Carolina hosts NC State in the Smith Center on Saturday, March 2, at 4 p.m. The Tar Heels are 22-6, including 14-3 in the ACC. Carolina is ranked No. 9 in the country in the Associated Press poll, UNC’s 10th straight top-10 ranking and 701st all-time. The Wolfpack are 17-11, including 9-8 in the ACC. NC State dropped a tough battle to Florida State, 90-83, on Tuesday night. The Seminoles shot 59.7 percent from the field for the game, the highest opponent field goal percentage allowed by the Pack this season.
On January 10 in Raleigh, the Tar Heels held the Wolfpack to 27.3% shooting in a 67-54 victory. RJ Davis led Carolina with 16 points, and Harrison Ingram had a career-high 19 rebounds, the most ever by a Tar Heel in the series history.
Saturday’s game will feature four of the current top five career scoring leaders in the ACC. Armando Bacot (1st), DJ Horne (3rd), RJ Davis (4th) and DJ Burns Jr. (5th) have all scored over 1,800 career points. NC State and UNC are two of just six teams (Alabama, Illinois, Purdue, Wright State are the other schools) in NCAA DI that currently have two players that have each scored over 1,800 career points. There are only 53 current NCAA Division I players that have scored over 1,800 career points and four of them will be on the floor together Saturday at the Smith Center.
Saturday’s game features the top-two scorers in conference action (RJ Davis – 1st at 22.1 ppg., and DJ Horne – 2nd at 19.4 ppg.) Both players scored and shot under their averages in the team’s first meeting. Davis finished with 16 points on 6-of-19 shooting in UNC’s win over the Pack while Horne was held to just six points (his fewest in an ACC game this season) on 2-of-16 shooting.
Saturday is the 246th meeting all-time between NC State and North Carolina. The Tar Heels lead the all-time series, 165-80, and has won 30 of the 37 meetings between the team at the Smith Center.
About UNC
- Carolina leads the ACC, one game ahead of Duke. UNC has secured a top-4 seed in the ACC Tournament.
- Carolina defeated Miami, 75-71, on Monday to sweep the two games against the Hurricanes in the regular season. The Tar Heels also have two wins this season over Florida State and split a pair with Clemson and Syracuse.
- RJ Davis broke the Smith Center scoring record with a career-high 42 points in the win over the Canes. It was Carolina’s 562nd game in the Smith Center, and he broke Tyler Hansbrough’s record of 40 points set in 2006 against Georgia Tech.
- Armando Bacot will be playing in his 161st game, tying Virginia’s Kihei Clark for the all-time ACC record.
- UNC is 12-1 in the Smith Center this season.
About NC State
- NC State is on pace this season to break a school record it set last season for fewest turnovers in a season.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 30th in the NCAA with an average of 13.8 fast break points per game. NC State is 15-4 this season when it has more fast break points than its opponent, but is just 2-7 when its opponent has more fast break points.
- In Tuesday’s game at Florida State, Burns was held scoreless for just the
second time in 152 career games. Burns has averaged 15.7 points per game against North Carolina in his three meetings against the Tar Heels as a member of the Pack.
- NC State has 11 wins over ranked opponents in the Kevin Keatts era, including five wins over top-10 ranked opponents.
- NC State’s last win on the road over a top-10 ranked opponent was Jan. 27, 2018 when the Pack defeated 10th-ranked UNC, 95-91, in overtime in Chapel Hill.
How to Watch
Time: 4:00 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN ((Dave O’Brien, Cory Alexander)
Stream: Watch ESPN
Per Release
