UNC to Play Indiana in Bloomington for ACC/Big Ten Challenge

UNC men’s basketball announced in a release on Tuesday afternoon it will travel to Bloomington, Indiana on Nov. 30 for a Sweet 16 rematch against the Indiana Hoosiers.

The game will be played in historic Assembly Hall as part of the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and televised on the ESPN family of networks.

Although no start time has been announced yet, that information will be available later in the summer.

UNC defeated Indiana 101-86 in the East Regional Quarterfinals in Philadelphia this past season on its way to the National Championship Game.

Junior point guard Joel Berry will lead a new-look Tar Heel team that will spotlight some different–but familiar–names next season. (Todd Melet)

Senior guard Marcus Paige led the way that night with a vintage performance that saw him score 21 points thanks to going 6-for-9 from three-point range.

Paige’s classmate, forward Brice Johnson added 20 points and 10 rebounds that night–as each of the Tar Heels’ five starters tallied at least 14 points in the high-scoring affair.

Next year’s game will look a bit different, however, with Paige and Johnson–as well as Indiana’s star point guard Yogi Ferrell–each graduating from school.

Indiana got a boost in early April when talented freshman Thomas Bryant, a 6-foot-10 big man, opted to return to school for his sophomore season rather than enter the NBA Draft.

The Tar Heels received similar news when Kennedy Meeks and Justin Jackson chose to skip the draft as well–meaning every non-senior on last year’s Final Four squad will be returning to Chapel Hill.

It will be the first time UNC has played at Indiana since the 2012-13 season, when it lost 83-59.

In their other two previous appearances all-time at Assembly Hall, the Tar Heels won each time–back in 1979 and 2004.

The Hoosiers are now tied with Illinois as the Tar Heels’ second most common opponent during the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, as this is the fourth time the schools have been matched with another for the event (Indiana leads the series 2-1).

Only Michigan State, with five games against UNC, has played against the Tar Heels more often since the event began during the 1999-2000 season.

Although the Tar Heels lost each of their first four ACC/Big Ten Challege appearances, they have improved to a much more respectable 9-4 since head coach Roy Williams arrived in 2003.

FULL 2016 ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE SCHEDULE

UNC to Play Indiana in Bloomington for ACC/Big Ten Challenge

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