Everything You Need to Know About UNC as They Start Their NCAA Tournament Run

Carolina is the No. 8 seed in the East Region and plays No. 9 Marquette in the first round on Thursday, March 17 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The game is scheduled to tip 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Baylor-Norfolk State game, which begins at 2 p.m. Eastern. The Carolina-Marquette game should begin at approximately 4:30 p.m. Eastern (TBS). Should Carolina beat Marquette, the Tar Heels would play the winner of No. 1 seed Baylor vs. No. 16 Norfolk State on Saturday, March 19.

Year in Review

• Carolina is 24-9 overall.

• The Tar Heels tied Notre Dame for second in the ACC at 15-5, one game behind Duke.

• UNC was the No. 3 seed in Brooklyn in the ACC Tournament, defeated Virginia in the
  quarterfinal and lost to eventual ACC champion Virginia Tech in the semifinal.

• Carolina went 15-2 at home and 8-3 in road games this season and is 1-4 in neutral-site games. In addition to the ACC Tournament, UNC lost to Tennessee and Purdue in Uncasville, Conn., in November in the Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic and to Kentucky in Las Vegas in December in the CBS Sports Classic.

• Carolina’s neutral-site losses were to the ACC champion (Virginia Tech), a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament (Kentucky) and two No. 3 seeds (Purdue and Tennessee).

• UNC has won 20 or more games for the 62nd time (first time since going 29-7 in 2018-19). A win in the NCAA first round would extend Carolina’s NCAA record for 25-win seasons to 39.

• The Tar Heels have won 12 of their last 15 games. The 72-59 loss to Virginia Tech in the ACC semifinals ended UNC’s season-long six-game win streak. One of those six wins was at Virginia Tech on February 19, when UNC held the Hokies to 57 points, Tech’s low point total at home this season.

• The 15 regular-season ACC wins were Carolina’s second most all-time. The Tar Heels went 16-2 in 2018-19.

• With the 94-81 win at Duke on March 5 the Tar Heels went 7-3 (.700) on the road in ACC play this season and 8-3 (.727) in all road games. The national average road winning percentage this college basketball season through the regular season was 42.5%.

• This was Carolina’s 43rd winning record on the road in 69 seasons of ACC basketball.

NCAA Tournament History

• This is Carolina’s 52nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which is the second most all-time (Kentucky 59).

• Carolina’s six NCAA Tournament championships are the third most all-time.

• The Tar Heels won NCAA titles in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017.

• Carolina’s 20 Final Fours are the most in NCAA Tournament history.

• The Tar Heels are the only team to play in the Final Four in each of the last eight decades: 1946, 1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017.

• Carolina has played in the second-most NCAA Tournament games (174) and has the second-most wins (126) and second-highest winning percentage (.724).

• Roy Williams won three NCAA titles and 79 NCAA Tournament games, second most all-time.

• Dean Smith won two NCAA titles and 65 NCAA Tournament games, third most all-time.

Tar Heels as an 8th Seed

• Carolina is a No. 8 seed for the second year in a row and the fifth time overall (1990, 2000, 2013, 2021, 2022).

• The Tar Heels are 7-4 as an eight seed, including 3-1 in the first round.

• In 1990, Carolina beat No. 9 SW Missouri State and No. 1 Oklahoma in Austin before losing to No. 4 Arkansas in Dallas.

• In 2000, Carolina advanced to the Final Four, the lowest seed in its NCAA-record 20 trips to the Final Four (seeding began in 1979; UNC has reached the Final Four 13 times since the field was seeded). The Tar Heels beat Missouri, top-seed and third-ranked Stanford, Tennessee and Tulsa to advance to the Final Four, where it lost to Florida.

Carolina in the Longhorn State

• This is the 10th NCAA Tournament in which Carolina is playing in the state of Texas.

• Fort Worth is the seventh city in Texas in which the Tar Heels will be playing in the NCAA Tournament.

• The Tar Heels are 7-7 in Texas in the NCAA Tournament.

• In 1978, Carolina lost to Texas A&M in double overtime in Denton; in 1981, Carolina defeated Pittsburgh in El Paso; In 1986, Carolina lost to Louisville at the Summit in Houston; In 1990, Carolina defeated SW Missouri State and No. 1 ranked Oklahoma in Austin and lost to Arkansas in Dallas; In 1998, Carolina lost to Utah in the Final Four in the Alamodome in San Antonio; In 2000, Carolina defeated Tennessee and Tulsa at the Erwin Center in Austin; In 2008, Carolina lost to Kansas in the Final Four in the Alamodome in San Antonio; In 2013, Carolina beat Providence and lost on a last-second shot to Iowa State at the AT&T Center in San Antonio; and in 2016, Carolina beat Syracuse in the national semifinals and lost on a last-second three-pointer to Villanova in the national championship game at NRG Stadium in Houston.

• Carolina will be playing in Fort Worth for the first time (UNC has never played TCU).

About UNC

• Armando Bacot leads Carolina in scoring (16.5), rebounding (12.5), field goal percentage (.598) and blocks (56). He also led UNC in those categories last season. No Tar Heel has ever led in those four categories in consecutive seasons and no other Tar Heel has ever reached all four of those numbers in one season.

• Brady Manek, a 6-9 power forward, made 235 three-pointers in four seasons at Oklahoma, becoming the tallest player in Big 12 history to make 200 threes. Manek leads UNC with 76 threes and in three-point percentage at a career-best 38.6% (previous was 38.3% as a freshman at OU).

• Sophomores RJ Davis and Caleb Love have started every game together in the backcourt this season except Senior Night, and are both averaging more than 33 minutes per game. Davis and Love have combined for 28.7 points and 7.2 assists per game. A year ago as freshmen, they combined for 18.9 points and 5.5 assists. They have 131 three-pointers and 237 assists

• Carolina has three players with 50 or more threes this season for the just the fourth time in history. Brady Manek leads with 76, Caleb Love has 74 and RJ Davis 57.

• Leaky Black is the sixth Tar Heel to amass 500 career points, 400 rebounds, 200 assists, 100
  steals and 50 blocks. Black was third in voting for ACC Defensive Player of the Year and earned his first award for the league’s All-Defensive team. The Concord, N.C., native is shooting
  career-best percentages from the floor (.479) and the free throw line (.882).

• Five Tar Heels have scored 20 or more points in a game this season. Armando Bacot and Caleb Love have both scored 20 or more 10 times, Brady Manek eight, RJ Davis four and Dawson Garcia three.

• Tar Heels have scored 20 or more points 35 times in 33 games, including seven games in which two players scored 20 or more (Loyola, Brown, Charleston, Elon, home vs. Georgia Tech and Syracuse) and the March 5 win at Duke when the Tar Heels set a school recored when four players scored 20 or more.

• The Tar Heels lead the ACC and are ninth in the country in rebound margin at plus 7.7 per game. UNC also leads the league and is 18th nationally in rebounds per game (39.8). The Tar Heels have averaged 40 or more rebounds for the past seven seasons.

• Hubert Davis is the ninth person to win 20 or more games in his first season as Carolina’s head coach. Davis is a Tar Heel alum, and so are each of his assistant coaches and members of the basketball staff.

About Marquette

• Marquette has earned a spot in the NCAA tournament field for the first time since 2019, marking the program’s 34th appearance all-time.
      
• The Golden Eagles earned the No. 5 seed in the West Region in 2018-19 and were upset by Ja Morant and Murray State (No. 12 seed) in the opening round at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.  The Racers posted an 83-64 victory.

• Marquette’s 2021-22 roster features just a pair of players with NCAA tournament experience, and both Darryl Morsell and Kur Kuath advanced to the postseason with different programs.

• Morsell (Maryland) started a total of four games, helping the Terrapins to the Round of 32 in both 2019 and 2021. Kuath (Oklahoma) appeared off the bench in a pair of games in 2021, helping the Sooners to the second round as well.

• Guard Greg Elliott was a member of the 2018-19 NCAA team at MU, but red-shirted that season after a preseason hand injury. Forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper didn’t see action on in Clemson’s loss last season to Rutgers in the opening round.

• While postseason experience is limited within the players, head coach Shaka Smart is very familiar with NCAA trips. With Marquette’s selection, Smart has now guided three programs (VCU, Texas, MU) to a total of nine appearances, highlighted by VCU’s run to the Final Four in 2010-11.

• Forward Justin Lewis claimed the BIG EAST Most Improved Player Award on March 7 after making across-the-board strides in 2021-22. Lewis, who was tabbed All-BIG EAST First Team, concluded the regular season ranked among the conference leaders in six categories. He is third in the league in scoring at 17.1 points per game (led the BIG EAST in league-only games at 18.2 ppg.) and fourth in rebounding (7.9 rpg.), the only player in the league in the top-five in both categories.

• Guards Darryl Morsell and Kam Jones were recognized among the BIG EAST’s top players in a survey of the league’s head coaches. Lewis has been tabbed All-BIG EAST First Team, Morsell was tabbed All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention and Jones is a member of the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team (unanimous selection). Morsell, an All-Big Ten selection at Maryland, is in his first season with the Golden Eagles. He has started all of his 30 appearances and is 16th in the league in scoring with 13.5 points per game. He has reached double figures in points on 21 occasions and scored 20-or-more points six times.

UNC vs Marquette

• Carolina is 4-2 against the Golden Eagles, including 1-1 in NCAA Tournament games.

• Last season, the Tar Heels arranged to play Marquette on February 24 after UNC’s game at Boston College, originally scheduled for February 23, was postponed due to Covid issues in the BC program. The Golden Eagles had last played on February 17 and was scheduled to be idle until the 27th.

• Marquette defeated the Tar Heels, 83-70, handing UNC its only home loss in 11 games last season.

• Seven of the eight players who played for Marquette in last season’s game are not on the roster this season (Greg Elliott made three 3FGs, had four steals and scored 15 points). Five Tar Heels who played in last season’s game will play in this game – Armando Bacot (three points, five rebounds in 13 minutes), Leaky Black (three points, two steals in 26 minutes), RJ Davis (11 points, two threes, four turnovers), Caleb Love (one point on 0-6 FG, seven assists) and Kerwin Walton (eight points, two threes).

• Garrison Brooks led UNC with 18 points. Day’Ron Sharpe, currently a Brooklyn Net, had nine points and 11 rebounds.

• Dawson Garcia had a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds for Marquette. He transferred to UNC and averaged 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in 16 games for the Tar Heels before returning home to Minnesota to help with several Covid-related illnesses in his family.

• Prior to last season’s game in Chapel Hill, the teams’ most recent game was in 2011 in Newark, N.J., in the Sweet 16. Carolina beat the Golden Eagles, 81-63. Tyler Zeller led UNC with 27 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals; John Henson had 14 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks; and Harrison Barnes scored 20 and grabbed seven offensive boards.

• The Tar Heels led that 2011 NCAA Tournament game, 40-15, at the half.

• In 1977, Al McGuire’s Marquette Warriors defeated Dean Smith’s Tar Heels, 67-59, in the national championship game at the Omni in Atlanta. That was the first time the schools had ever met.

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