University of North Carolina Athletics
Saturday, December 14
Chapel Hill
4 PM
North Carolina
vs
La Salle
Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
MBB Returns After Exam Break To Host La Salle
December 12, 2024 | Men's Basketball
• Carolina plays host to La Salle following a week-long break for final exams.
• The Tar Heels and Explorers tip off at 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 14 on The CW. This will be Carolina's final home game before Christmas.
• Following the La Salle game UNC plays Florida in Charlotte on Tuesday, December 17, in the Jumpman Invitational, and UCLA on Saturday, December 21, in New York's Madison Square Garden in the CBS Sports Classic.
• UNC is 5-4 after its 68-65 win over Georgia Tech on December 7. Seth Trimble (19), RJ Davis (16) and Ian Jackson (15) scored in double figures to offset 18 Tar Heel turnovers.
• Carolina outrebounded the Yellow Jackets, 48-37, and held the visitors to 31.3% from the floor (just 27.6% in the second half).
• La Salle is 6-4 after a pair of 82-68 losses to Northeastern and St. Joseph's.
• The Tar Heels and Explorers have one common opponent this season – American. UNC beat the Eagles, 107-55, while La Salle won its season opener vs. American, 65-52.
• Carolina is 2-1 all-time vs. La Salle, although the teams have not played since 1/9/1988, a 96-82 UNC win in the Smith Center. That is the only one of the three games that was played in Chapel Hill.
• J.R. Reid scored 30 points to lead UNC to the win. La Salle led by five at halftime but the Tar Heels scored 54 second-half points and shot 61.8% from the floor for the win. Jeff Lebo had 10 points and five assists.
• Lionel Simmons scored 37 for La Salle, which remains tied for the most points by an opponent in the Smith Center. It was the 24th game played in the Smith Center and remains tied for the opponent record after 568 games. Tennessee's Dalton Knecht also scored 37 vs. UNC last season.
SMITH CENTER
• This is the 40th season the Tar Heels are playing in the Dean E. Smith Center.
• Carolina is 3-1 in the Smith Center this season and 480-88 (.845) all-time.
• The Tar Heels are 230-19 all-time against non-ACC opponents in the Smith Center (.924). Carolina's 19-game winning streak against non-conference teams in the Smith Center ended with last week's 94-79 loss to Alabama.
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 (2,377) 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 the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year has led UNC to a 83-35 record.
• 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.
POLLING
• The Tar Heels fell out of the top 25 in this week's Associated Press poll (12/9/24).
• Carolina had been ranked in the AP top 25 in the previous 26 polls.
• The Tar Heels have been ranked 962 times in the AP poll, second most all-time.
• Eight of Carolina's opponents are ranked in this week's poll – No. 2 Auburn, No. 4 Duke, No. 17 Alabama, No. 9 Florida, No. 10 Kansas, No. 16 Clemson, No. 21 Michigan State and No. 24 UCLA.
• KenPom ranks Carolina's schedule the seventh-most difficult in the country.
• The four teams the Tar Heels have lost to are a combined 30-7.
TRENDING
• In the previous game, Carolina led Georgia Tech, 31-30, at the half. That snapped a four-game streak during which UNC trailed at the half all four times.
• The Tar Heels led the Yellow Jackets for 22:17, more than double the amount UNC led in the previous four games (11:11).
• Including an early eight-point deficit against Georgia Tech (16-8), Carolina has fallen behind by at least eight points in the first half in each of the last five games. That includes deficits of at least 14 points against Dayton, Auburn, Michigan State and Alabama.
• Dayton led Carolina by 18 at the half and by 21 early in the second half before the Tar Heels rallied for a 92-90 win in the quarterfinals in Maui.
• The comeback win from 21 down tied the largest second-half comeback in UNC history (21 vs. Florida State in 1993) and was one point shy of the largest comeback win in any game in UNC history (22 vs. Wake Forest in 1992).
• Carolina lost by 15 to Alabama even though the Tar Heels outrebounded the Crimson Tide (42-40), had one fewer turnover and had more points off turnovers (17-9), second chance points (15-8), fastbreak points (18-15), paint points (50-44) and bench points (39-32).
• Carolina is attempting 22.9 three-pointers per game, which is on pace for the fifth most in UNC single-season history.
• The Tar Heels made 11 of 23 three-pointers (47.8%) against Michigan State but is 10 for 52 (19.2%) in the last two home games vs. Alabama and Georgia Tech.
• Even after holding Georgia Tech to 65 points, Carolina is allowing 80.0 points per game, which is on pace to set the all-time record for scoring by the opponents (the record is 79.7 in 1988-89, when Carolina won the ACC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16).
• The Tar Heels are 19th in the country in scoring at 86.1 points per game, but 333rd in scoring defense.
• Carolina is 23rd in the country in offensive efficiency and 44th in defensive efficiency.
• Prior to the 68-65 win over Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels had allowed an average of 90.8 points in the previous four games.
• Carolina is averaging 22.2 made free throws in its five wins and 21.8 free throw attempts in the four losses.
• RJ Davis leads Carolina in scoring at 18.1 points per game. Davis is the only Tar Heel that has scored in double figures in all nine games.
• Davis is averaging 16.4 field goal attempts per game. Last year, he also averaged 16.4.
• Carolina's top four scorers are guards – Davis (18.1), Seth Trimble (16.0), Elliot Cadeau (12.3) and freshman Ian Jackson (11.5).
• Trimble earned all-tournament honors in Maui after scoring 27, 17 and nine points, respectively. His three-pointer with 4.3 seconds to play sent the third-place game against Michigan State to overtime.
• Trimble is scoring 10.8 more points per game than he did last season.
• Trimble set a career scoring high in each of the first two games this season (15 vs. Elon and 19 at Kansas) then surpassed those with a 27-point double-double in the comeback win over Dayton.
• Trimble leads Carolina in plus/minus in all games at plus 60.
• Freshmen led UNC in scoring against Michigan State and Alabama. Drake Powell had 18 points in Maui against the Spartans, and Ian Jackson scored 23 vs. the Crimson Tide. It was the first time freshmen led UNC in scoring in back-to-back games since the 2021 ACC Tournament (RJ Davis vs. Virginia Tech and Caleb Love vs. Florida State).
• Powell (18) and Jackson (14) both scored in double figures against Michigan State, the first time two UNC freshmen scored in double figures in the same game since Caleb Love and Kerwin Walton vs. Florida State in the 2021 ACC Tournament.
• Jackson is shooting 47.1% from the floor (32 of 68), 46.2% from three (12 of 26) and 84.2% from the line (16 of 19). He has scored in double figures five times in eight games (he did not play vs. America due to a lower leg injury).
• Junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin leads Carolina in offensive rebounds with 15 while averaging 14.9 minutes per game, eighth most on the team.
• The loss to Michigan State was Carolina's first when it shot 50% from the floor in a game since 2/15/2020 against Virginia. Prior to the 94-91 overtime loss to the Spartans, Carolina had won the previous 33 games in which it shot 50% or better from the floor.
• UNC had also won the previous 13 times it scored 90 or more points.
• Carolina has scored 92 more points in the second half than in the first (10.2 more per game).
• The Tar Heels dropped from seventh in the country in turnover percentage to 34th after beating Georgia Tech despite committing turnovers 18 turnovers.
• UNC committed 31 turnovers in the first four games (7.8 per game) and 67 in the last five games (13.4 per game).
• Carolina is 15th nationally in fastbreak points, averaging 17.2 per game.
RJ DAVIS
• Davis has scored the second-most points ever by a Tar Heel guard (2,251). He trails only 1978 Wooden Award winner Phil Ford. Davis has scored the fourth-most points among all players ever to play at Carolina.
• Davis scored 784 points last season, the fourth most in Carolina history and the most since Tyler Hansbrough scored 882 in 2007-08.
• Davis' 784 points were the most in a season in Carolina history by a guard. He came into this season 784 points from tying Tyler Hansbrough for the all-time ACC and UNC records.
• Davis' career scoring average is 15.3, the eighth-highest by a Tar Heel guard.
• Davis has made 291 career three-pointers, second most all-time by a Tar Heel. Marcus Paige, currently an assistant coach at UNC, is first with 299.
• Davis is also Carolina's all-time leader in free throw percentage. He has made 42 of 48 this season (87.5%) and 464 of 540 in his career for 85.9%. Shammond Williams is second at 84.8%.
• 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.
• Davis was the 15th Tar Heel to win ACC Player-of-the-Year honors, the first since Justin Jackson in 2016-17. It is the 16th time a Tar Heel has won the award (Larry Miller won twice).
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.
• The Tar Heels and Explorers tip off at 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 14 on The CW. This will be Carolina's final home game before Christmas.
• Following the La Salle game UNC plays Florida in Charlotte on Tuesday, December 17, in the Jumpman Invitational, and UCLA on Saturday, December 21, in New York's Madison Square Garden in the CBS Sports Classic.
• UNC is 5-4 after its 68-65 win over Georgia Tech on December 7. Seth Trimble (19), RJ Davis (16) and Ian Jackson (15) scored in double figures to offset 18 Tar Heel turnovers.
• Carolina outrebounded the Yellow Jackets, 48-37, and held the visitors to 31.3% from the floor (just 27.6% in the second half).
• La Salle is 6-4 after a pair of 82-68 losses to Northeastern and St. Joseph's.
• The Tar Heels and Explorers have one common opponent this season – American. UNC beat the Eagles, 107-55, while La Salle won its season opener vs. American, 65-52.
• Carolina is 2-1 all-time vs. La Salle, although the teams have not played since 1/9/1988, a 96-82 UNC win in the Smith Center. That is the only one of the three games that was played in Chapel Hill.
• J.R. Reid scored 30 points to lead UNC to the win. La Salle led by five at halftime but the Tar Heels scored 54 second-half points and shot 61.8% from the floor for the win. Jeff Lebo had 10 points and five assists.
• Lionel Simmons scored 37 for La Salle, which remains tied for the most points by an opponent in the Smith Center. It was the 24th game played in the Smith Center and remains tied for the opponent record after 568 games. Tennessee's Dalton Knecht also scored 37 vs. UNC last season.
SMITH CENTER
• This is the 40th season the Tar Heels are playing in the Dean E. Smith Center.
• Carolina is 3-1 in the Smith Center this season and 480-88 (.845) all-time.
• The Tar Heels are 230-19 all-time against non-ACC opponents in the Smith Center (.924). Carolina's 19-game winning streak against non-conference teams in the Smith Center ended with last week's 94-79 loss to Alabama.
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 (2,377) 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 the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year has led UNC to a 83-35 record.
• 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.
POLLING
• The Tar Heels fell out of the top 25 in this week's Associated Press poll (12/9/24).
• Carolina had been ranked in the AP top 25 in the previous 26 polls.
• The Tar Heels have been ranked 962 times in the AP poll, second most all-time.
• Eight of Carolina's opponents are ranked in this week's poll – No. 2 Auburn, No. 4 Duke, No. 17 Alabama, No. 9 Florida, No. 10 Kansas, No. 16 Clemson, No. 21 Michigan State and No. 24 UCLA.
• KenPom ranks Carolina's schedule the seventh-most difficult in the country.
• The four teams the Tar Heels have lost to are a combined 30-7.
TRENDING
• In the previous game, Carolina led Georgia Tech, 31-30, at the half. That snapped a four-game streak during which UNC trailed at the half all four times.
• The Tar Heels led the Yellow Jackets for 22:17, more than double the amount UNC led in the previous four games (11:11).
• Including an early eight-point deficit against Georgia Tech (16-8), Carolina has fallen behind by at least eight points in the first half in each of the last five games. That includes deficits of at least 14 points against Dayton, Auburn, Michigan State and Alabama.
• Dayton led Carolina by 18 at the half and by 21 early in the second half before the Tar Heels rallied for a 92-90 win in the quarterfinals in Maui.
• The comeback win from 21 down tied the largest second-half comeback in UNC history (21 vs. Florida State in 1993) and was one point shy of the largest comeback win in any game in UNC history (22 vs. Wake Forest in 1992).
• Carolina lost by 15 to Alabama even though the Tar Heels outrebounded the Crimson Tide (42-40), had one fewer turnover and had more points off turnovers (17-9), second chance points (15-8), fastbreak points (18-15), paint points (50-44) and bench points (39-32).
• Carolina is attempting 22.9 three-pointers per game, which is on pace for the fifth most in UNC single-season history.
• The Tar Heels made 11 of 23 three-pointers (47.8%) against Michigan State but is 10 for 52 (19.2%) in the last two home games vs. Alabama and Georgia Tech.
• Even after holding Georgia Tech to 65 points, Carolina is allowing 80.0 points per game, which is on pace to set the all-time record for scoring by the opponents (the record is 79.7 in 1988-89, when Carolina won the ACC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16).
• The Tar Heels are 19th in the country in scoring at 86.1 points per game, but 333rd in scoring defense.
• Carolina is 23rd in the country in offensive efficiency and 44th in defensive efficiency.
• Prior to the 68-65 win over Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels had allowed an average of 90.8 points in the previous four games.
• Carolina is averaging 22.2 made free throws in its five wins and 21.8 free throw attempts in the four losses.
• RJ Davis leads Carolina in scoring at 18.1 points per game. Davis is the only Tar Heel that has scored in double figures in all nine games.
• Davis is averaging 16.4 field goal attempts per game. Last year, he also averaged 16.4.
• Carolina's top four scorers are guards – Davis (18.1), Seth Trimble (16.0), Elliot Cadeau (12.3) and freshman Ian Jackson (11.5).
• Trimble earned all-tournament honors in Maui after scoring 27, 17 and nine points, respectively. His three-pointer with 4.3 seconds to play sent the third-place game against Michigan State to overtime.
• Trimble is scoring 10.8 more points per game than he did last season.
• Trimble set a career scoring high in each of the first two games this season (15 vs. Elon and 19 at Kansas) then surpassed those with a 27-point double-double in the comeback win over Dayton.
• Trimble leads Carolina in plus/minus in all games at plus 60.
• Freshmen led UNC in scoring against Michigan State and Alabama. Drake Powell had 18 points in Maui against the Spartans, and Ian Jackson scored 23 vs. the Crimson Tide. It was the first time freshmen led UNC in scoring in back-to-back games since the 2021 ACC Tournament (RJ Davis vs. Virginia Tech and Caleb Love vs. Florida State).
• Powell (18) and Jackson (14) both scored in double figures against Michigan State, the first time two UNC freshmen scored in double figures in the same game since Caleb Love and Kerwin Walton vs. Florida State in the 2021 ACC Tournament.
• Jackson is shooting 47.1% from the floor (32 of 68), 46.2% from three (12 of 26) and 84.2% from the line (16 of 19). He has scored in double figures five times in eight games (he did not play vs. America due to a lower leg injury).
• Junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin leads Carolina in offensive rebounds with 15 while averaging 14.9 minutes per game, eighth most on the team.
• The loss to Michigan State was Carolina's first when it shot 50% from the floor in a game since 2/15/2020 against Virginia. Prior to the 94-91 overtime loss to the Spartans, Carolina had won the previous 33 games in which it shot 50% or better from the floor.
• UNC had also won the previous 13 times it scored 90 or more points.
• Carolina has scored 92 more points in the second half than in the first (10.2 more per game).
• The Tar Heels dropped from seventh in the country in turnover percentage to 34th after beating Georgia Tech despite committing turnovers 18 turnovers.
• UNC committed 31 turnovers in the first four games (7.8 per game) and 67 in the last five games (13.4 per game).
• Carolina is 15th nationally in fastbreak points, averaging 17.2 per game.
RJ DAVIS
• Davis has scored the second-most points ever by a Tar Heel guard (2,251). He trails only 1978 Wooden Award winner Phil Ford. Davis has scored the fourth-most points among all players ever to play at Carolina.
• Davis scored 784 points last season, the fourth most in Carolina history and the most since Tyler Hansbrough scored 882 in 2007-08.
• Davis' 784 points were the most in a season in Carolina history by a guard. He came into this season 784 points from tying Tyler Hansbrough for the all-time ACC and UNC records.
• Davis' career scoring average is 15.3, the eighth-highest by a Tar Heel guard.
• Davis has made 291 career three-pointers, second most all-time by a Tar Heel. Marcus Paige, currently an assistant coach at UNC, is first with 299.
• Davis is also Carolina's all-time leader in free throw percentage. He has made 42 of 48 this season (87.5%) and 464 of 540 in his career for 85.9%. Shammond Williams is second at 84.8%.
• 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.
• Davis was the 15th Tar Heel to win ACC Player-of-the-Year honors, the first since Justin Jackson in 2016-17. It is the 16th time a Tar Heel has won the award (Larry Miller won twice).
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.
Players Mentioned
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