• On Saturday, January 27, Florida State (12-7, 6-2) hosts third-ranked Carolina (16-3 overall, 8-0 ACC) as the top two teams in the ACC standings square off. ESPN will air the game at 2:30 p.m. from the Tucker Center in Tallahassee.
North Carolina’s ACC regular-season wins total is 749. If it wins again, UNC would become the first team to 750.
At 8-0, the Tar Heels are ahead of the ACC. For the first time since 2016, UNC is off to an 8-0 start in the ACC for the eleventh time. The Tar Heels haven’t started an ACC season 9-0 since 2001.
• With a 6-2 record in league play, FSU is second in the ACC.
Third place in the Associated Press poll goes to Carolina. UNC has not been this high since placing third in the final three weeks in 2018-19.
This is the 36th different season in which UNC is ranked third or higher in the AP poll.
• Carolina is No. 6 in the country in the NET and No. 6 in KenPom.
• The Tar Heels have won nine in a row, most since they won 11 in a row over the last six games in 2016-17 and first five in 2017-18.
• Carolina has won seven straight ACC games by double digits, most since winning 10 straight in 1992-93.
• Carolina has won nine straight games in the same season (including two non-ACC games) by 10 or more points for the first time since 2008-09, when it did so in the first 13 games.
• Carolina has held its last nine opponents to 70 points or fewer. This is the first time UNC has held nine consecutive teams to 70 points or fewer since doing so in 10 consecutive games in 2006-07.
• In ACC play, Carolina is scoring 78.8 points per game and allowing 62.9. Florida State and Louisville both scored 70 points vs. the Tar Heels; the other six ACC opponents scored fewer than 70. UNC allowed 57, 55, 54 and 66 in its four ACC road wins at Pittsburgh, Clemson, NC State and Boston College, 67 at home to Syracuse and 64 by Wake Forest this past Monday in the Smith Center.
• The Tar Heels have outscored their opponents, 341-254, in the second half in ACC play, a margin of 10.9 points per game. The opponents are averaging 31.8 points in the second half in ACC play.
• Carolina’s defense has held its eight ACC opponents to 36.1% from the floor and 22.5% from three-point range.
• Carolina is 14th nationally in three-point percentage defense and 19th in overall FG defense.
• The Tar Heels have held ACC opponents below 70 points in 20 of the last 26 games.
• Carolina has out-rebounded its opponents in eight straight games and is plus 113 on the boards in those games/wins.
• Harrison Ingram leads the ACC in rebounding in league play at 10.63 per game. He has double-figure rebounds in five of the last seven games, including 14 vs. Wake Forest.
• The Athletic named senior guard RJ Davis a mid-season first-team All-America on January 24. Davis leads the ACC in scoring in all games (21.0) and ACC games (20.8). The White Plains, N.Y., native scored a career-high 36 points against Wake Forest, the third-most points by a Tar Heel in 234 games against the Demon Deacons.
• Armando Bacot has 998 defensive rebounds in his career. He needs two to become the first Tar Heel ever with 1,000 defensive rebounds.
GAME 19 NOTEBOOK
.The Tar Heels are 4-2 against AP-ranked opponents this season with wins over No. 20 Arkansas, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 16 Clemson (rankings when UNC played those teams).
• ESPN ranks UNC’s strength of record No. 4 in the nation behind Purdue, UConn and Houston.
• Carolina’s schedule is ranked 13th in the country by KenPom and 18th by ESPN.
• The Tar Heels are No. 4 in the country in defensive efficiency (93.3 points allowed per 100 possessions) and No. 15 in offensive efficiency (119.6 points scored per 100 possessions).
• Since Ken Pomeroy began tracking points per possessions in 2001-02, the Tar Heels’ highest national finish in defensive efficiency was fourth in 2010-11 (90.4).
• UNC is one of six teams (with Arizona, Auburn, Houston, Purdue and Tennessee) that rank in the top 20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
• Carolina is 8-0 in the ACC despite having just one player (RJ Davis, who is first) in the top 10 in the league in scoring.
UNC-FLORIDA STATE
• Carolina is 54-16 all-time against the Seminoles, including winning three straight and 12 of the last 16 games.
• UNC is 18-8 against FSU in Tallahassee, all at the Tucker Center.
• The Tar Heels rallied from 14 points down with 17:11 to play to beat the Seminoles, 78-70, in Chapel Hill on December 2.
• Last year in Tallahassee, Carolina tied its school record with 11 first-half three-pointers (in 13 attempts), led by 18 at the half and held on for a 77-66 win.
• The Tar Heels led by 16 with 6:04 to play before the Seminoles went on a 14-2 run. RJ Davis, who led UNC with 19 points, scored a pair of field goals around a Leaky Black drive-and-dunk to stretch the lead back to eight with under a minute to play.
• Black, Davis, Caleb Love and Pete Nance all made three 3FGs, the first time four Tar Heels ever made three or more three-pointers in a game.
• The win snapped UNC’s three-game losing streak at FSU.
• Armando Bacot has scored in double figures three times in seven career starts against FSU and has two double-doubles. He had 17 points and 14 rebounds in Chapel Hill as a junior and 13/13 in the Smith Center earlier this season.
• RJ Davis has averaged 16.1 points in six games with a high of 27 he scored in the 78-70 win in December. Davis has made 12 threes and dished out 20 assists vs. the Seminoles. He made three 3FGs in each of the last two games and had five assists twice, including the earlier game this season.
• Cormac Ryan scored in double figures in two of four games he played against FSU while at Notre Dame. He hit three 3FGs and scored 17 points in Tallahassee last season.
• Jae’Lyn Withers also scored in double figures twice vs. the Seminoles while playing for Louisville. He had 14 points and nine rebounds as a freshman. Last season, he had eight points and seven rebounds in Tallahassee and 14 points on 4 of 6 shooting from three-point range at home.
Be the first to comment