three seasons. Four is the most in a season since 2001-02 (five times).
• Carolina is attempting 24.0 three-pointers per game, which is on pace for the most attempts in UNC single-season history. In 2028-19, a team that featured Coby White, Cameron Johnson and Luke Maye, the Tar Heels averaged 23.94 three-point attempts, the most in UNC history.
• Over the last five games UNC is 33 for 134 (24.6%) from three-point range.
• Carolina is averaging 20.9 made free throws in its seven wins and 21.2 free throw attempts in the five losses.
• RJ Davis leads Carolina in scoring at 18.5 points per game. Davis is the only Tar Heel that has scored in double figures in all 12 games.
• Davis and freshman Ian Jackson are the only players to make a three in every game in which they played (all 12 for Davis and 11 for Jackson).
• Davis is averaging 15.8 field goal attempts per game. Last year, he averaged 16.4.
• Carolina’s top four scorers are guards – Davis (18.5), Seth Trimble (14.8), Jackson (12.0) and Elliot Cadeau (11.2).
• Trimble, a 6-3 guard, is tied with center Jalen Washington for the team lead in rebounding at 4.8 per game. Trimble is third in offensive boards with 16. He has 26 rebounds (10 offensive) in the last four games.
• 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 set career scoring highs 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.
• When Cade Tyson scored a game-high 23 points against La Salle, he became the seventh different Tar Heel to lead UNC in scoring this season. Last year, only four Tar Heels led Carolina in scoring.
• Tyson’s 23-point effort was his 12th career 20-point game. He made five three-pointers, one more than he made in the first nine games this season. It was the 11th time in his career he made at least four in a game and the eighth time he made five or more.
• Tyson’s five three-pointers vs. La Salle are the most by a Tar Heel this season.
• Jackson led UNC with 24 points vs. UCLA. It was the fourth time in the last five games a non-starter led the Tar Heels in scoring (Powell vs. Michigan State, Jackson vs. Alabama, Tyson vs. La Salle and Jackson vs. UCLA).
• 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 committed 31 turnovers in the first four games (7.8 per game) and 106 in the last eight games (13.3 per game).
• Carolina is 12th nationally in fastbreak points, averaging 16.9 per game.
• The Tar Heels allow 7.0 fastbreak points in their seven wins. The opponents in the five losses have averaged 11.8 fastbreak points.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.
