No. 14 North Carolina (14-3, 2-2 ACC) vs. California (13-5, 1-4 ACC)
Berkeley, Calif. — Haas Pavilion
Saturday, Jan. 17— 4 p.m.
ACC Network (Wes Durham and Dennis Scott)

Quotables
“I think everybody is pissed off because we know that those are controllables that are in our control.” — Henri Veesaar after UNC’s loss to Stanford

“(Caleb Wilson) will get a defensive rebound and he’ll push out in transition himself… Transition defense is going to be a huge emphasis for us against North Carolina.” — head coach Mark Madsen after California’s loss to Duke

Pregame Notes

Okorie Spoils UNC’s West Coast Start: Despite Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar combining for 52 points and North Carolina shooting 58.2 percent from the field as a team, the Tar Heel defense conceded even larger figures to Stanford, who pulled out the upset on Wednesday night. 

Ebuka Okorie tallied a season-high 36 points, while two other Cardinals finished with 20-point nights as Stanford shot 57.1 percent from both the field (32-for-56) and 3-point range (16-for-28). Defensive issues continue to be UNC’s Achilles heel of late, with North Carolina’s last two losses becoming two of the three worst defensive performances by the Tar Heels in the last 29 years per KenPom. 

With Wednesday’s loss, the Tar Heels fell to 3-3 in Quad 1 games this season and 17-35 in such games during Hubert Davis’ tenure. As a result, UNC has fallen eight spots in the NET rankings to No. 30.

Looking at California: The Golden Bears, picked to finish third from last in the ACC preseason poll, began their season with a 12-1 record for the first time since 1960. However, the slate included only three Power Four opponents, where Cal lost at Kansas State 99-96, upset No. 18 UCLA 80-72 on a neutral court and defeated Utah 79-72 at home. 

California’s success has dropped off since conference play began, however, with a 1-4 record in its first five outings. The Golden Bears have faced a gauntlet to start their ACC schedule, losing to No. 16 Louisville (90-70), No. 23 Virginia (84-60), No. 6 Duke (71-56) and Virginia Tech (78-75). 

These recent results tally a 1-4 Quad 1 record for California, placing them at No. 69 in the NET as well as a No. 83 rating in KenPom. 

In his third season as head coach, Mark Madsen looks to end the decade-long NCAA tournament drought for the Golden Bears. A two-time NBA Finals champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, Madsen spent the beginning of his coaching career as an assistant in the NBA and G-League before becoming a head coach for Utah Valley in 2019.

Struggling California Offense Provides Chance for UNC Defense to Improve: Much like North Carolina, the Golden Bears have hit a midseason lull and provide the opportunity for the Tar Heels to iron out some defensive issues that have plagued them in recent performances.

Since ACC play started — a five-game stretch where Cal stands 1-4 — shooting woes have severely hampered the Golden Bears’ offense, which has averaged just 66.6 points in league play. Over the last five games, California has shot 38.2 percent from the field and 26.8 percent from beyond the arc. 

On the contrary, UNC’s defense has allowed its last three opponents to score an average of 92 points per game on 55 percent shooting from the field and 48.9 percent from 3-point range. If North Carolina is going to correct these crooked numbers anytime soon, a struggling Cal offense provides a prime opportunity to get back on track. 

Taking a closer look at California’s offense, four different players average over 13 points per game with Dai Dai Ames — a junior transfer from UVa — leading the charge at 17.3 points a night. Ames is Cal’s most productive 3-point shooter, taking over four per game and making them at a 43.4 percent clip.

Justin Pippen, son of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, supplies 14.4 points as California’s secondary scorer. He also leads the team in steals (2.1) and assists (4.0) per game, and has helped Cal to the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio in league play with his passing.

Defensively, California is a relatively decent team. The Golden Bears rank inside the top 100 in the country in 3-point percentage defense (30.6%), turnover margin (+2.6) and field goal percentage defense (41.9%). Their only glaring issue has been rebounding, where California ranks 286th nationally in rebounding margin, and over the last five outings, has been outrebounded by an average of 12.2 boards per game. 

Last Meeting: North Carolina is 5-1 all-time against Cal, including a 1-0 record in the programs’ first meetings as ACC opponents last season. The Tar Heels won, 79-53, last January in Chapel Hill, as Ian Jackson’s 20 points led all scorers.

UNC’s trip to Haas Pavilion is the farthest it’s ever traveled to play an ACC game, at 2,805 miles from the Smith Center.

Projected UNC Starters: 
0 Kyan Evans (Jr., 6-2, 175) — 5.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 3.4 apg
7 Seth Trimble (Sr., 6-3, 200) — 15.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.3 apg
8 Caleb Wilson (Fr., 6-10, 215) — 19.9 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 2.6 apg
13 Henri Veesaar (Jr., 7-0, 225) — 17.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.1 apg
15 Jarin Stevenson (Jr., 6-10, 215) — 6.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 0.9 apg

Projected California Starters:
2 John Camden (Sr., 6-8, 220) — 13.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg
7 Dai Dai Ames (Jr., 6-2, 190) — 17.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.6 apg, 43.4% 3PT
10 Justin Pippen (So., 6-3, 190) — 14.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.0 apg, 2.1 spg
22 Chris Bell (Sr., 6-7, 195) — 13.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg
34 Lee Dort (Sr., 6-10, 235) — 8.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.0 bpg, 61.7% FG

Top Cal Reserves
3 Semetri Carr (Fr., 6-1, 170) — 5.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.6 apg
8 Milos Ilic (Sr., 6-10, 240) — 2.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg
21 Nolan Dorsey (Sr., 6-5, 210) — 2.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg

UNC Info:
Schedule/Results
Roster & Bios
Stats

Cal Info:
Schedule/Results
Roster & Bios
Stats