By Annie Walker
3 23 2024
UNC GAME NOTES
https://goheels.com/documents/2024/3/22/36-NCAA2-MichiganState.pdf
MICHIGAN STATE GAME NOTES
https://goheels.com/documents/2024/3/22/Game_35_NCAA.pdf
• The Tar Heels play ninth-seeded Michigan State (20-14) in the second round at Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Saturday, March 23, at 5:30 p.m. on CBS.
• Carolina defeated Wagner, 90-62, and the Spartans beat Mississippi State, 69-51, to advance.
• RJ Davis scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, Armando Bacot had 20 points and 15 rebounds and Charlotte native Jae’Lyn Withers scored a season-high 16 points and added 10 rebounds vs. Wagner to lead Carolina to its 33rd win in 35 games in the round of 64.
• Bacot tied Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan and Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon with his seventh consecutive double-double in an NCAA Tournament game. It was his sixth NCAA Tournament game in a row with 15 or more rebounds.
• Bacot became Carolina’s second-leading scorer (2,130 points) and tied Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried for third in NCAA history with his 86th double-double.
• Davis (2,052) passed Lennie Rosenbluth for fifth in UNC career scoring and passed Justin Jackson, Charlie Scott and Bobby Lewis to move into fourth in points in a season (748) by a Tar Heel.
TAR HEELS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• This is Carolina’s 53rd NCAA Tournament appearance, second most all-time. The Tar Heels are 132-49 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Carolina has the most wins in NCAA Tournament history (132), most Final Fours (21), second-highest winning percentage (.729), second-most games (181) and third-most NCAA titles (6).
• The Tar Heels won NCAA titles in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017.
• Carolina played in the national championship game six other times (1946, 1968, 1977, 1981, 2016 and 2022).
• This is Carolina’s 18th No. 1 seed, most in NCAA Tournament history. UNC is 64-12 as 1 seed.
• Carolina’s No. 1 seeds include 1979, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2024.
• Carolina advanced to the Final Four as a No. 1 seed 10 times (1982, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017) and won NCAA titles as a No. 1 seed in 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017.
• The Tar Heels advanced to the Final Four out of the West Region in 1981.
• This is the eighth time UNC is playing in the West Region: 1978, 1981 (2 seed), 1986 (3 seed), 1988 (2 seed), 1999 (3 seed), 2015 (4 seed), 2018 (2 seed), 2024 (1 seed).
• Carolina is 24-8 in the round of 32 since the field expanded to 64 (and then 68) teams beginnig in 1985.
• The Tar Heels are 13-1 in Charlotte and 35-2 in the state of North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.
TAR HEELS IN CHARLOTTE
• The Tar Heels are 167-27 all-time in Charlotte.
• That includes a 17-2 record in Spectrum Center from 2006-24.
• The Tar Heels are 13-1 in the NCAA Tournament in Charlotte (1-0 in 1975, 1-0 in 1982, 1-0 in 1984, 2-0 in 1987, 2-0 in 2005, 2-0 in 2008, 2-0 in 2011, 1-1 in 2018 and 1-0 in 2024).
• UNC is 35-2 in NCAA Tournament games in the state of North Carolina: 13-1 in Charlotte, 7-0 in Greensboro, 9-1 in Raleigh and 6-0 in Winston-Salem.
MORE UNC & THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• Carolina is the only team to play in the Final Four and a national championship in nine straight decades (the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s).
• Hubert Davis is the fourth Tar Heel head coach to lead a team to a No. 1 seed (Dean Smith eight times, Roy Williams eight times, Bill Guthridge once).
CAROLINA AND MICHIGAN STATE
• Carolina is 12-4 against Michigan State, including 5-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
• Kansas and Villanova (seven each) are the only teams UNC has played more than Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament (also six vs. Arkansas).
• This is the first NCAA Tournament game between the Tar Heels and Spartans since the 2009 national championship, which Carolina won, 89-72, in Detroit on 4/6/2009.
• Against MSU, UNC is 1-0 in the round of 32 (2007 in Winston-Salem),1-0 in the Sweet 16 (1998 in Greensboro), 2-0 in the national semifinals (1957 in Kansas City and 2005 in St. Louis) and 1-0 in the championship game (2009 in Detroit).
• Michigan State beat Carolina, 63-45, in the finals of PK80 in Portland, Ore., on 11/26/2017, in the most recent game between the teams.
• Paxson Wojcik is a first-year grad student for the Tar Heels. His dad, Doug, is an assistant coach at MSU and was an assistant coach at UNC from 2000-03.
• This is the sixth time UNC will play Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament. That will tie the third-most games for UNC against an opponent in its NCAA Tournament history.
NCAA Tournament Games Played by UNC Against an Opponent
7 vs. Villanova
7 vs. Kansas
6 vs. Michigan State
6 vs. Arkansas
UNC-WAGNER NOTES
… Carolina improved to 33-2 in the round of 64.
… is 9-0 this season and 21-1 under head coach Hubert Davis when scoring 90 or more points.
… has won 21 games this season when holding opponents to 70 or fewer points, including 17 times under 70.
… shot a season-high 50% from three-point range (9 of 18)…previous high was 46.7% at Duke when it made 7 of 15.
… outrebounded Wagner, 43-24, the 24th straight game it outrebounded its opponent (by a combined margin of plus 245).
… shot 55.0% from the floor, its second highest this season and highest since Dec. 29, when it made 56.2% against Charleston Southern.
… is 8-0 this season when shooting 50% or higher from the floor.
… has won 30 consecutive games when shooting 50% from the floor.
… shot 50% in both halves for the third time in the last five games (at Duke and vs. Florida State) and fifth time this season.
… shot its highest field goal percentage (.550) in an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since the 2016 Elite 8 vs. Notre Dame (.615).
… shot 50% from the floor in both halves in an NCAA Tournament game since the second round in 2019 vs. Washington.
… shot 50% from the floor, 50% from three and 75% from the free throw line for the first time in an NCAA Tournament game since the 2016 Sweet 16 vs. Indiana.
… Carolina’s offensive rating (KenPom) was 138.3, its second highest of the season.
… improved to 21-0 when holding the opponents below 100 points per 100 possessions (Wagner scored 95.3).
… didn’t trail for the seventh time this season, including the third time in the last six games (Notre Dame, Duke and Wagner).
• it was the fifth time this season and 12th time in the last four seasons RJ Davis and Armando Bacot both scored 20 or more points. UNC is 4-1 this season and 11-1 overall when both score 20.
• Bacot scored 20 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds (UNC is 14-4 this season and 62-24 all-time when he has a double-double).
• It was Bacot’s 86th career double-double (tying Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried for No. 3 in NCAA history).
• It was Bacot’s seventh consecutive double-double in an NCAA Tournament game (tying Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon for the NCAA Tournament record for consecutive games with a double-double).
• It was Bacot’s sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament game with 15 or more rebounds.
• Bacot passed Phil Ford for second outright in UNC career scoring with 2,310 points (they were tied entering the game at 2,290).
• Bacot tied NC State’s David Thompson for 11th in ACC career scoring.
• Bacot has 1,696 rebounds, passing Alabama’s Jerry Harper (1,688) for eighth most in NCAA history.
• It was Bacot’s 27th career game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
• Davis scored a game-high 22 points, the 25th time he led or co-led UNC in scoring this season and the 18th time he led or co-led both teams.
• Davis has 2,052 career points, passing Lennie Rosenbluth (2,047) for fifth in UNC history.
• Davis has 748 points this season, passing Justin Jackson, Charlie Scott and Bobby Lewis for fourth most in a season by a Tar Heel.
• Davis has the most points in a season since Hansbrough’s 882 in 2007-08.
• It was Davis’ 22nd 20-point game this season, tied for the fifth most by a Tar Heel in a season and the most since Tyler Hansbrough had 27 in 2007-08.
• It was the 40th consecutive game Davis made a three, the third-longest streak ever by a Tar Heel (one behind Marcus Paige‘s 41 from 2014-16).
• Davis made four 3FGs, the 31st time in 35 games this season he made multiple threes and the 14th time this year he made at least four in a game.
• Jae’Lyn Withers scored a season-high 16 points and matched his season high with 10 rebounds.
• It was Withers’ second double-double as a Tar Heel (15 and 10 vs. Louisville on Jan. 17) and the seventh of his career (five while playing for Louisville).
• It was the Charlotte native’s fourth game scoring in double figures and first since Jan. 17.
• Withers scored 10 points in the first half, which matched his season high for a half (10 in the second half vs. Louisville).
• Withers finished plus 15, his highest plus/minus since he was plus 24 vs. Louisville. It was his fourth-highest plus/minus this season.
• Cormac Ryan scored in double figures for the 19th time this season and 76th time overall. He made two three-pointers, the 20th time he made two or more this season (UNC 16-4 in those games).
The game will air live on CBS, with Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce calling all of the action. The Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard state-wide and on the web at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst, and Blake Froling is the studio host. The game can also be heard on channel 208 or 201 on SiriusXM and on the SiriusXM app.
“When you look at my record in the NCAA against them (North Carolina), it doesn’t feel very good at all,” MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo said. “But the opportunity to change that and the opportunity to go against people — I still talk to Roy (William) quite a bit. I’ve always had great respect for their program and the way they’ve done it.
“I used to work Michael Jordan’s fantasy camp, so it goes way, way back. It means a lot to me. Number one, we’re still playing. Number two, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. That’s what these are. These are memory-making moments. I watched the Oakland-Kentucky game last night. I’m not going to sit here and act like it’s the same because it’s not the same. I think we’ve earned our stripes as a program too. We’ve always said, since the first year we got to the Final Four way, way back, and what
I’ve done with scheduling a lot of times, including the aircraft carrier when Roy and I played on that, to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.
“I think they’ve earned the right to be a great program. Hubert’s done a great job when you look at his years, and going to a Final Four his first year. So it’s all good. The president, the women’s team playing, the relationship with players, those are all good. But come 5:30 it’s the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s, and then at 7:30 it’s back to hugging and kissing, I guess.”
MSU IN THE ROUND OF 32
- Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, Michigan State has advanced to the round of 32 on 25 occasions.
- MSU has a 17-7 record in round of 32 games since 1985, including 15-4 under Tom Izzo.
QUICK TURNAROUND SUCCESS
- Michigan State’s deep NCAA Tournament runs can be attributed to its success with quick turnarounds.
- Under Tom Izzo, the Spartans are a remarkable 24-7 in the second game of an NCAA Tournament weekend … Five of the seven losses have come to No. 1 seeds or eventual National Champions.
ABOUT THE SPARTANS
- Michigan State has won 16 of its last 25 games and enters the game on Saturday with a 20-14 overall record (10-10- mark in Big Ten play during the regular season, finishing in eighth place)
- The Spartans advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 69-51 win over Mississippi State in the first round on Thursday.
- The win over Mississippi State on Thursday gave MSU its 20th win of the season, the 12th time in the last 13 seasons the team has won at least 20 games under Izzo.
- Izzo has 23 20-win seasons at Michigan State and has missed the plateau only twice since 2003-04.
ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA
- The West Region’s No. 1-seed, North Carolina enters Saturday’s game with Michigan State with a 28-7 record following a 90-62 win over Wagner on Thursday.
- RJ Davis scored 22 points to lead four players in double figures … Armando Bacot had 20 points and 15 rebounds, Jae’Lyn Withers scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds and Cormac Ryan added 13 points.
- The Tar Heels won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title with a 17-3 record.
- UNC earned its 53rd all-time bid to the NCAA Tournament, the second most in men’s college basketball, and are a No. 1 seed for the 18th time.
- North Carolina returns to the NCAA Tournament after missing out in 2023.
- UNC has the most all-time NCAA Tournament wins with 132 and the second-best winning percentage of .729 (132-49).
- The Tar Heels have the third-most National Championships in history with six.
- Michigan State and North Carolina are No. 1 and No. 2 in Final Four appearances since 1999 with eight and seven respectively.
- MSU Assistant Coach Doug Wojcik was an assistant at UNC for three years and his son, Paxson, is a graduate student guard for the Tar Heels.
SERIES HISTORY
- North Carolina holds a 12-5 series lead over Michigan State.
- The Spartans won the last meeting, 63-45, in the championship game of the 2017 PK80 Invitational.
- MSU and UNC have faced off five times in the NCAA Tournament, twice in the Final Four.
- The Tar Heels were victorious in both the 2005 National Semifinal and 2009 National Championship game.
- The teams also played in the 1957 Final Four, a 74-70 UNC win in triple overtime.
- MSU won the first-ever meeting, 53-48, on Feb. 14, 1948 in North Carolina.
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