The Tar Heels’ unorthodox call for an opponent on social media Monday was successful.
The University of North Carolina men’s basketball team will host Northeastern on Wednesday (February 17) at the Dean E. Smith Center. The starting time and broadcast network are to be determined.
The Tar Heels, 12-7 overall and 7-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, added the non-conference contest after ACC home games against Clemson (January 12), Miami (February 8) and Virginia Tech (February 16) were postponed due to Covid-19 safety protocols.
Northeastern is 9-7 overall, in second place in the Colonial Athletic Association with an 8-2 record in league play. The Huskies split a pair of games at Towson this past weekend, their first competition since January 24. Northeastern postponed four games from January 30 to February 7 due to Covid protocols.
The Tar Heels have played only six home games this season. Three earlier non-conference games at the Smith Center were cancelled due to the shortened schedule in addition to the three ACC games, which were postponed and have not yet been re-scheduled.
Eleven of the other 14 teams in the ACC have played nine or more home games, including nine teams that have played 10 or more. No other ACC team has played fewer than seven home games to this point in the season.
Northeastern will be playing its fourth Power 5 opponent on the road this season (also at Syracuse, Georgia and West Virginia). Head coach Bill Coen is in his 15th season with the Huskies. He is tied with Jim Calhoun for the most wins in school history with 250.
Carolina is scheduled to return to league play at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Smith Center against Louisville.