The Tar Heels return to action on Saturday, December 12, at 2 p.m. when they play host to North Carolina Central at the Dean E. Smith Center. Originally, UNC was scheduled to play Elon on December 12, but the Phoenix was forced to pause basketball activities on December 1. This is North Carolina’s second home game of the season.
About Carolina
- Carolina is 3-2, having lost its last two games against No. 17 Texas in Asheville in the finals of the Maui Invitational and at No. 3 Iowa.
- In the loss at Iowa, the Tar Heels shot 47.7 percent from the floor, made 6 of 15 threes, out-rebounded the Hawkeyes, 47-28, and had 22 assists/18 turnovers.
- Carolina’s top three scorers through five games are senior Garrison Brooks (13.2 ppg), freshman RJ Davis (12.2) and freshman Caleb Love (11.0). This would be the third consecutive season two freshman are among the top five scorers (fifth time in the Roy Williams era with 2006, 2007, 2019 and 2020). It would be the second time under Williams that two freshman are in the top three in scoring (Brandon Wright and Wayne Ellington in 2007; in that season freshman Ty Lawson was also fourth)
- The opponents have out-scored UNC by a combined 14 points in the first half, but the Tar Heels have outscored the opponents by 49 points in the second half (9.8 per game).
- Carolina has fallen behind by double digits in the first half in three of its first five games, but rallied back to take the lead in all three, beating UNLV but eventually losing to Texas and Iowa. UNLV led 13-0, but the Tar Heels took their first lead with 3:24 to play in the half and led by seven at the break. UNC trailed both the Longhorns and Hawkeyes by 16 in the first half. Against Texas, Carolina went ahead for the first time with 2:35 remaining in the game. At Iowa, the Tar Heels grabbed one-point leads with 9:52 and 9:30 to play in the game. Iowa went on a 16-2 run after UNC took its first lead to pull away.
- The Tar Heels are 427-80 in the Smith Center, including 209-17 against non-ACC opponents.
- UNC is 172-18 all-time against in-state, non-ACC opponents.
About NCCU
- The Eagles are 1-2. NCCU also played at Iowa, dropping its season opener in Iowa City, 97-67, on November 25.
- NCCU shot 42.1 percent from the floor against Iowa, including 6 of 19 from three-point range, was out-rebounded by 16 and had 13 assists/15 turnovers.
- The Eagles will compete in divisional play for the first time since leaving the CIAA, and were picked to lead the Southern Division in the Preseason MEAC Poll as voted on by the league’s coaches and sports information directors.
- Senior guard C.J. Keyser earned First Team honors, and senior point guard Jordan Perkins was tabbed for the Second Team. Keyser scored 11.6 points per game over the season, and 15.8 points per contest in 11 MEAC games, and Perkins served out 154 assists to average 5.0 per game, and finished second in the league in assists per game, and in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.8.
- North Carolina Central University captured its fourth MEAC regular season crown by defeating rival North Carolina A&T, 86-80 on March 5 in Durham. NCCU has now won four MEAC regular season titles in the last seven seasons, stretching back to the 2013-14 season. The Eagles have also won the last three MEAC Tournament championships.
- Head coach LeVelle Moton is in his 12th year at the helm of the Eagle men’s basketball program and reached the 300-game plateau in his career on Dec. 8, 2018 at App State. Moton coached his 308th game on Jan. 19, 2019 against Coppin State to move past John McLendon into second place on the list. He’s second all-time on the list, and just the third coach to reach 300 games. Here’s a look at coaches with the most games coached at NCCU.
UNC vs NCCU
- This is the third game between the schools with UNC holding a 2-0 lead.
- The teams last played on 11/14/14, a 76-60 Tar Heel victory. Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks led UNC with 12 points/8 rebounds and 10 points/9 rebounds, respectively.
Time: 2:00pm
TV: Regional Sports Network (Justin Kutcher, Dan Bonner)
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Properties (Jones Angell, Eric Montross, Adam Lucas, Dave Nathan)
