#5 North Carolina Looks To Get Back On Track As They Take On Ohio State
After North Carolina's stunning defeat to Wofford Wednesday night in Chapel Hill they will try to get back in the win column against Ohio State.
Carolina plays its final regular season non-conference game of the season when it travels to New Orleans to face Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic.
• This is the 3,000th game in Carolina basketball history. The Tar Heels are 2,216-783 all-time, a winning percentage of .739. UNC will become the fifth school to play 3,000 games (Kansas, Washington State, Oregon State and Duke are the others).
• Carolina is 10-2 this season. The Tar Heels are coming off a 79-75 loss at home to Wofford on 12/20. UNC has not dropped consecutive games since February 2016, when it lost at Louisville and Notre Dame.
• The Tar Heels are ranked No. 5 in the nation in the Associated Press poll and No. 4 in the coaches poll.
• Carolina is 5-1 this year away from home. That includes a 3-0 road record and a 2-1 record in neutral site games.
• Carolina is 2-1 in the CBS Sports Classic. UNC beat Ohio State, 82-74, on 12/20/14 in Chicago; beat UCLA, 89-76, on 12/19/15 in Brooklyn; and lost to Kentucky, 103-100, on 12/17/16 in Las Vegas. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/21/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-buckeyes-in-the-big-easy-saturday.aspx
UNC-OHIO STATE
• Carolina leads the series vs. Ohio State, 11-2. That includes a 4-0 record under head coach Roy Williams.
• Williams is 7-0 against Ohio State (3-0 at Kansas).
• The Tar Heels beat the Buckeyes, 82-74, in Chicago, on 12/20/2014 in the first year of the CBS Sports Classic in the most recent matchup.
• Brice Johnson led UNC with 18 points and nine rebounds, Kennedy Meeks had 13 rebounds and Marcus Paige added 16 points and four assists in the win in Chicago.
• Theo Pinson had three rebounds, an assist and a steal but did not score in 12 minutes; Joel Berry had five points and four assists in 11 minutes.
• The Tar Heels have won six in a row against Ohio State since the Buckeyes won in the 1992 NCAA Sweet 16 in Lexington, Ky. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/21/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-buckeyes-in-the-big-easy-saturday.aspx
UNC IN NEW ORLEANS/LOUISIANA
• Carolina is 15-2 in New Orleans. That includes an 8-1 record at the Superdome, 2-0 in Municipal Auditorium vs. St. Joseph's (Pa.) and Bradley in December 1971 in the Sugar Bowl Tournament, 2-0 at Tulane Gym in the 1960s, 2-1 at Tulane in the 1920s and 1-0 vs. Tulane in the Smoothie King Center.
• Carolina beat Tulane on 11/11/17 in the 2016-17 season opener.
• The Tar Heels won two NCAA championships under head coach Dean Smith in the Superdome. UNC beat Georgetown to win the 1982 title and Michigan to win in 1993.
• Carolina lost its last game in the Crescent City, losing 82-74 to Penn State in the Superdome in the second round of the 2001 NCAA South Regional. UNC had defeated Princeton in the first round.
• Carolina is 19-3 in the state of Louisiana. That includes 15-2 in New Orleans, 3-1 in Baton Rouge and 1-0 in Lafayette. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/21/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-buckeyes-in-the-big-easy-saturday.aspx
TRENDING...
• Carolina set a school-record last season with a rebound margin of 12.3 per game, which was the fourth-highest margin by any school in the country since 1980. UNC has matched that figure in its first dozen games this season.
• The Tar Heels are second in the ACC and fifth in the country in rebounds per game (44.2) and second in the country and ACC in rebound margin behind Duke.
• Luke Maye is eighth in the country in double-doubles (7) and 13th in rebounds per game (10.6).
• Carolina is hitting 7.3 three-pointers per game, the sixth-most in school history. Last year, UNC made 7.1 per game.
• Carolina has scored 85 or more points nine times (all wins), 90 or more points five times, 100 points twice and 60.0 points in its two losses.
• The Tar Heels have shot 50 percent from the floor six times. UNC is shooting 49.0 percent for the season. That includes 51.2 percent in its 10 wins and 30.2 percent in the two losses.
• Carolina ranks 14th nationally in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency and 19th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
• Carolina has finished in the top 15 nationally in points per 100 possessions 10 times in Roy Williams' first 14 seasons.
• Carolina has scored 25.3 percent of its points on three-point field goals. That's the same percentage as last season and equals the third-highest percentage in Roy Williams' 15 seasons as UNC's head coach. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/21/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-buckeyes-in-the-big-easy-saturday.aspx
SCORING FROM THREE-POINT FGs (last 15 seasons)
29.3 percent – 2012-13
26.2 percent – 2005-06
25.5 percent – 2017-18
25.5 percent – 2004-05
25.3 percent – 2016-17 "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/21/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-buckeyes-in-the-big-easy-saturday.aspx
• Roy Williams' teams have finished in the top 10 nationally in rebound margin in 14 of his previous 29 seasons as a head coach, including ninth, ninth and first in the last three seasons.
• Eleven Tar Heels are averaging 10 or more minutes per game, including four freshmen (forwards Garrison Brooks and Sterling Manley and guards Jalek Felton and Andrew Platek).
• Luke Maye, Theo Pinson, Kenny Williams and Brandon Robinson are averaging career highs in minutes played.
• Garrison Brooks, Sterling Manley and Brandon Huffman are a combined 33 for 48 from the floor in the last four games. "according tohttp://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/21/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-buckeyes-in-the-big-easy-saturday.aspx
IN THE POLLS
• Carolina is No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and No. 4 in the USA Today/Coaches poll released on Dec. 18th.
• Carolina is ranked in the AP poll for the 68th consecutive week (last four weeks in 2013-14, all 19 weeks in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 and the first seven weeks this season).
• Carolina is ranked in the AP poll for the 884th time, most in college basketball history.
• This is UNC's 665th time in the AP top 10, second-most behind Kentucky.
• Carolina and Duke have combined for 244 weeks all-time as the No. 1 team in the AP poll. That's 244 of 300 weeks as No. 1 by every current ACC school.
• The 2017-18 season is the 55th (out of 70) in which the Tar Heels have been ranked in the top 10.
• Carolina was No. 9 in this season's preseason AP poll. It marked the 12th time in Roy Williams' 15 seasons as head coach the Tar Heels entered the year ranked in the top 10. UNC has finished the year in the AP top 10 nine times in Williams' first 14 seasons. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/21/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-buckeyes-in-the-big-easy-saturday.aspx
CAMERON JOHNSON RETURNS
• Cameron Johnson saw his first action of the season and as a Tar Heel when he played 17 minutes and scored 10 points in the loss to Wofford on 12/20. That was 37 days after tearing the meniscus in his left knee in practice on 11/13.
• Johnson was 1 for 5 from three-point range against Terriers, but made a career-high seven free throws in eight attempts.
• Johnson averaged 11.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game last year as a Pitt Panther. He shot 44.7 percent from three-point range.
• Johnson matched his career high with 24 points against the Tar Heels in the Smith Center on 1/31/17. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/21/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-buckeyes-in-the-big-easy-saturday.aspx
As for North Carolina's last game, they were stunned by Wofford in Chapel Hill.
Fletcher Magee scored 27 points to help Wofford stun No. 5 North Carolina 79-75 on Wednesday night, snapping the reigning national champion's 23-game home winning streak. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/20/mens-basketball-wofford-drops-tar-heels.aspx?path=mbball
The Terriers (8-4) led the entire second half and by as many as 14 points before holding off UNC's late-game run for a huge road win and their first win over a ranked team in 23 games. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/20/mens-basketball-wofford-drops-tar-heels.aspx?path=mbball
The Tar Heels (10-2) got within a point twice and missed four 3-pointers for the tie in the final 6 minutes. But they never could overtake the Terriers, who played confidently and kept counter-punching every time UNC made a run. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/20/mens-basketball-wofford-drops-tar-heels.aspx?path=mbball
The Terriers closed it out with four straight free throws in the final 15.2 seconds to seal it, then mobbed each other at midcourt as the horn sounded and the Tar Heels headed to the locker room. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/20/mens-basketball-wofford-drops-tar-heels.aspx?path=mbball
Joel Berry II scored 23 points to lead UNC, which suffered its first loss to an unranked team while ranked in the top five since falling to Boston College in January 2009. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/20/mens-basketball-wofford-drops-tar-heels.aspx?path=mbball
BIG PICTURE
Wofford: The Terriers were picked to finish sixth in the Southern Conference. But Magee and the Terriers closed the first half on an 8-0 run to take a 34-33 lead, then made 10 of 15 shots out of the break to steal momentum and put UNC in catch-up mode. More importantly, they never folded even as the Tar Heels kept inching closer and closer. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/20/mens-basketball-wofford-drops-tar-heels.aspx?path=mbball
UNC: This wasn't the way the Tar Heels wanted to follow a tough weekend road win at No. 21 Tennessee. They were often sloppy with the ball, spent much of the game missing shots and struggling to get consistent defensive stops. Luke Maye struggled offensively (17 points on 4-for-16 shooting) and UNC finished the game shooting just 36 percent. "according to http://www.goheels.com/news/2017/12/20/mens-basketball-wofford-drops-tar-heels.aspx?path=mbball
Unlike North Carolina who lost their last game Ohio State came out on top as they cruised by The Citadel to win their fifth straight.
Kam Williams and Keita Bates-Diop each scored 17 points as Ohio State won its fifth straight game with a 94-65 win over The Citadel on Tuesday night. "according to Kam Williams and Keita Bates-Diop each scored 17 points as Ohio State won its fifth straight game with a 94-65 win over The Citadel on Tuesday night. "according to http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/121917aaa.html
C.J. Jackson added 13 points and Andrew Dakich 10 for the Buckeyes (10-3). "according to http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/121917aaa.html
Kaiden Rice had 14 points, and Alex Reed and Zane Najdawi added 11 apiece for the Bulldogs (5-7). "according to http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/121917aaa.html
Ohio State led 44-23 at the half and built the margin to 39 at 88-49 with five minutes left. "according to http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/121917aaa.html
The Bulldogs were 12th in the nation in scoring at 89.3 points per game but much of that is predicated on getting points from their press and hitting shots. They had neither working when OSU took a 21- point halftime lead. "according to http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/121917aaa.html
The Citadel: The Bulldogs usually start two freshmen and two sophomores and have had as many as four frosh players on the court at the same time, so there continues to be growing pains. Six of the 12 players are freshmen. The Citadel is one of seven Division I schools without a senior on the roster. "according to http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/121917aaa.html
Ohio State: After making 3 of 14 3-pointers in the previous game against Appalachian State, the Buckeyes made some improvement by hitting 13 of 35 (37 percent) vs. the Bulldogs. "according to http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/121917aaa.html
Tip-off is set for 1:30pm. The game will be televised on CBS. "according to http://www.goheels.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball