MBB Welcomes Georgia Friday Night - University of North Carolina Athletics

GAME 4: GEORGIA AT UNC
ROY WILLIAMS COURT AT THE
DEAN E. SMITH CENTER, CHAPEL HILL
7 P.M. – ESPN2

• Game four of Carolina's season-opening six-game homestand is Friday, November 13, when the Tar Heels play host to Georgia in a matchup of 3-0 teams.
• Tip time is 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 (Kevin Brown, LaPhonso Ellis).
• The Tar Heels spotted Wyoming the first six points but pulled away early in the second half for a 76-63 victory on Tuesday.
• It was Carolina's 600th game and 510th win in the Smith Center.
• Carolina gave up 15 offensive rebounds on 25 Wyoming missed shots in the first half which led to 13 second-chance points. In the second half, Carolina grabbed 17 defensive rebounds and allowed only four offensive boards that the Cowboys turned into just two points.
• Carolina has won 21 in a row at home, which equals the fourth-longest streak in Smith Center history and eighth-longest all-time by the Tar Heels in any of their home venues.
• UNC has won 14 straight in the Smith Center against non-ACC teams.
• The Tar Heels are 244-19 (.928) in the Smith Center against non-conference teams.
• Both UNC and Georgia enter the game ranked in the top 20 nationally in turnovers per games. The Bulldogs are second, committing 7.0 per game, while the Tar Heels rank 19th at 8.7 per outing.
• Carolina has turned the ball over 26 times (9, 8, 9) in the first three games. It is the first time since turnovers became an official stat in 1979-80 that UNC has committed fewer than 10 turnovers in each of the first three games.
• Carolina has shot 50% or better from the floor in two of the three games and held its opponent below 37% in all three.
• The Georgia game is Terrence Brown's 100th college game. The Minneapolis native has scored 1,591 career points and has led UNC in scoring in each of the last two contests.
• Brown needs nine points for 1,600 and one assist for 300.
• UNC is 3-0 under head coach Michael Malone, a veteran of 12 seasons as an NBA head coach. Malone is the winningest coach in Denver Nuggets' history and led the Nuggets to an NBA championship in 2023.
• Malone is the first individual to lead UNC as head coach without having played for the Tar Heels or been an assistant coach with the program since Frank McGuire took the helm in 1952. McGuire came to Chapel Hill from the head coaching ranks at St. John's. McGuire was followed by Dean Smith (UNC assistant for three seasons), Bill Guthridge (Smith's assistant for 30 seasons), Matt Doherty (played for Smith from 1980-84), Roy Williams (Smith's assistant from 1978-88) and Hubert Davis (played for Smith from 1988-92 and spent nine seasons on Williams' staff from 2012-21).

LAST TIME OUT
• The Tar Heels shot 50% and held the Cowboys to 36.5% from the floor, 8 for 31 from three and just 1 of 2 from the free throw line in a 76-63 victory.
• Freshman center Sayon Keita became the first Tar Heel ever with six blocks and three steals in the same game. The 7-1 Mali native had season highs in points (13), field goals (6), offensive rebounds (5), rebounds (8), blocks (6) and steals (3).
• Keita's six blocks tied the second-most in a game by a Tar Heel freshman. Walker Kessler set the record with eight against Notre Dame in 2021. Armando Bacot, Ed Davis and Rasheed Wallace (twice) also had six blocks as freshmen.
• It was the 46th time a Tar Heel had blocked six shots in a game and the first time the same player made three steals. He was Carolina's defensive player of the game.
• Isaiah Denis scored 11 first-half points and Terrence Brown scored Carolina's first eight points of the second half. Denis and Brown led the Tar Heels in scoring with 14 points apiece.
• Maximo Adams, who recorded his first career double-double in the previous game against Wofford, had 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
• The Tar Heels led by as many as 18 points with under four minutes to play.

UNC-GEORGIA
• The Tar Heels are 13-5 all-time against the Bulldogs.
• Carolina has won all eight times the teams have played in Chapel Hill, including 3-0 in the Smith Center.
• This is Carolina's first game against Georgia since 11/18/1998, a 65-58 Tar Heel victory in the Smith Center in the Preseason NIT. Kris Lang led UNC with 21 points. Ed Cota had 14 points, 11 assists and five steals.
• Georgia is the first of three SEC opponents on the schedule before Christmas. Carolina plays host to Arkansas on December 1 in the ACC-SEC Challenge and faces Kentucky on December 19 in New York at Madison Square Garden in the CBS Sports Classic.

SEASON NOTES
• Michael Malone was hired as UNC's 21st head coach on April 7, 2026.
• The Tar Heels' 16-player roster includes five returning players from last season and 11 newcomers. The incoming players include four freshmen (three domestic and one international), six collegiate transfers and one international player who enters as a junior.
• The five returning Tar Heels, all in-state products, include 6-10 senior forward Jarin Stevenson from Chapel Hill, 6-4 senior guard Jaydon Young from Goldsboro, 6-4 sophomore guard Isaiah Denis from Charlotte, 6-8 junior forward John Holbrook from Hickory and 6-1 senior guard Evan Smith from Charlotte.
• The freshmen include 6-7 forward Maximo Adams from Los Angeles, 7-1 center Sayon Keita from Mali, 6-6 swingman Kevin Thomas from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and 6-5 freshman guard Malloy Smith from Newport Beach, Calif.
• Alex Samodurov enters UNC as a junior. The 6-11 forward from Evosmos, Greece, played last year for Panathinaikos in the Greek Basketball League.
• The six college transfers include Matt Able, a 6-5 sophomore guard from Baltimore (NC State); Neo Avdalas, a 6-9 sophomore guard from Kalamata, Greece (Virginia Tech); Cade Bennerman, a 7-0 sophomore center from Nashville (Northwestern); Angelo Brizzi, a 6-3 graduate guard from Warrenton, Va. (Buffalo); Terrence Brown, a 6-3 senior guard from Minneapolis (Utah); and Cameron Fens, a 7-0 graduate center from Dubuque, Iowa (South Dakota).
• Stevenson, in his second year in the program, is the lone returning starter from last year's team that went 24-9 overall, 12-6 in the ACC. Stevenson is the leading returner in every statistical category, including scoring (8.1 per game), rebounding (4.4) and three-pointers (26).
• This is the first season UNC did not return a player who averaged double-digit scoring as a Tar Heel since 2019-20. However, four players on the roster did average double-figure scoring last season on other teams – Brown at Utah (19.9 ppg), Fens at South Dakota (14.4), Brizzi at Buffalo (14.4) and Avdalas at Virginia Tech (12.1).
• Carolina's six incoming transfers combined for 2,234 points last season (636 by Brown, 463 by Brizzi, 460 by Fens, 375 by Avdalas and 300 by Able). The five returning Tar Heels combined for 348, 266 of which came from Stevenson.
• Carolina's roster includes eight players who have made a combined 324 starts on the collegiate level (83 by Brown, 69 by Brizzi, 63 by Fens, 55 by Stevenson, 34 by Avdalas, 14 by Young and three each by Able and Keita).
• Three current Tar Heels have previously played against Carolina – Stevenson twice for Alabama, Young twice for Virginia Tech and Avdalas once for the Hokies. All three played one game against UNC in Chapel Hill. Last year, Avdalas scored 19 points and had five assists in Carolina's 89-82 win in the Smith Center.

VETERAN STAFF A BLEND OF COLLEGE/PRO EXPERIENCE
• Malone leads a coaching and development staff that includes several returning members of the Carolina basketball program (Sean May, Pat Sullivan, Eric Hoots), three coaches from other college teams (Chuck Martin, Bryan Tibaldi, Jorge Sanz) and two additional former Tar Heel standouts (Brandon Robinson, Deon Thompson).
• Assistant coaches Sean May and Pat Sullivan and director of basketball operations Eric Hoots have a combined 55 years with the program.
• Associate head coach Chuck Martin came to Chapel Hill after three seasons with John Calipari at Kentucky and, most recently, Arkansas.
• Assistant coach Bryan Tibaldi was an assistant coach for six seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Last season, he coached at Providence.
• Assistant coach Jorge Sanz was on Mark Few's staff at Gonzaga for the last eight seasons.
• Assistant coach Brandon Robinson, who played at UNC from 2016-20, and was on Hubert Davis' staff in 2021-22, returns to Chapel Hill after four seasons on NBA staffs in Charlotte and Utah.
• Director of player development Deon Thompson retired in 2026 after playing 16 seasons of professional basketball. He was the starting power forward on UNC's 2009 national championship team.
• Every member of Malone's staff has played for and/or coached with a Naismith Hall of Famer, including Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge, Roy Williams, John Calipari, Tom Izzo and Mark Few.
• Sullivan (1993), May (2005), Thompson (2009) and Robinson (2017) won national championships as Tar Heel players.

MALONE AN NBA CHAMPION
• Michael Malone was head coach of the Denver Nuggets for 10 seasons (2015-25) and the Sacramento Kings for two seasons (2013-15). The Queens, N.Y., native is Denver's all-time winningest coach in the regular season (471 wins) and playoffs (44 wins).
• He led the Nuggets to an NBA title in 2023, the only NBA championship in franchise history. The Nuggets went 16-4 in the post-season that year, including 4-1 against Miami in the NBA Finals. Malone led Denver to nine playoff series wins.
• Malone spent 12 years as an assistant with the New York Knicks (2001-05), Cleveland Cavaliers (2005-10), New Orleans Hornets (2010-11) and Golden State Warriors (2011-13). He was the lead assistant at both New Orleans under Monty Williams and Golden State under Mark Jackson.
• He coached three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic in Denver and all-time scoring leader LeBron James while an assistant in Cleveland. His 2023 NBA championship team featured Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
• Jokic averaged 23.0 points, 11.6 rebounds and 7.6 assists and was a seven-time all-star in 10 seasons playing for Malone. He made first-team All-NBA five times and second-team twice.
• Among other notable players Malone coached in the NBA include Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes and Chris Paul. In addition to Barnes, he coached former Tar Heels Danny Green, Antawn Jamison and Jawad Williams. He coached 39 international players who represented 25 different nations.
• He also worked with some of the top coaches in the NBA, including Jeff Van Gundy, Lenny Wilkens, Mike Brown, Williams and Jackson.
• Malone's father, Brendan, was an NBA coach for nearly 30 seasons. He won NBA titles in 1989 and 1990 as a member of Chuck Daly's staff in Detroit.

TAR HEELS FIFTH IN
PRESEASON ACC POLL
• Carolina was voted fifth in the preseason ACC poll as selected by the media who attended the league's media days October 6-7.
• Duke, Virginia, Louisville, Miami and UNC were voted one through five, respectively.
• Maximo Adams received the fourth-most votes for Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year.

ABLE ON JERRY WEST WATCH LIST
• Sophomore Matt Able was named to the preseason watch list for the Jerry West Award, presented annually by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame to the best shooting guard in the country.
• Able made 49 three-pointers and averaged 8.8 points last season while playing for NC State. He scored a season-high 19 points in the Wolfpack's win in Raleigh over the Tar Heels.
• Able did not play against Charlotte on October 27.

SCHEDULE NOTES
• In ACC play, the Tar Heels play home-and-home games against Duke and Louisville.
• Carolina hosts conference games against Cal, Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, SMU, Stanford and Virginia and plays at Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
• Clemson is the ACC team the Tar Heels are not scheduled to play in the regular season this year. This will be the first season UNC and Clemson aren't scheduled to play in the regular season since 1950-51, which predated the formation of the ACC.
• For the first time since 1979, the Tar Heels will play NC State in a non-conference game in the regular season, when the teams meet Dec. 15, 2026, in the Tobacco Road Classic presented by Old Dominion Freight Line in Greensboro's First Horizon Coliseum (formerly the Greensboro Coliseum).
• Last season was the first since 1919 UNC and NC State were scheduled to play only once. Beginning in 1920, the teams were scheduled to play home-and-home every year through 2025. The teams played once in Raleigh last season and were scheduled to play only in Chapel Hill this coming season in ACC play.
• Carolina and NC State will return to Greensboro for the second Tobacco Road Classic in December 2027.
• Arkansas comes to Chapel Hill on December 1 for the fourth edition of the ACC-SEC Challenge. The Tar Heels are 2-1 in the Challenge with a home win over Tennessee, home loss to Alabama (with Jarin Stevenson) and road win last season at Kentucky. This will be the 12th time the Tar Heels play the Razorbacks (UNC leads, 8-3) but the first time ever in Chapel Hill. The teams have played the previous 11 games in 11 different cities and never on the other team's campus.
• The Tar Heels return to Madison Square Garden in New York on December 19 to play Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic. It is Carolina's fourth trip to the Garden in the last five seasons (beat Ohio State in 2022-23, lost to UConn in 2023-24 and beat UCLA in 2024-25). Carolina is 31-12 in MSG.
• On January 30, midway through ACC play (after nine of 18 conference games) the Tar Heels play Illinois, a Final Four team a year ago, in the Nashville Hoops Showdown.

NBA TAR HEELS
Harrison Barnes (San Antonio)
Leaky Black (Sacramento)
Tony Bradley (Utah)
Harrison Ingram (Utah)
Cameron Johnson (Denver)
Walker Kessler (Los Angeles Lakers)
Pete Nance (Milwaukee)
Drake Powell (Brooklyn)
Cormac Ryan (Milwaukee)
Day'Ron Sharpe (Brooklyn)
Coby White (Charlotte)
Caleb Wilson (Chicago)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Matt Able

Maximo Adams

Neo Avdalas

Cade Bennerman

Angelo Brizzi

Terrence Brown

Isaiah Denis

Cameron Fens

John Holbrook

Sayon Keita

Alex Samodurov

Evan Smith

Malloy Smith

Jarin Stevenson

Kevin Thomas

Caleb Wilson

Jaydon Young

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University of North Carolina Athletics