University of North Carolina Athletics

• Carolina rides a season-long four-game win streak into Saturday’s game vs. Stanford, a 2:15 p.m. start against the Cardinal, the first time these teams have played against each other in an ACC game. The CW will televise the game.
• The Tar Heels are 12-6, including 5-1 in the ACC after consecutive wins over Notre Dame (by one point on the road), SMU (by 15 in the Smith Center), NC State (by two in Raleigh) and Cal (by 26 at home).
• Stanford is 11-6, 3-3 in its first season in the ACC. The Cardinal lost, 80-67, at Wake Forest on Wednesday after consecutive home wins over Virginia Tech and Virginia.
• Nearly one-third of the way through ACC play, the Tar Heels lead the league in field goal percentage defense (.372), three-point percentage defense (.372) and rebounding (39.8) in conference games, are second in blocks (4.8) and third in scoring defense (67.0 ppg).
• Hubert Davis is to 48-18 (72.7%) in regular-season ACC play following the Tar Heels’ 79-53 win over Cal.
• Carolina shot a season-best 56.7% from the floor in the first half, led by 10 at the break and drove a 15-0 run in the second to the 26-point win over the Bears.
• It was the third time in the last four games the Tar Heels built a double-digit lead in the opening half.
• Ian Jackson led all scorers with 20 points, the sixth time in the last seven games the freshman from The Bronx scored 20 or more.
• KenPom ranks Carolina No. 6 in the country in strength of schedule behind Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Purdue and Memphis.
• The Tar Heels have played three of the top 5, four of the top 10 and five of the top 12 teams in this week’s Associated Press poll.
• Carolina has already played No. 1 Auburn, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 9 Kansas and No. 12 Michigan State and will play home-and-home games against No. 3 Duke.
• The Stanford game is Carolina’s eighth home game of the season. The Tar Heels have played the fewest home games of any team in the ACC (Florida State is next with nine).
• KenPom ranks Carolina No. 28 in the country, while the Tar Heels are 34th in the NET.
• The Tar Heels are 30th in the country in Bart Torvik’s Wins Against Bubble (WAB), a metric the NCAA has added this year. Carolina has the third-highest WAB in the ACC behind Duke and Louisville.
• Carolina is one of 17 teams in the country in the top 35 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
• All six of UNC’s losses are Quad 1 games and five are against teams in the top 17 in the NET (four in the top nine).

UNC-STANFORD

• Carolina is 13-0 against the Cardinal, including 3-0 in Chapel Hill and 2-0 in the Smith Center.

• This is the first time the teams have played since 12/1/2020, a second round game in the Maui Invitational, which was played in Asheville, N.C., due to the pandemic.

• The last time the teams played in Chapel Hill was 11/12/2018, a 90-72 UNC victory. The Tar Heels shot 60% in the first half in storming out to a 52-26 lead. Cameron Johnson (17) and Luke Maye (16) led four Tar Heels in double figures.

• Last year, two former Cardinal players started for the Tar Heels – guard Cormac Ryan and forward Harrison Ingram.

• Jerod Haase was an assistant coach at UNC from 2004-12 and head coach at Stanford from 2016-24.

NOTABLE

• Hubert Davis emphasizes three statistical categories – defensive field goal percentage, rebounding and turnovers. The Tar Heels won all three of those categories against Cal, limiting the Bears to 34.8%, winning the boards by 12 and committing three fewer turnovers.

• UNC is 4-0 this season when it wins all three categories, 5-1 when it wins two of three and only 3-5 when it wins only one of the three measures.

• RJ Davis is one of three players in the top 10 in the ACC in both scoring and assists (with Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Pitt’s Jaland Lowe).

• Davis has played in 156 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 10th in the ACC in scoring at 17.2 points per game and is 10th in the league in assists at 3.9 per game.

• Davis scored 26 points in the Tar Heels’ 82-67 win over SMU. It was his 40th career game scoring 20 or more and his 18th with 25 or more. The Tar Heels are 31-9 when he scores at least 20 and 13-5 when he drops 25 or more.

• Davis is Carolina’s all-time leader and is tied for 12th in ACC history with 309 three-pointers. Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim also made 309. Duke’s Jason Williams is 11th with 313.

• Davis is averaging 14.6 field goal attempts per game. Last year, he averaged 16.4. He is attempting 6.9 threes per game (7.7 per game last season).

• Davis has made 35 three-pointers through 18 games. Last season, he made 54 through 18 games.

• In 15 of the 18 games this season, either UNC or its opponent has led by at least 10 points in the opening half.

• Carolina has established double-digit first-half leads eight times and won all eight games (Elon, American, at Hawai’i, La Salle, Campbell, at Notre Dame, SMU and Cal). Twice (Elon and Notre Dame), the Tar Heels lost the lead but went on to win the game.

• UNC has led by double digits in the first half in six of its eight home games.

• Seven times UNC has fallen behind by 10 more points in the first half. 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 166 more points in the second half than in the first (9.2 more per game).

• In the six ACC games, UNC is averaging 4.3 more points in the second half than it scores in the first.

• The Tar Heels have scored more points in the second half in 16 of the 18 games (all except Elon and Notre Dame).

• The Tar Heels are averaging 36.6 first-half points (the opponents average 36.1) and 45.8 in the second half (opponents average 39.3).

• Carolina has scored 40 or more second-half points 13 times (including 50 or more six times) and allowed 40 or more in the second half nine times (including seven of the last nine games).

• Cal’s 24 points were the fewest points allowed by Carolina in the second half since  American scored 21 on November 15.

• Carolina outscored Cal, 40-24, in the second half, the first time the Tar Heels outscored an opponent in the second half since Campbell.

• Carolina has shot a higher field goal percentage in the second half than it did in the first in 16 of the first 18 games (only against Georgia Tech and Cal did UNC shoot better in the first half).

• Carolina has shot 50% from the floor five times in the first half (vs. American, Michigan State, La Salle, Campbell and Cal) and 12 times in the second half (vs. Kansas, American, Hawai’i, Dayton, Michigan State, La Salle, Florida, UCLA, Campbell, at Louisville, at Notre Dame and SMU). That includes three second-half performances when UNC shot better than 62% from the floor (vs. American, Florida and Campbell).

• UNC is 4-1 when it shoots 50% in the first half.

• The Tar Heels have shot a combined 54.4% from the floor in the second halves of their last nine games (La Salle through Cal). UNC has made 143 of 263 field goal attempts in the second half in those nine games.

• The Tar Heels are 26th in the country in scoring at 82.9 points per game and have improved to 288th in scoring defense (76.1).

• The Tar Heels have allowed 63.5 points over the last four games and just 60.3 points in the last three games, wins over SMU, NC State and Cal.

• Factoring in pace of play and the number of possessions, Carolina is 35th in the country in offensive efficiency and 32nd in defensive efficiency.

• Carolina is one of 17 teams in the country in the top 35 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

• In Carolina’s 12 wins the Tar Heels are shooting 10.5% higher from the floor than their opponents (49.0 to 38.5%). The teams have made the same number of three-pointers, but Carolina has made eight more free throws (208) than the opponents have attempted (200).

• Carolina is plus 5.4 rebounds per game in its 12 wins and minus 4.5 per game on the boards in the six losses.

• Carolina is shooting 35% from three in its wins and 28.4% in the losses.

• Carolina is shooting 55.4% from two-point range, its highest two-point percentage since the 1997-98 ACC champions and NCAA East Regional champion Tar Heels shot 56.5% from two-point range.

• Ian Jackson is the only player to make a three in every game in which he has played (did not play vs. American).

• Jackson was a combined minus 46 in his first eight games. In his last nine games, he is a plus 65.

• Drake Powell is shooting 51% from the floor in the last six games (26 for 51).

• Jalen Washington leads UNC with 22 blocks, 13 of which came in the last four games (five at Notre Dame, four vs. SMU, three at NC State and one vs. Cal). His block with three seconds to play secured Carolina’s 63-61 victory at NC State.

• Washington had his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-best 12 rebounds at NC State. He became the eighth different current Tar Heel to record a double-double at the collegiate level (fourth this season with Elliot Cadeau, Seth Trimble and Jae’Lyn Withers).

• Only 39 fouls were whistled in the last two games, the fewest number of combined fouls in back-to-back UNC games in the ACC era. The last time fewer fouls were called in consecutive games was 1944, when there were 35 fouls in games against Richmond and Virginia Tech in the Southern Conference Tournament.

JACKSON’S RECORD-SETTING RUN

• Ian Jackson is fourth in the ACC in scoring in conference play, averaging a team-high 20.7 points per game. RJ Davis is second on the team in scoring in ACC games at 13.3 per game. No other Tar Heel is averaging more than 8.8 points in league play.

• Jackson has scored 159 points in the last seven games (22.7 per game). Tyler Hansbrough (160 in 2005-06) is the only Tar Heel freshman to score more in any seven-game stretch. The record for eight straight games is 177 by Phil Ford in 1974-75, Hansbrough in 2005-06 and Harrison Barnes in 2010-11.

• Jackson scored a game-high 20 points vs. Cal, the sixth time in the last seven games he scored 20 or more and led UNC in scoring. Jackson and Ford are the only Tar Heel freshmen to score 20 or more points six times in a seven-game stretch. No one has done it in seven of eight games.

• Previously, Jackson became the first Tar Heel freshman ever to score 23 or more points in four straight games. He scored 24 vs. UCLA, 26 vs. Campbell, 23 at Louisville and 27 at Notre Dame.

• He followed that four-game run of 20-point games by tying his season highs with three 3FGs and seven rebounds and scoring 18 points in the win over SMU then making a season-high five 3FGs and scoring 21 at NC State.

• 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 13 times, including 11 of the last 12 games.

• Jackson leads the team with seven 20-point games. Davis has five.

• 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).

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 763-314 all-time in ACC regular-season play. The 763 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 is the second-leading scorer in Carolina’s illustrious history with 2,397 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 eighth in ACC scoring after passing Duke’s Kyle Singler in the Cal game. Christian Laettner is seventh (2,460).

• He broke the UNC career record for three-pointers on December 29 (now has 309) and has the highest free throw percentage ever by a Tar Heel (85.8%).

• 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 15.4, 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.

SMITH CENTER

• This is the 40th season the Tar Heels are playing in the Dean E. Smith Center.

• Carolina is 7-1 in the Smith Center this season and 484-88 (.846) all-time.

• The Tar Heels are 252-69 against ACC opponents in the Smith Center.

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.