By R.L. Bynum
East Carolina (5–7) at No. 12 North Carolina (11–1)
When: 8:05 p.m. Monday
Where: Smith Center
Officials: Ron Groover, Bill Covington Jr. and Tony Chiazza
TV: ACC Network: Doug Sherman play-by-play, Terrence Oglesby analyst
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (affiliates list; streams on the Varsity Network app);
Jones Angell play-by-play, Tyler Zeller analyst
Coaches: Michael Schwartz (54–56 in fourth season at East Carolina) and Hubert Davis (112–46 in fifth season, all at UNC; was 228–95 in nine seasons as a UNC assistant coach)
UNC projected starters: Kyan Evans, Seth Trimble, Luka Bogavac, Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar
Series: UNC leads 4–0 (see list below), with the last win 108–64 in the Smith Center on Dec. 7, 2014.
Line: UNC -27½
Over/under: 144
Records against the spread: UNC 7–5; East Carolina 3–8
Quad designation: East Carolina’s NET ranking is 289, making it the final game on the Tar Heels’ schedule currently designated as Quad 4. The Pirates lost to Michigan State 89–56 in their only Quad 1 game.
Common opponents: Both lost to Michigan State; UNC beat St. Bonaventure, and the Pirates lost to the Bonnies, with all of those games at the Fort Myers Tipoff.
East Carolina results (3 wins were Quad 4, and 1 was vs. a Division II team )
Nov. 4: 92–89 win vs. Georgia Southern
Nov. 8: 87–72 loss at Richmond
Nov. 13: 71–70 win vs. Elizabeth City State (Division II)
Nov. 18: 85–60 loss at UNCW
Nov. 21: 77–65 loss vs. Charleston Southern
Nov. 25: 89–56 loss vs. Michigan State in Fort Myers, Fla.
Nov. 27: 67–58 loss vs. St. Bonaventure in Fort Myers, Fla.
Dec. 2: 68–56 win vs Maryland-Eastern Shore
Dec. 6: 82–78 loss vs. UNCG
Dec. 11: 67–54 loss vs. Appalachian State
Dec. 14: 73–70 loss vs. Buffalo
Wednesday: 74–53 win vs. Presbyterian
Projected ECU starters
No. 12 | G | Jordan Riley (top photo) | 6–5, 210 | senior | Temple transfer in second season at ECU
— American Conference-leading 21.7 points, 46.5 FG%, 31.0 3P%, 65.9 FT%, 5.4 rebounds, 21 assists, 38 turnovers, team-leading 22 steals, 6 blocks
— An American Conference All-Preseason First Team selection
No. 7 | C | Giovanni Emejuru | 6–10, 262 | senior | George Mason transfer
— 13.6 points, team-leading 56.3 FG%, 65.3 FT%, team-leading 9.2 rebounds, team-leading 19 blocks, 11 steals
— He played his freshman season at Sam Houston State and his sophomore season at Siena before playing at George Mason last season.
No. 4 | G | Tybo Bailey | 6–2, 187 | sophomore
— 9.1 points, 35.7 FG%, 30.9 3P%, 74.4 FT%, 2.7 rebounds, 10 steals
— Was a four-star player at Winston-Salem Christian School (according to Rivals)
No. 5 | G | Corey Caulker | 6–0, 175 | junior | Eastern Florida State CC transfer
— 7.3 points, 25.2 FG%, 20.4 3P%, 82.6 FT%, 2.8 rebounds, team-leading 40 assists, 21 turnovers, 15 steals
— Played his freshman season at Northern Virginia Community College
No. 42 | F | Luke Davis | 6–8, 224 | graduate student | New Orleans transfer
— 3.4 points, 10–20 FGs, 0–2 3P FG, 77.8 FT%, 4.3 rebounds
— Played at Southwestern Illinois College as a freshman and Midland College as a sophomore
Notes
— UNC is the heavy favorite and should control tempo and inside play, but ECU’s rebounding (129th in the country in offensive rebounding percentage at 32.8) and Jordan Riley’s scoring make the Pirates a threat to lengthen possessions.
— Four of the Pirates’ usual starters are transfers. One is at his fourth school (center Giovanni Emejuru), and another is at his third school (forward Luke Davis).
— ECU is picked 10th in the 13-team American Conference.
— This is the final non-conference game for both teams.
— East Carolina is 3–84 all-time against Top 25 teams after losing to No. 9 Michigan State 89–56 on Nov. 25 at the Fort Myers Tipoff. The Pirates are 0–58 on the road against Top 25 teams after losing 74–70 at No. 19 Memphis last season.
— The Tar Heels are 181–18 against in-state nonconference teams and have won 51 such games in a row.
— Riley, the American Conference’s leading scorer, scored 24 points in Wednesday’s 74–53 home win over Presbyterian to snap a three-game losing streak.
— Carolina is 11–1, the best record through 12 games since going 11–1, 12–0 and 12–0 in successive seasons from 2006–07 to 2008–09. The Tar Heels won the national championship in the that third season after winning their first 13 games.
— After playing two more home games before the end of December (also the ACC opener on Dec. 30 against Florida State the next week), UNC only plays at home twice in January (Jan. 10 vs. Wake Forest and Jan. 21 vs. Notre Dame), the first time that’s happened since the 1990–91 season.
— Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar have recorded double-doubles in the same game five times, which is tied for the eighth-most by a UNC duo in program history. They are easily on pace to break the record that John Henson and Tyler Zeller set with nine in the 2011–12 season.
— Wilson, the ACC Rookie of the Year for a second time this season, leads the team in scoring (19.5 points per game) and rebounding (10.8). Tyler Hansbrough (2005–06) is the only freshman to do that for a season. Wilson leads the ACC in rebounding average and defensive rebounds (7.75 per game).
— Veesaar is second in the league in field-goal percentage (63.9%), only behind N.C. State’s Ven-Allen Lubin (69.0%).
— UNC is second in the ACC in scoring defense (64.58 points per game), field-goal-percentage defense (37.2%), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.17) and defensive rebounds per game (30); and third in offensive rebounding (41.83) and rebounding margin (+8.67).
— The Tar Heels are 13th in the ACC in free-throw percentage (68.9%), 15th in 3-point-shooting percentage (32.5%) and 16th in steals (5.25 per game).
Series: UNC 4, ECU 0
UNC season statistics
East Carolina season statistics
Statistical comparison
| Category | ECU | UNC |
| Points per game | 68.4 | 79.9 |
| Scoring defense | 74.3 | 64.6 |
| Scoring margin | -5.9 | +15.3 |
| FG% | 40.7% | 47.0% |
| 3P FG % | 25.9% | 32.5% |
| 3P per game | 4.8 | 8.2 |
| FT% | 71.2% | 68.9% |
| FG% defense | 45.1% | 37.2% |
| 3FG% defense | 34.3% | 29.5% |
| Opponent 3P/game | 8.0 | 6.5 |
| Rebounds per game | 35.8 | 41.8 |
| Offensive rebounds/game | 12.3 | 11.8 |
| Rebounding margin | +2.0 | +8.6 |
| Assists per game | 10.8 | 17.0 |
| Turnovers per game | 13.7 | 9.9 |
| Assist-to-turnover ratio | 0.8 | 1.7 |
| Turnovers forced/game | 12.8 | 9.1 |
KenPom comparison
| Category | ECU | UNC |
| Overall ranking | 269 | 22 |
| Offensive efficiency | 99.1 (328) | 118.7 (42) |
| Defensive efficiency | 107.6 (159) | 97.1 (23) |
| Effective FG% | 44.8 (342) | 53.9 (86) |
| Turnover % | 18.8 (258) | 14.4 (34) |
| Offensive rebound % | 32.8 (129) | 34.6 (79) |
| FTA/FGA | 42.7 (46) | 39.9 (90) |
| Strength of schedule | 304 | 127 |
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Duke | 10–0 | 21–1 | 3 |
| No. 20 Clemson | 8–1 | 18–4 | 31 |
| No. 18 Virginia | 8–2 | 19–3 | 17 |
| N.C. State | 8–2 | 17–6 | 25 |
| No. 14 North Carolina | 6–3 | 18–4 | 26 |
| Miami | 6–3 | 17–5 | 39 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 6–4 | 16–6 | 18 |
| Virginia Tech | 5–5 | 16–7 | 56 |
| California | 5–5 | 17–6 | 50 |
| SMU | 4–5 | 15–7 | 34 |
| Syracuse | 4–6 | 13–10 | 72 |
| Stanford | 3–6 | 14–8 | 77 |
| Florida State | 3–6 | 10–12 | 100 |
| Wake Forest | 2–7 | 11–11 | 72 |
| Boston College | 2–7 | 9–13 | 148 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–7 | 9–13 | 113 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–8 | 11–12 | 143 |
| Notre Dame | 2–8 | 11–12 | 85 |
* — Through Tuesday games
Monday’s result
No. 14 North Carolina 87, Syracuse 77
Tuesday’s results
No. 4 Duke 67, Boston College 49
No. 18 Virginia 67, Pittsburgh 47
N.C. State 84, SMU 83
Wednesday’s games
No. 24 Louisville 76, Notre Dame 65
California 90, Georgia Tech 85
No. 20 Clemson at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
Virginia Tech at N.C. State, noon, The CW
Syracuse at No. 18 Virginia, noon, ESPN
No. 24 Louisville at Wake Forest, noon, ACC Network
Miami at Boston College, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m., The CW
Florida State at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., The CW
No. 4 Duke at No. 14 North Carolina, 6:30, ESPN
No. 20 Clemson at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at Stanford, 8 p.m., ESPNU
Monday’s game
N.C. State at No. 24 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday, Feb. 10, games
No. 14 North Carolina at Miami, 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 18 Virginia at Florida State, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Notre Dame at SMU, 7 p.m., ACC Network
No. 4 Duke at Pittsburgh, 9 p.m., ESPN
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 16 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 11 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 10 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 18 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo via ecupirates.com
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