(Courtesy of UNC Sports Information)

NCAA Semifinal (Final 4), North Carolina 83, Syracuse 66

April 2, 2016

  • Carolina is now 33-6 this season and 117-44 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.
  • Monday night’s championship game vs. Villanova will mark the first time Carolina will play 40 games in a season (previous high was 39 in 2008).
  • UNC has won 33 games, tying the fifth most in school history.
  • The Tar Heels advance to their 10th national championship game. The Tar Heels have won their last four NCAA title games (1982, 1993, 2005 and 2009). UNC is 5-4 national finals.
  • Carolina is fourth all-time in national championship game appearances (UCLA is 11-2 in 13, Kentucky is 8-4 in 12, Duke is 5-6 in 11, Carolina is 5-4 in nine previous and Kansas is 3-6 in nine).
  • The Tar Heels are now 10-9 in national semifinal games. Carolina is 3-1 in the national semifinals under Roy Williams, who is 5-3 overall in national semifinals.
  • Williams will be coaching in the national championship game for the fifth time. He won the title at Carolina in 2005 and 2009 and lost while at Kansas in 1991 and 2003.
  • Williams is the fifth coach to take his team to the championship game five times. The others include: John Wooden (10 times, 10-0), Mike Krzyzewski (9 times, 5-4), Adolph Rupp (5 times, 4-1) and Dean Smith (5 times, 2-3).
  • Williams is 70-23 in the NCAA Tournament. He is second in games with 93, second in wins with 70 and is third in winning percentage among coaches with at least 50 games in the Tournament history (.753).
  • Williams has won 36 NCAA Tournament games in 12 appearances at Carolina and won 34 games in 14 appearances at Kansas.
  • Williams is 36-9 in the NCAA Tournament at Carolina. His winning percentage at UNC (.800) is the highest in ACC history.
  • The Tar Heels are 55-10 as a No. 1 seed.
  • Carolina won by 17 points, which matches its largest win ever in the Final Four. It was UNC’s second straight Final Four win by 17 points. The Tar Heels beat Michigan State, 89-72, in the 2009 national title game. Including a 16-point win over Michigan State in the 2005 semifinals, UNC has won three of its last six Final Four games by 16 or more points.
  • The Tar Heels shot 53.8 percent from the floor vs. Syracuse and are 22-1 when they shoot 50 percent or better from the floor this year.
  • The Tar Heels shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half. Carolina is 10-1 this year when it shoots 50 percent or better in the second half.
  • Carolina has shot 60 percent or better from the floor in four of the 10 halves it has played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
  • It was the ninth time this year UNC has shot 60 percent in a half. The Tar Heel are 9-0 in those games.
  • The Tar Heels made 31 of 48 two-point attempts (.646) and 4 of 17 from three-point range (.235).
  • Carolina missed its first 12 three-point attempts, then made four of its final five over the last 9:26 after Syracuse pulled within 57-50.
  • The Tar Heels shot 81.8 percent from the free throw line and are 14-2 this year when shooting 80 percent or better from the line.
  • Carolina is 12-0 this year at neutral sites.
  • Syracuse shot 40.9 percent from the floor. UNC has held the opponents to under 45 percent from the floor in 29 of the last 30 games.
  • Carolina had a 16-13 edge in second-chance points. UNC is 26-1 this year when it has more second-chance points.
  • Carolina out-scored the Orange, 50-32, in points in the paint. The Tar Heel are 24-1 this year when they score 40 or more points in the paint.
  • The Tar Heels scored 83 points, the 26th time in 39 games this season UNC scored 80 or more points. The Tar Heels are 25-1 when scoring at least 80 points this year.
  • Carolina has scored 83 or more points in all five of its NCAA Tournament games this season (83 vs. Florida Gulf Coast, 85 vs. Providence, 101 vs. Indiana, 88 vs. Notre Dame and 83 vs. Syracuse).
  • This is the first NCAA Tournament (in 47 appearances) in which the Tar Heels have scored 80 or more points in all five of its games. The 2009 national champions scored at least 80 in five of its six victories (had 72 in regional final vs. Oklahoma).
  • The Tar Heels had 12 fast break points. UNC is 23-1 when they score at least 10 fast break points this year.
  • Syracuse made 4 of 13 free throws, a percentage of .308 which is the second-lowest by an opponent in UNC’s 161 NCAA Tournament games. The Orange had five assists, which also ties the second-fewest by an opponent in NCAA play.
  • The Tar Heels are 5-1 all-time in the city of Houston and 13-10 in the state of Texas all-time.
  • Carolina is 8-4 all-time vs. Syracuse, including four wins in a row over the last two seasons.
  • Carolina is 11-4 all-time vs. Villanova (5-1 in NCAA Tournament play).
  • The championship game will mark the seventh time the Tar Heels have played Villanova in the NCAA Tournament. That will be the most NCAA games against any opponent. UNC and Kansas have also met six times.
  • Carolina vs. Villanova in NCAA Tournament

1982 East Final (Raleigh) – UNC 70-60

1985 Southeast Final (Birmingham) – Villanova 44-56

1991 East 2nd (Syracuse) – UNC 84-69

2005 East Semifinal (Syracuse) – UNC 67-66

2009 Final Four Semifinal (Detroit) – UNC 83-69

2013 South First (Kansas City) – UNC 78-71

PLAYER NOTES

  • First-team All-America forward Brice Johnson and sophomore forward Justin Jackson shared team scoring honors with 16 points apiece. Johnson had a game-high nine rebounds (fifth time this year he missed a double-double by one rebound).
  • Johnson scored in double figures for the 36th time this year. The Tar Heels are 30-6 when he scores in double figures. Johnson tied the second-most games in double figures in a season by a Tar Heel. Tyler Hansbrough did it 39 times in 2008, Antawn Jamison did it 36 times in 1998 and Eric Montross did it 36 times in 1993.
  • Johnson had nine rebounds vs. Syracuse and has 408 this year, which breaks the UNC single-season record held by Tyler Hansbrough (399 in 2008).
  • Johnson is the first Tar Heel and 14th player in ACC history with 400 rebounds in a season. His 408 are the 11th most in ACC history and the most since Tim Duncan (Wake Forest) had 457 in 1997.
  • Johnson has 1027 career rebounds and is tied with Antawn Jamison for fifth place in UNC history.
  • Johnson has 1,702 career points. He passed Wayne Ellington for 19th place (1,694). Rick Fox is 18th with 1,703 and Billy Cunningham is 17th with 1,709.
  • Johnson had one block. He moved past Scott Williams into seventh place at UNC with 162 career blocks.
  • The Syracuse game was the 147th game of Johnson’s college career. He is second in UNC history in games played behind only Deon Thompson (152).
  • Marcus Paige made three three-pointers. He has hit a UNC-record 295 three-pointers in his career.
  • Paige is 16 for 34 (.471) from three-point range in the five NCAA Tournament games this season.
  • Paige has made 35 three-pointers in 12 career NCAA Tournament games. That is the second-most by a Tar Heel in NCAA Tournament history. Donald Williams, the 1993 Final Four MVP, holds the record by a Tar Heel with 38.
  • Paige has made at least two three-pointers in all 12 of his NCAA Tournament games.
  • Paige scored 13 points. It was his 93rd career game in double figures (23rd this year).
  • Paige has 1,823 career points. He is 12th in school history. Bob Lewis is 11th with 1,836.
  • Kennedy Meeks scored 15 points, had eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals and was 7 for 9 from the floor.
  • Meeks is averaging 13.3 points over the last three games, the first in which he has scored in double figures for three consecutive games since he did that five games in a row from Wofford through Maryland in games 3-4-5-6-7 this season.
  • The seven field goals were the most by Meeks since he had 10 vs. NC State on 1/16.
  • It was the first time Meeks had multiple blocked shots in a game (two) since he had three at NC State on 2/24. It was the first time he had multiple blocks and steals (two of each) since he had two blocks and three steals vs. Maryland on 12/1/15.
  • Joel Berry did not score in double figures for only the sixth time in 39 games this season and it was just the second time UNC has won a game in which he did not (Kansas State was the other).
  • Berry had a game-high 10 assists, which was one off his career high and the second time he has been in double figures in assists.
  • Berry’s 10 assists are the most by a Tar Heel in an NCAA Tournament game since Kendall Marshall had 11 vs. Creighton in the 2012 second round (the game Marshall suffered a season-ending broken wrist).
  • Berry’s 10 assists equal the most ever by a Tar Heel in a national semifinal. Phil Ford had 10 vs. UNLV in 1977.
  • The Tar Heels are 8-1 when Berry has at least five assists.
  • Berry has 23 assists and two turnovers in the last three NCAA Tournament games (5/1 vs. Indiana, 8/0 vs. Notre Dame and 10/1 vs. Syracuse).
  • Berry had one turnover. He has played 21 of UNC’s 39 games this year with one or fewer turnovers.
  • Berry has 59 turnovers in 39 games, an average of 1.51 per game. That is the fewest by a UNC starting point guard since Carolina began recording turnovers in 1981. Jim Braddock averaged 1.86 in 1983 and Ty Lawson averaged 1.89 in 2009.
  • Justin Jackson scored in double figures for the 28 time this year and the 50th time in 77 games as a Tar Heel.
  • Jackson has played in eight NCAA Tournament games over two seasons and scored in double figures in all eight. Jackson and Marcus Paige are the only Tar Heels to score in double figures in all eight NCAA games over the last two seasons (Paige has scored in double figures in 10 straight NCAA games).
  • Joel Berry, Isaiah Hicks, Justin Jackson, Brice Johnson and Theo Pinson should become the first Tar Heels to play 40 games in a season. The previous record was 39 by Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, Wayne Ellington, Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson in 2008.
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