By R.L. Bynum

No. 19 North Carolina got a pretty good challenge in its opener on Monday night, but that probably won’t be the case on Sunday.

The Tar Heels (1–0) welcome Lehigh to the Smith Center at 2 p.m. (ACC Network) after pulling away from Radford on Monday for an 86–70 victory.

The Mountain Hawks are 0–2 and have lost four straight games after going 16–14 last season.

They lost their opener 84–78 at home Monday to Cornell and will be playing their second road game in three days after suffering a 74–65 defeat at Penn State on Friday night. Former UNC guard D’Marco Dunn started and scored nine points for the Nittany Lions in that game.

While Radford (1–1), which beat Marshall 66–62 on Friday, has a KenPom ranking of 155, Lehigh is at 260.

Carolina fans will remember Lehigh for becoming the second No. 15 seed to beat a No. 2 seed when it upset Duke 75–70 in Greensboro in the 2012 NCAA tournament. Lehigh hasn’t played Carolina since a 62–58 Tar Heels victory in Woollen Gym in 1941.

Lehigh, picked to finish second in the Patriot League, is led by preseason all-conference selections Tyler Whitney-Sidney (6–2 junior guard averaging 16.0 points in the first two games) Keith Higgins Jr. (6–4 junior guard; 15.5 points), who combined for 40% of the Mountain Hawks’ scoring last season. Senior 6–9 center Dominic Parolin averages 10 points and a team-leading 7.5 rebounds.

There was a lot for Coach Hubert Davis to like from the Radford win.

“We have guys that can consistently make shots from the outside and what that does is it gives us spacing to be able to throw the ball into the post,” Davis said. “It gives us spacing to be able to penetrate and get to the basket.”

He approached the game more like Roy Williams always did with early-season contests, playing a lot of players. It remains to be seen whether that pattern will be sustained once ACC play starts.

“We’ve got 11 starters,” Davis said. “Guys can come in at any time and contribute and not only can contribute but can make impactful plays on both ends of the floor to give us a chance to be the best team that we can possibly become.”

Eight players played at least 11 minutes, with only fifth-year Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan playing more than 30 minutes.

Armando Bacot led four starters to score in double figures with 25 points and 13 rebounds.

NOTES — UNC’s starting five against Radford of Bacot, Ryan, RJ Davis, Paxson Wojcik and Harrison Ingram have combined to make 421 college starts, led by Bacot’s 132. … George Glamack scored 33 points to lead UNC in that 1941 win over Lehigh. … On the ACC Network call of the Lehigh game will be Anish Schroff, the radio voice of the Carolina Panthers, and former Boston College star Malcolm Huckaby. … Marcus Ginyard, who was the analyst on the streaming TV broadcast of the exhibition victory over St. Augustine’s, will be the Tar Heel Sports Network analyst for the game. … This will be UNC’s first game against a team currently in the Patriot League since Carolina beat Loyola Maryland on Nov. 9, 2021, in Hubert Davis’ head-coaching debut. … After the Lehigh game, UNC faces UC Riverside at 8 p.m. Friday before playing in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, facing Northern Iowa at noon Wednesday, Nov. 22, in the first round.

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Date	Month/day	Score	Opponent/event (current ranks)	Record
	October
27	Friday	W, 117–53	vs. St. Augustine’s	Exhibition
	November
6	Monday	W, 86–70	vs. Radford	1–0
12	Sunday	W, 90–68	vs. Lehigh	2–0
17	Friday	W, 77–52	vs. UC Riverside	3–0
			Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas
22	Wednesday	W, 91–69	Northern Iowa	4–0
23	Thursday	L, 83–81, OT	Villanova	4–1
24	Friday	W, 87–72	Arkansas	5–1
			ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
29	Wednesday	W, 100–92	vs. No. 6 Tennessee	6–1
	December
2	Saturday	W, 78–70	vs. Florida State	7–1, 1–0 ACC
			Jimmy V Classic in New York
5	Tuesday	L, 87–67	No. 1 Connecticut	7–2
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
16	Saturday	L, 87–83	No. 12 Kentucky	7–3
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
20	Wednesday	W, 81–69	Oklahoma	8–3
			—————————
29	Friday	W, 105–60	vs. Charleston Southern	9–3
	January
2	Tuesday	W, 70–57	at Pittsburgh	10–3, 2–0 ACC
6	Saturday	W, 65–55	at Clemson	11–3, 3–0 ACC
10	Wednesday	W, 67–54	at N.C. State	12–3, 4–0 ACC
13	Saturday	W, 103–67	vs. Syracuse	13–3, 5–0 ACC
17	Wednesday	W, 86–70	vs. Louisville	14–3, 6–0 ACC
20	Saturday	W, 76–66	vs. Boston College	15–3, 7–0 ACC
22	Monday	W, 85–64	vs. Wake Forest	16–3, 8–0 ACC
27	Saturday	W, 75–68	at Florida State	17–3, 9–0 ACC
30	Tuesday	L, 74–73	at Georgia Tech	17–4, 9–1 ACC
	February
3	Saturday	W, 93–84	vs. No. 13 Duke	18–4, 10–1 ACC
6	Tuesday	L, 80–76	vs. Clemson	18–5, 10–2 ACC
10	Saturday	W, 75–72	at Miami	19–5, 11–2 ACC
13	Tuesday	L, 86–79	at Syracuse	19–6, 11–3 ACC
17	Saturday	W, 96–81	vs. Virginia Tech	20–6, 12–3 ACC
24	Saturday	W, 54–44	at Virginia	21–6, 13–3 ACC
26	Monday	W, 75–71	vs. Miami	22–6, 14–3 ACC
	March
2	Saturday	W, 79–70	vs. N.C. State	23–6, 15–3 ACC
5	Tuesday	W, 84–51	vs. Notre Dame	24–6, 16–3 ACC
9	Saturday	W, 84–79	at No. 13 Duke	25–6, 17–3 ACC
			ACC tournament Washington
14	Thursday	W, 92–67	Quarterfinals: Florida State	26–6
15	Friday	W, 72–65	Semifinals: Pittsburgh	27–6
16	Saturday	L, 84–76	Final: N.C. State	27–7
			NCAA tournament
21	Thursday	W, 90–62	First round in Charlotte: Wagner	28–7
23	Saturday	W, 85–69	Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State	29–7
28	Thursday	L, 89–87	Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama	29–8

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Key events, dates

Saturday, April 27, was the deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft
Wednesday — Deadline for players to enter the transfer portal
May 11–12 — NBA G League Elite Camp in Chicago
May 12–19 — NBA Combine in Chicago
May 17–19 — Evaluation for high school players at NCAA-certified events (EYBL in Indianapolis is one of those)
May 29 at 11:59 p.m. — Deadline to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 16 at 5 p.m. — Deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft

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UNC schedule so far

Nov. 8 — at Kansas (final AP rank No. 20; final NET ranking No. 19)
Nov. 22 — at Hawaii (final NET ranking No. 172)
Nov. 25–27 — Maui Invitational — Auburn (final AP rank No. 18; final NET ranking No. 5), Colorado (unranked; No. 25), Connecticut (No. 1; No. 2), Dayton (No. 24; No. 23), Iowa State (No. 8; No. 6), Memphis (unranked; No. 75), Michigan State (unranked; No. 24)
Dec. 14 — vs. La Salle (final NET ranking No. 195)
Likely in late November — Opponent TBA in ACC/SEC Challenge
December — vs. UCLA (final NET ranking No. 107) in CBS Sports Classic (date, location TBA)
December — vs. Florida (final NET ranking No. 29) in Jumpman Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center (date TBA)
— Games home and away against Duke, N.C. State and Pittsburgh
— Home games vs. Boston College, California, Georgia Tech, Miami, SMU, Stanford and Virginia
— Road games vs. Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
Note: 2024 NCAA tournament teams are in bold.

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Potential 2024-25 UNC roster

No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
—	Freshman	James Brown (4 star)	5	6–8	225
—	Freshman	Ian Jackson (5 star)	2	6–4	180
—	Freshman	Drake Powell (5 star)	2	6–5	185
2	Soph.	Elliot Cadeau	PG	6–1	180
1	Soph.	Zayden High	4	6–9	225
—	Junior	Cade Tyson	3	6–7	203
13	Junior	Jalen Washington	5	6–10	230
0	Junior	Seth Trimble	2	6–3	195
5	Graduate	RJ Davis	PG	6–0	180
		Eligible for fifth season
24	Graduate	Jae’Lyn Withers	4	6–9	215
		Walk-ons eligible for 5th season
14	Graduate	Creighton Lebo	PG	6–1	180
22	Graduate	Rob Landry	2	6–4	190

Photo via @UNC_Basketball