By Jeysla Gonzalez
2 1 2025
NORTH CAROLINA GAME NOTES
https://goheels.com/documents/2025/1/31/23-atDuke.pdf
DUKE GAME NOTES
https://goheels.com/documents/2025/1/31/23opp-atDuke.pdf
• Carolina and Duke play for the 263rd time overall and the 88th time in Cameron Indoor Stadium when the Tar Heels play the Blue Devils on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.
• With Saturday’s game, the Tar Heels will have played half the teams in this week’s AP top 10.
• The Tar Heels are 13-9, 6-4 in the ACC after a 73-65 loss at Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The game in Cameron is the second straight road start for the Tar Heels, who are on the front end of a stretch of four out of five games away from the Smith Center.
• Following the game at Duke, UNC is off for a week until hosting Pitt on February 8 then it hits the road again for two straight at Clemson (February 10) and Syracuse (February 15).
• Duke is ranked second in the AP poll and sits atop the ACC standings at 17-2, 9-0 in league play. The Blue Devils are 11-0 at home with an average win margin of 23.8 points in their four ACC home games.
• The last time unranked UNC defeated an opponent ranked as high as No.1 or No.2 was 12/3/2013, when the Tar Heels beat No. 1 Michigan State in East Lansing, 79-65.
• The Tar Heels are 3-4 on the road with wins at Hawai’i, Notre Dame and NC State. The Tar Heels have played four one-possession games on the road, including a 92-89 loss at Kansas, a 74-73 win at Notre Dame, a 63-61 win in Raleigh and 67-66 loss at Wake Forest.
• Tuesday’s loss at Pitt was by eight points, but the Tar Heels led 65-64 with 3:21 to play before the Panthers closed out the game on a 9-0 run. The Tar Heels made one of their final 11 shots, were outscored 22-4 in points off turnovers and scored just 21 second-half points after totaling 44 in the opening 20 minutes.
• Carolina has averaged 73.4 points and allowed 74.0 per game in seven true road games this season.
• The Tar Heels have outshot their hosts in the seven true road games from the field, from three and the free throw line. UNC has shot 44.7/29.3/76.7% while the home teams have shot 42.6/26.8/73.1%.
• In ACC play the Tar Heels are seventh in the conference in scoring offense (74.0 ppg) and seventh in points allowed (71.0 ppg).
• Take out the 102-96 overtime win over Boston College and the Tar Heels are averaging 70.9 points and allowing only 68.2 points per game in ACC play.
• RJ Davis is averaging 19.5 points and shooting 48.1% from the floor and 40.7% from three in the last four games. Davis has led UNC in scoring in each of the four games.
• Carolina is 5-4 this season when Davis is the leading scorer and 5-2 when Ian Jackson tops the Tar Heels.
• Seth Trimble, a 6-3 guard, leads the Tar Heels in rebounding at 5.4 per game. He is second on the team in offensive rebounds despite missing three games in early January due to an upper body injury.
• Trimble is on pace to become the shortest player to lead the Tar Heels in rebounding average since at least 1950. Bud Maddie (1952-53) and Larry Miller (1965-66) were both listed at 6-4.
• Trimble has three point/rebound double-doubles this season (27 points and 10 rebounds vs. Dayton, 18 and 12 vs. Boston College and 10 and 12 at Pitt).
• Trimble has nine offensive rebounds in the last two games vs. BC and Pitt. He has grabbed three or more offensive rebounds five times this season. No other Tar Heel has more than three games with at least three offensive boards.
CAROLINA-DUKE
• The Tar Heels lead the all-time series, 145-117, including wins in both games last season and six of the last nine games.
• Carolina is 40-47 vs. Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium (3-1 in the last four and 5-5 in the previous 10 games). The 40 wins are the most by any visiting team (NC State is second with 26).
• Hubert Davis is 4-3 vs. the Blue Devils as Carolina’s head coach. The Tar Heels went 6-5 in Davis’ four years as a player from 1989-92.
• On March 9, 2024, the last time the teams played, the Tar Heels led by as many as 15 points in the first half and held the lead for 39:43 in an 84-79 win in Cameron. Cormac Ryan made six three-pointers, which tied the record for most 3FGs by a Tar Heel vs. Duke, and scored a career-high 31 points.
• RJ Davis has won three times in Cameron (2021, 2022 and 2024). A win would make Davis the sixth Tar Heel to play in four victories over Duke in Cameron in the ACC era. Mitch Kupchak (1973-76), Walter Davis and John Kuester (1974-77) and Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough (2006-09) all played in four wins.
• RJ Davis has scored 109 points in nine games against Duke. He has scored in double figures six times with a high of 21 in the 2022 win in Cameron. He also had 18 points in the 2022 Final Four in Carolina’s win in New Orleans in the national semifinal.
• Seth Trimble averaged 8.0 points and was 8 for 14 from the floor in Carolina’s two wins last year.
• Ven-Allen Lubin had 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks while playing for Notre Dame at Duke in 2023.
• Jae’Lyn Withers had 16 points and nine rebounds at Duke in 2021 while playing for Louisville.
• Carolina has 21 wins over top-five ranked (AP) Duke teams.
• The last time UNC beat Duke when the Blue Devils were ranked No. 1 or 2 was 2/20/2019, when the eighth-ranked Tar Heels knocked off No. 1 Duke, 88-72, in Cameron behind Luke Maye and Cameron Johnson.
• The last time unranked Carolina beat a top-five Duke team was 3/5/2022, when the Tar Heels beat No. 4 Duke, 94-81. That game is the only one in UNC history when four Tar Heels scored 20 or more points (23 by Armando Bacot, 22 by Caleb Love, 21 by RJ Davis and 20 by Brady Manek).
ANOTHER DRAMATIC FINISH
• Carolina’s 73-65 loss at Pitt wasn’t a one-possession game, but the Tar Heels held a one-point lead with fewer than three minutes to play in a game that featured 11 lead changes.
• The win over Boston College also doesn’t count as a one-possession game, but the Tar Heels won in overtime by forcing extra time after trailing by four points with under 20 seconds left in regulation.
• The Tar Heels have played nine one-possession games (decided by one, two or three points) this season. That equals the most played by the Tar Heels in a season in the three-point era, which began in 1986-87. The 2010-11 team played nine one-possession games and won eight.
• The Tar Heels’ five one-possession wins this season already equal the second most in the three-point era. UNC also won five in 1998-99 (5-3), 2002-03 (5-2) and 2016-17 (5-1).
• The losses to Stanford and Wake Forest were just the fourth time ever Carolina lost by a point in back-to-back games. The other instances include the 1929-30 season (Loyola Chicago and Duke), 1940-41 (Fordham and St. Joseph’s) and 1967-68 (South Carolina and Duke).
SCHEDULE
• Carolina’s strength of schedule is No. 11 in the country overall (seventh in non-conference games).
• The Tar Heels have played three of the top five, four of the top 10 and five of the top 11 teams in this week’s Associated Press poll.
• Based on the January 27 AP poll, Carolina has already played No. 1 Auburn, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 11 Kansas and No. 21 Louisville and plays No. 2 Duke on Saturday.
• Carolina is No. 39 overall in KenPom and 41st in the NET.
• Eight of UNC’s losses are Quad 1 games and five are against teams in the top 17 in the NET (four in the top eight).
HALF MEASURES
• Carolina has led at the half in each of the last eight games and won five of those games. In the last four games, the Tar Heels have led at the half by a combined six points and won only the Boston College game, when they led by a point at the break.
• Carolina led Pitt, 44-34, late in the first half. It was the ninth time this season UNC had built a double-digit lead in the first half, but it turned out to be the first time an opponent overcame that margin for a victory. (UNC had beaten Elon, American, at Hawai’i, La Salle, Campbell, at Notre Dame, SMU and Cal when leading by 10 or more in the first half). Two other times (vs. Elon and Notre Dame), the Tar Heels lost the lead but went on to win the game.
• UNC has fallen behind by 10 more points in the first half seven times. The Tar Heels rallied to beat Dayton and UCLA, took the lead but eventually lost to Kansas, Michigan State and Florida and lost to Auburn and Alabama.
• In all games, Carolina has scored 143 more points in the second half than in the first (6.5 more per game).
• In ACC games, the Tar Heels have scored only three more points in the second half than the first. That includes the loss at Pitt, when UNC scored 44 first-half points but only 21 in the second.
• Carolina has been outscored in the second half in eight of its last nine games (all except Cal).
• Carolina shot a higher field goal percentage in the second half than it did in the first in 16 of the first 17 games (all except Georgia Tech). However, in the last five games UNC has shot better in the first half against Cal, Stanford, Boston College and Pitt.
• The Tar Heels shot 50% or better in the second half in the second half in seven straight games from La Salle through SMU but has not shot 50% in the second half in any of the last five games.
SCORING EFFICIENCY
• The Tar Heels are 33rd in the country in scoring at 81.7 points per game and have improved to 294th in scoring defense (76.2).
• Boston College (96 points, including 89 in regulation) is the only opponent to score more than 73 points in the last eight games.
• Factoring in pace of play and the number of possessions, Carolina is 49th in the country in offensive efficiency and 48th in defensive efficiency.
• The Tar Heels are 9-1 this season when holding opponents below 105 points per 100 possessions. Wake Forest (92.0 ppp) is the only team to beat UNC despite scoring fewer than 105 points per 100 possessions.
• Carolina is shooting 55.5% from two-point range, its highest two-point percentage since the 1997-98 ACC champion and NCAA East Regional champion Tar Heels shot 56.5% from two-point range.
• The Tar Heels are shooting 32.1% from three, the fourth-lowest percentage in UNC history.
• Carolina is 11-3 this season when it makes 30% or better from three-point range and 2-6 (wins over Georgia Tech and Notre Dame) when it makes less than 30% of its three-point attempts.
• The Tar Heels made 20 of 74 (27%) from three-point range in their last three losses, back-to-back one-point losses to Stanford (5 of 18) and Wake Forest (8 of 32) and the 73-65 loss at Pitt, when they made 7 of 24, including 1 of the last 11 from three.
WINS AND LOSSES
• In Carolina’s 13 wins the Tar Heels are shooting 9.8% higher from the floor than their opponents (49.6 to 39.8%). In the losses, the opponents are out-shooting the Tar Heels 46.1 to 43.3%.
• The opponents average 83.3 points in UNC’s losses and just 71.3 in the Tar Heels’ wins.
• Carolina is plus 6.0 rebounds per game in its wins and minus 2.9 per game on the boards in the losses. The opponents have out-rebounded the Tar Heels in six of the nine losses (UNC was plus-one at Kansas, plus-two vs. Alabama and outrebounded Pitt by 10).
• Carolina is shooting 35.2% from three in its wins and 27.9% in the losses.
• RJ Davis averages 17.5 points in Carolina’s victories and 17.7 in the losses.
• Ian Jackson averages 16.3 points in the wins and 12.4 in the losses.
• Carolina is 7-3 when it makes the same or more three-pointers and is 6-6 when the opponents make more 3FGs.
• The Tar Heels are 9-4 when they attempt 20 or more free throws and 4-5 when attempting fewer than 20.
• UNC is 8-2 when it makes more free throws (losses to Kansas and Stanford) and 5-7 when making an equal amount or fewer free throws.
JACKSON’S PRODUCTION IS KEY
• Ian Jackson scored a game-high 20 points on January 15 vs. Cal, the sixth time in seven games he scored 20 or more and led UNC in scoring. Jackson joined Phil Ford (in 1975) as the only Tar Heel freshmen to score 20 or more points six times in a seven-game stretch.
• Jackson had previously become the first Tar Heel freshman ever to score 23 or more points in four straight games (24 vs. UCLA, 26 vs. Campbell, 23 at Louisville and 27 at Notre Dame).
• He was the first UNC freshman to score 20 or more in four games in a row since Tyler Hansbrough (2005-06) and the first to lead UNC in scoring in four straight since Cole Anthony (2019-20).
• Jackson has scored in double figures 14 times, including 12 of the last 16 games.
• Jackson and RJ Davis share the team lead with seven 20-point games.
• Jackson leads UNC in scoring on the road. In seven true road games, Jackson is averaging 15.4 points, 0.8 more than Davis, who is second.
• Jackson has made 14 3FGs on the road, three more than Davis, who is second.
• Jackson was named ACC Rookie of the Week for his 26-point performance on December 29 against Campbell.
• Jackson’s 24 points against UCLA were the second most ever by a Tar Heel freshman in Madison Square Garden (25 by Rashad McCants vs. Kansas in 2002).
CAROLINA BASKETBALL
• This is the 115th season of Carolina Basketball.
• The Tar Heels have won seven national championships (six NCAA Tournament titles), played in a record 21 Final Fours, won a record 133 NCAA Tournament games, played in the NCAA Tournament 53 times, been a No. 1 seed a record 18 times, won a record 33 regular-season ACC titles, won 18 ACC Tournament championships and have had 10 former players inducted in the Naismith Hall of Fame.
• Carolina has the second-highest winning percentage (.733) and third-most wins (2,385) in college basketball history.
• The Tar Heels are led by Hubert Davis, in his fourth season as head coach at his alma mater. The 2022 National Coach-of-the-Year winner and 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year has led UNC to a 91-40 record.
• Davis is 49-21 in regular season ACC games.
• Davis’ 78 wins through 2023-24 were the second most by a Carolina head coach and fourth most ever at a Power 4 Conference program after three years as a head coach.
• Carolina is the only major program in the country whose six coaches all played at their alma mater. Davis played for Hall of Famer Dean Smith from 1988-92. Jeff Lebo (1985-89) and Pat Sullivan (1990-95) also played at UNC for Smith, Brad Frederick played for Smith and Bill Guthridge (1996-99) and Sean May (2002-05) and Marcus Paige (2012-16) played for Hall of Famer Roy Williams.
• Vince Carter and Water Davis were inducted in the Naismith Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in October. They are the 13th and 14th Tar Heels inducted, the second most among all college basketball programs (Kansas).
• They were the seventh and eighth inducted as players, which is more than any other college’s alumni in the Hall’s history.
• They were the ninth and 10th individuals who played collegiately for Dean Smith. No other coach has more former players inducted in the Naismith Hall of Fame.
• Lennie Rosenbluth is one of eight honorees in the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2024. Rosenbluth, star forward on the 1957 undefeated NCAA championship team, will become the 15th Tar Heel player or coach inducted in the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
TAR HEELS AND THE ACC
• Carolina is a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
• This is the 72nd season of ACC men’s basketball.
• UNC has won the regular-season championship 33 times, including the 2023-24 season, when the Tar Heels went 17-3 to win the title outright for the 22nd time. Duke is second with 20 regular-season titles.
• The Tar Heels are 764-317 all-time in ACC regular-season play. The 764 wins are the most by any team.
• RJ Davis was the 2024 ACC Player of the Year and Hubert Davis was the Coach of the Year.
• Davis is the first Player of the Year to return the following season since UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough won the award in 2008 and came back for his senior season in 2009, when he led the Tar Heels to an NCAA title.
MORE MILESTONES FOR RJ
• RJ Davis and Duke’s Cooper Flagg are the only players in the top eight in the ACC in both scoring and assists.
• Davis has played in 160 games over five seasons. He passed Leaky Black (155) for second in games by a Tar Heel behind Armando Bacot’s ACC-record 169. Davis, Black and Bacot all played a fifth year as a result of Covid-19.
• Davis leads Carolina and is ninth in the ACC in scoring at 17.6 points per game and is eighth in the league in assists at 4.0 per game.
• The White Plains, N.Y., native is averaging a career-high 4.0 assists this season. His previous season bests were 3.6 per game in 2021-22 and 3.5 last season.
• Davis scored 21 points at Wake Forest and 22 in the OT win over Boston College, when he scored seven points in the extra period. He has 42 career 20-point games. The Tar Heels are 32-10 when he scores at least 20 and 13-5 when he drops 25 or more.
• Davis is Carolina’s all-time leader and is 10th in ACC history with 320 three-pointers. NC State’s Rodney Monroe is ninth with 322.
• Davis is averaging 14.4 field goal attempts per game this season. Last year, he averaged 16.4. He is attempting 6.9 threes per game (7.7 per game last season).
• Davis is the second-leading scorer in Carolina history with 2,475 points. He passed Armando Bacot, who also played in five seasons, for second place in the win at Notre Dame on January 4.
• Davis is seventh in ACC scoring. Virginia’s Bryant Stith is sixth (2,516).
• He broke the UNC career record for three-pointers on December 29 (now has 320) and has the highest free throw percentage ever by a Tar Heel (86.0%).
• Davis’ 29-point outing vs. Florida on December 17 made him the highest scoring guard in Carolina history, eclipsing the mark held by Phil Ford.
• Davis’ career scoring average is 15.5, the eighth-highest by a Tar Heel guard.
• Last year, Davis became the 19th Tar Heel to earn consensus first-team All-America honors. Those 19 players have won consensus first-team All-America honors a total of 28 times.
• Davis joined Lennie Rosenbluth in 1957, Phil Ford in 1978, Michael Jordan in 1983 and 1984, Kenny Smith in 1987, Jerry Stackhouse in 1995, Antawn Jamison in 1998, Joseph Forte in 2001 and Tyler Hansbrough in 2008 and 2009 as the only Tar Heels to make first-team All-America on each of the teams the NCAA recognizes to determine consensus first-team All-America.
NOVEMBER SIGNEES
• Carolina signed Isaiah Denis of Concord, N.C., and Derek Dixon of Vienna, Va.
• Denis is a 6-5 guard at Davidson Day High School in Davidson, N.C. His parents are Nancy Denis and Frantz Denis, and he plays AAU for CP3.
• Dixon, the son of John and Kari Dixon, is a 6-3 guard at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. He also plays AAU for Team Takeover.
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