Battle of Backbone Mountain

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2002–03 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 Wake Forest 13 – 3   .813 25 – 6   .806
No. 17 Maryland 11 – 5   .688 21 – 10   .677
No. 7 Duke† 11 – 5   .688 26 – 7   .788
NC State 9 – 7   .563 18 – 13   .581
Georgia Tech 7 – 9   .438 16 – 15   .516
Virginia 6 – 10   .375 16 – 16   .500
North Carolina 6 – 10   .375 19 – 16   .543
Clemson 5 – 11   .313 15 – 13   .536
Florida State 4 – 12   .250 14 – 15   .483
† 2003 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll


The 2002–03 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Matt Doherty. The team captains for this season were Jonathan Holmes and Will Johnson.[1] The team played its home games in the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Roster

1 Melvin Scott

Baltimore, MD (Southern)

SG SO 6-1, 179
2 Raymond Felton

Latta, SC (Latta)

PG FR 6-0, 194
5 Jackie Manuel

West Palm Beach, FL (Cardinal Newman)

SG SO 6-5, 189
14 Jonathan Holmes

Bloomington, IN (Bloomington South)

PG SR 6-0, 189
15 Damien Price

Greensboro, NC (Dudley)

G JR 5-11, 190
21 Jawad Williams

Lakewood, OH (St. Edward)

PF SO 6-8, 204
25 Damion Grant

Wolfeboro, NH (Brewster Academy)

C FR 6-11, 262
30 Phillip McLamb

Charlotte, NC (Country Day)

F JR 6-6, 216
31 Jonathan Miller

Burlington, NC (Williams)

G JR 6-2, 192
32 Rashad McCants

Asheville, NC (The New Hampton School)

SF FR 6-4, 201
34 David Noel

Durham, NC (Southern)

SF FR 6-6, 216
41 Byron Sanders

Gulfport, MS (Harrison Central)

PF FR 6-9, 225
42 Sean May

Bloomington, IN (Bloomington North)

C FR 6-8, 272
44 Will Johnson

Hickory, NC (Hickory)

SF SR 6-8, 218

[2]

2002–03 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Melvin Scott 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 179 lb (81 kg) So Southern Baltimore, Maryland
G 2 Raymond Felton 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 194 lb (88 kg) Fr Latta Latta, South Carolina
G 5 Jackie Manuel 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 189 lb (86 kg) So Cardinal Newman West Palm Beach, Florida
G 14 Jonathan Holmes (C) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 189 lb (86 kg) Sr Bloomington South Bloomington, Indiana
G 15 Damien Price 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Dudley Greensboro, North Carolina
F 21 Jawad Williams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 204 lb (93 kg) So St. Edward Cleveland, Ohio
C 25 Damion Grant 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 262 lb (119 kg) Fr Brewster Academy Portland, Jamaica
F 30 Phillip McLamb 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Charlotte Country Day Charlotte, North Carolina
G 31 Jonathan Miller 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Williams Burlington, North Carolina
G/F 32 Rashad McCants 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 201 lb (91 kg) Fr New Hampton Prep Asheville, North Carolina
G/F 34 David Noel (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 216 lb (98 kg) Fr Southern Durham Durham, North Carolina
F 41 Byron Sanders 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Harrison Central Gulfport, Mississippi
F/C 42 Sean May 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 272 lb (123 kg) Fr Bloomington North Bloomington, Indiana
F 44 Will Johnson (C,W) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Sr Hickory Hickory, North Carolina
Head coach

Matt Doherty

Assistant coach(es)

Doug Wojcik, Fred Quartlebaum, Bob MacKinnon

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: April 5, 2017

[3]

Schedule and results

The Tar Heels' preseason began with their annual Blue-White Scrimmage. The attendance at the scrimmage was 14,125 people, the most people at one of the Blue-White Scrimmages at that time.[4]

In between their run in the Preseason NIT, the Tar Heels played, and won, in the first game held in Old Dominion University's Ted Constant Convocation Center.[5]

The Tar Heels would go on to win that season's Preseason NIT, defeating Kansas, then ranked number two in the AP Poll, and Stanford in the process. By the time the Tar Heels won over Stanford, they had their best start to a season since the 1998-99 season, when the Tar Heels started out with an 8-0 record.[6]

The Tar Heels didn't fare as well in the ECAC Holiday Festival, getting upset by Iona in the first game. Iona's win against the Tar Heels was the first time Iona won over a ranked team in 23 years.[7] The Tar Heels recovered in the second game, winning against St. John's. After the ECAC Holiday Festival, the Tar Heels would not appear in any other AP Polls that season.

In addition to the first game held at the Constant Center, the Tar Heels played the first game at what was then known as the University of Miami's Convocation Center.[8] That game ended in an overtime loss for the Tar Heels.

Several records involving three-point attempts were set this season. Thirty-five three-point attempts were made in the game against Davidson, setting a program record of three-point attempts made in a single game. The Tar Heels would come close to matching that record later that season against Wake Forest in the Dean Smith Center and Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum. Eight hundred and twenty two three-point goals were attempted and 290 three-point goals were attempted this season, both program-high records.

The 40-point margin in the away game at Maryland became the third largest margin of defeat in the program's history, after a 43-point loss against Lynchburg Elks in 1915 and a 42-point loss against Kentucky in 1950.[1]

Despite a winning record at the start of this season, the Tar Heels finished conference play with a 6–10 record. The Tar Heels needed a win in the 2003 ACC men's basketball tournament to advance to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The Tar Heels fell short of this goal, defeating Maryland in the quarterfinals but falling to Duke in the semifinals.

The Tar Heels' then 17–15 record was good enough for the 2003 National Invitation Tournament. After defeating DePaul and Wyoming, the Tar Heels would fall to Georgetown in the quarterfinals with a 19–16 record.

The 16 losses in this season were the second most losses in the program's history at the time. The record would be broken by the 2009-10 season with 17 losses. The losses occurring in the 2009-10 season and this season are second and third, respectfully, to the program's loss record set in the previous season.[1]

Days after the end of the Tar Heels' NIT campaign, Doherty resigned as head coach on April 1, 2003.[9] On April 14, 2003, Roy Williams would become the next head coach of the Tar Heels men's basketball team.[10]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
November 2, 2002*
5:30 pm 		Blue-White Game
Scrimmage 		      Dean Smith Center (14,125)
Chapel Hill, NC
November 9, 2002*
4:30 pm 		EA Sports Southeast All-Stars
Exhibition 		W 109 - 97  0-0
  23 – Tied   9 – Williams   9 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (12,574)
Chapel Hill, NC
November 13, 2002*
7:30pm 		Team Nike
Exhibition 		L 72 - 76  0-0
  23 – May   11 – May   5 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (8,450)
Chapel Hill, NC
November 18, 2002*
7:30, ESPN2 		Penn State
Preseason NIT 		W 85-55  1-0
  28 – McCants   10 – May   10 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (16,282)
Chapel Hill, NC
November 20, 2002*
7:00 pm 		Rutgers
Preseason NIT 		W 71-67  2-0
  19 – May   10 – May   9 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (14,656)
Chapel Hill, NC
November 24, 2002*
1:00 pm, RSN 		at Old Dominion W 67-59  3-0
  18 – Williams   8 – May   5 – Felton  Constant Center (8,424)
Norfolk, VA
November 27, 2002*
9:00 pm, ESPN 		vs. No. 2 Kansas
Preseason NIT – semifinal 		W 67-56  4-0
  25 – McCants   11 – May   4 – Felton  Madison Square Garden (10,758)
New York, NY
November 29, 2002*
9:00 pm, ESPN 		vs. Stanford
Preseason NIT - Championship 		W 74-57  5-0
  18 – McCants   7 – Tied   7 – Felton  Madison Square Garden (11,718)
New York, NY
December 3, 2002*
9:30 pm, ESPN2 		No. 12 at No. 25 Illinois L 65-92  5-1
  21 – May   8 – Tied   3 – Tied  Assembly Hall (16,500)
Champaign, IL
December 7, 2002*
2:00 pm, ESPN 		No. 12 No. 18 Kentucky
Rivalry 		L 81-98  5-2
  22 – McCants   10 – May   7 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (21,750)
Chapel Hill, NC
December 19, 2002*
7:00 pm, RSN 		No. 23 Vermont W 80-54  6-2
  19 – McCants   7 – Manuel   8 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (16,258)
Chapel Hill, NC
December 22, 2002
8:00 pm, Fox Sports 		No. 23 at Florida State W 69-48  7-2
(1-0) 		 16 – Williams   10 – May   11 – Felton  Tallahassee Civic Center (7,102)
Tallahassee, FL
December 27, 2002*
6:30 pm, MSG 		No. 22 vs. Iona
ECAC Holiday Festival 		L 56-65  7-3
  15 – McCants   9 – May   5 – Felton  Madison Square Garden (11,000)
New York, NY
December 28, 2002*
3:00 pm, MSG 		No. 22 vs. St. John's (NY)
ECAC Holiday Festival 		W 63-59  8-3
  21 – McCants   10 – Williams   9 – Felton  Madison Square Garden (11,000)
New York, NY
January 4, 2003*
7:00 pm, ESPN 		at Miami (FL) L 61-64 OT 8-4
  14 – McCants   7 – Tied   6 – Felton  Convocation Center (6,826)
Coral Gables, FL
January 8, 2003*
8:30 pm, RJ 		Davidson W 79-64  9-4
  19 – McCants   7 – Tied   5 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (18,555)
Chapel Hill, NC
January 11, 2003
12:00 pm, ESPN 		Virginia L 72-79  9-5
(1-1) 		 18 – Williams   9 – Williams   5 – Felton  University Hall (8,392)
Charlottesville, VA
January 14, 2003
7:00 pm, RSN 		Clemson W 68-66  10-5
(2-1) 		 20 – McCants   6 – Tied   8 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (17,451)
Chapel Hill, NC
January 18, 2003*
5:00 pm, ESPN 		No. 6 Connecticut W 68-65  11-5
  27 – McCants   6 – Tied   7 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (21,750)
Chapel Hill, NC
January 22, 2003
7:00 pm, ESPN 		No. 12 Maryland L 66-81  11-6
(2-2) 		 26 – McCants   8 – McCants   6 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (21,750)
Chapel Hill, NC
January 26, 2003
2:00 pm, Fox Sports 		at NC State
Carolina–State Game 		L 77-86  11-7
(2-3) 		 28 – Felton   10 – McCants   5 – Felton  RBC Center (19,722)
Raleigh, NC
January 29, 2003
7:00 pm, ESPN 		at Georgia Tech L 68-88  11-8
(2-4) 		 24 – Williams   10 – Williams   6 – Felton  Alexander Coliseum (9,191)
Atlanta, GA
February 2, 2003
5:30, Fox Sports 		No. 17 Wake Forest L 75-79  11-9
(2-5) 		 22 – Williams   8 – Noel   4 – Williams  Dean Smith Center (21,750)
Chapel Hill, NC
February 5, 2003
9:00 pm, ESPN 		at No. 9 Duke
Carolina–Duke rivalry 		L 74-83  11-10
(2-6) 		 25 – Felton   8 – Williams   4 – Tied  Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)
Durham, NC
February 8, 2003
1:00 pm, RJ 		Florida State W 61-60  12-10
(3-6) 		 20 – Williams   7 – Felton   6 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (21,750)
Chapel Hill, NC
February 12, 2003
7:00 pm, ESPN 		Virginia W 81-67  13-10
(4-6) 		 21 – Tied   9 – Manuel   5 – Tied  Dean Smith Center (20,445)
Chapel Hill, NC
February 15, 2003
1:00 pm, RJ 		at Clemson L 77-80  13-11
(4-7) 		 19 – Felton   4 – Tied   7 – Felton  Littlejohn Coliseum (10,500)
Clemson, SC
February 18, 2003*
8:00 pm, RJ 		North Carolina A&T W 93-57  14-11
  16 – McCants   8 – Noel   11 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (14,005)
Chapel Hill, NC
February 22, 2003
2:00 pm, RJ 		at No. 13 Maryland L 56-96  14-12
(4-8) 		 12 – Scott   6 – Tied   6 – Williams  Comcast Center (17,950)
College Park, MD
February 25, 2003
9:00 pm, RJ 		NC State
Carolina–State Game 		L 67-75 OT 14-13
(4-9) 		 16 – Tied   7 – Williams   5 – Manuel  Dean Smith Center (21,750)
Chapel Hill, NC
March 1, 2003
1:00 pm, ABC 		Georgia Tech W 67-66  15-13
(5-9) 		 19 – Felton   9 – Williams   5 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (20,859)
Chapel Hill, NC
March 5, 2003
9:00 pm, RJ 		at No. 9 Wake Forest L 60-75  15-14
(5-10) 		 17 – Williams   6 – Tied   4 – Felton  LJVM Coliseum (14,656)
Winston-Salem, NC
March 9, 2003
4:00 pm, CBS 		No. 10 Duke
Carolina–Duke rivalry 		W 82-79  16-14
(6-10) 		 26 – McCants   8 – Felton   10 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (21,750)
Chapel Hill, NC
ACC Tournament
March 14, 2003
7:00 pm, ESPN2 		(7) vs. (2) No. 14 Maryland
Quarterfinals 		W 84-72  17-14
  25 – Williams   11 – McCants   10 – Felton  Greensboro Coliseum (23,745)
Greensboro, NC
March 15, 2003
4:00 pm, ESPN 		(7) vs. (3) No. 12 Duke
Semifinals/Rivalry 		L 63-75  17-15
  18 – Felton   8 – Williams   5 – Felton  Greensboro Coliseum (23,745)
Greensboro, NC
NIT
March 18, 2003
9:00 pm, ESPN[11] 		DePaul
First Round 		W 83-72  18-15
  21 – Noel   11 – Noel   9 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (10,345)
Chapel Hill, NC
March 24, 2003
8:00 pm 		Wyoming
Second Round 		W 90-74  19-15
  20 – Tied   7 – Noel   14 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (20,235)
Chapel Hill, NC
March 26, 2003
7:00 pm, ESPN2[12] 		Georgetown
Quarterfinals 		L 74-79  19-16
  26 – McCants   7 – Williams   11 – Felton  Dean Smith Center (15,043)
Chapel Hill, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in EST.

[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c Carolina Basketball 2016-17 Fact & Records Book (PDF). Chapel Hill: GoHeels.com. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  2. ^ "North Carolina Tar Heels 2002-03 Basketball Roster - Tar Heel Times". www.tarheeltimes.com. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  3. ^ U.N.C. basketball blue book. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2002. p. 11.
  4. ^ "White Tops Blue In Annual Intrasquad Scrimmage". GoHeels.com. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. November 2, 2002. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  5. ^ "Tar Heels Hold Off Old Dominion, 67-59". GoHeels.com. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. November 24, 2002. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  6. ^ O'Connell, Jim (November 29, 2002). "Tar Heels Bring Home The Preseason NIT". GoHeels.com. Associated Press. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  7. ^ O'Connell, Jim (December 27, 2002). "No. 22 North Carolina Upset By Iona, 65-56". GoHeels.com. Associated Press. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  8. ^ Wine, Steven (January 4, 2003). "North Carolina Drops OT Decision To Miami, 64-61". GoHeels.com. Associated Press. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  9. ^ "Matt Doherty Resigns As Men's Basketball Coach". GoHeels.com. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. April 1, 2003. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  10. ^ Droschak, David (April 14, 2003). "Williams Returns to Chapel Hill". GoHeels.com. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Associated Press. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  11. ^ "Tar Heels Open NIT Play Tonight".
  12. ^ "UNC, Georgetown Play Wednesday in Smith Center at 7 p.m."
  13. ^ "Men's Basketball".
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002%E2%80%9303_North_Carolina_Tar_Heels_men%27s_basketball_team