Tar Heels Welcome Wyoming Tuesday Night - University of North Carolina Athletics

GAME 3: WYOMING AT UNC
ROY WILLIAMS COURT AT THE
DEAN E. SMITH CENTER, CHAPEL HILL
7 P.M. – ACC NETWORK

• A pair of teams with 2-0 records face off Tuesday when the Tar Heels play host to Wyoming at 7 p.m.
• The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network (Anish Shroff, Terrence Oglesby).
• It is Carolina's 600th regular season or postseason game in Smith Center. The Tar Heels are 509-90 (.850), including 243-19 (.927) against non-conference opponents.
• Carolina has won 20 in a row at home, the fifth-longest streak in Smith Center history and 10th-longest all-time by the Tar Heels at home.
• UNC has won 13 straight in the Smith Center against non-ACC teams.
• The Tar Heels started the season with a pair of home wins, 80-72 over Western Carolina and 109-70 over Wofford. Carolina never trailed in either game.
• Wyoming has defeated Regis and Idaho State by an average margin of 39.0 points.
• Carolina enters the game averaging 94.5 points, while the Cowboys have put up 94.0 per game.
• Wyoming is No. 1 in the country in offensive rebound percentage, grabbing 63.6% of their missed shots.
• Carolina is 23rd nationally in turnovers, committing 8.5 per game through the first two contests.
• The Tar Heels are 20th in the country in free throws made per game (24.0) and 28th in attempts (32.0 per game. The 48 made free throws are the most by UNC in the first two games since it made 50 in 2022-23.
• UNC is 2-0 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).
• The Wyoming game is the second of six consecutive home games, the first time ever Carolina opens a season with six straight home games.

LAST TIME OUT
• Carolina's 109 against Wofford points were the most since a 113-96 win over NC State on 2/5/2019.
• The 39-point win was the largest since a 48-point win over ECU last season.
• Terrence Brown led UNC with 21 points, his 37th career 20-point game.
• Maximo Adams recorded his first collegiate double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, added two blocks and three deflections and was named Carolina's defensive player of the game.
• Jaydon Young scored 15 points, his highest scoring game and second double-figure game as a Tar Heel (12 last season vs. Wake Forest). It was his 13th career double-figure scoring game (11 times at Virginia Tech).
• Young led UNC in plus/minus at plus 26. It was his highest plus/minus as a Tar Heel and was the first time he led UNC in plus/minus.
• Alex Samodurov had 13 points and seven rebounds, including three offensive boards. It was his first collegiate double-figure scoring game.
• The Tar Heels scored 50 points in the paint, most since they scored 52 in a 97-73 win over NC State on 2/19/2025.
• Carolina scored 51 points in the first half and 58 in the second. It was the first time UNC scored 50 or more in both halves since 1/13/2024 against Syracuse.
• Isaiah Denis came off the bench to lead UNC in assists for the second game in a row. He set career highs with seven points, six rebounds and five assists.
• Carolina held the Terriers to 33.3% from the floor and 28.0% from three.
• It was UNC's 30th-consecutive win when holding opponents under 40% from the floor.
• It was the second time in as many games the Tar Heels held the opponent under 34% from the floor (WCU shot 33.9%).
• The Tar Heels shot 50.0% from the floor in the first half, 53.7% in the second and 52.1% for the game.
• Carolina scored 58 bench points (season-high last year was 39 vs. NC Central).
• The 58 bench points were the most by UNC in a non-Senior Day game since it had 65 in a 116-67 win at Elon on 11/9/2018.

UNC-WYOMING
• The Tar Heels are 1-0 all-time against the Cowboys. Carolina beat Wyoming, 90-74, in the Smith Center on 3/24/2003, in the second round of the NIT.
• Melvin Scott and Rashad McCants led five Tar Heels in double figures with 20 points apiece, and Raymond Felton set UNC's single-game postseason record for assists with 14 (since tied by Kendall Marshall in a 2011 NCAA Tournament win over Washington).
• This is Carolina's first game against a member of the Mountain West Conference since it beat San Diego State in Dayton in the 2025 NCAA Tournament (the Aztecs have since joined the Pac-12).

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 319 starts on the collegiate level (82 by Brown, 69 by Brizzi, 63 by Fens, 54 by Stevenson, 33 by Avdalas, 14 by Young and two 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)

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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