Blue Bloods Clash in Allen Fieldhouse

No. 9 North Carolina (1-0) at No. 1 Kansas (1-0)
Lawrence, Kan. — Allen Fieldhouse
Friday, Nov. 8 — 7 p.m.
ESPN2 (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas)

Quotables

“To play against and have this level of competition on the road is always good for us. … Going to Kansas and playing there, and also the history of these two programs playing each other. I played against Kansas in the Final Four in 1991. Obviously, we played in the NCAA Tournament my first year (on the coaching staff), 2012-13 in Kansas City. Then played them in (the 2022) national championship game. Coach (Dean) Smith, the relationship there, and Coach (Roy) Williams, the relationships there. And so it’s going to be a fun atmosphere, and really privileged to be able to compete against Kansas on Friday.” — UNC coach Hubert Davis on Wednesday.

“I think it’s great for college basketball, and it’s a different environment. For us, we’re going down there to their stadium, and then it’s vice versa next year. So just to get a feel for the environment, the energy, what different crowds bring. I think that’s just huge for college basketball in general, and it’s something that each player should aspire and look forward to. You only get these types of games and types of moments once in a while. So it’s definitely something that you want to look back on, and definitely something you want to take full advantage of, because it’s fun at the end of the day.” — UNC guard RJ Davis on Wednesday.

Pregame Notes

Career Nights for Carolina Guards: UNC went with a smaller lineup by starting guards RJ Davis, Elliot Cadeau and Seth Trimble on Monday night to open the new season. Much of the talk about ramping up the tempo and increasing the pace this season is due in part to the number of dynamic pieces the Tar Heels possesses at guard and on the wing. In the opener, Trimble built upon his strong showings in the preseason as Carolina beat Elon 90-76. He averaged 24 points per game across UNC’s two exhibition contests, including a 33-point outburst at Memphis in a charity exhibition. And on Monday night against Elon, Trimble provided a career-high 15 points while connecting on three 3-pointers.

Cadeau also supplied a career best in the opener. He looked more comfortable letting 3-pointers fly and finished with 17 points, while knocking down three 3-pointers. That’s the most triples Cadeau has made in a college game. He struggled from beyond the arc last season, shooting just 18.5 percent on 3-point attempts. Cadeau added a game-high eight assists to his scoring output against the Phoenix.

Frontcourt Questions Remain: Carolina took a first crack at piecing together its frontcourt puzzle during Monday night’s season-opening victory. Coach Hubert Davis opted to roll out returning forwards Jalen Washington and Jae’Lyn Withers as starters with the three-guard lineup. That marked a change from the preseason, as Belmont transfer Cade Tyson started in both of UNC’s exhibition games. He earned the starting nod at the ‘4’ (power forward spot) alongside the big man Washington in the Tar Heels’ high-scoring exhibition sprint past Johnson C. Smith.

Withers secured his seventh career double-double in UNC’s defeat of Elon on Monday night. He scored all of his 10 points in the first half, and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Washington didn’t score until the second half, and finished with eight points and four rebounds. Vanderbilt transfer Ven-Allen Lubin chipped in four points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots in 17 minutes off the bench.

Looking at Kansas: The Jayhawks earned the No. 1 designation in the preseason AP Top 25 poll for the second time in as many years. Last season, though, Kansas came up short of reaching those high expectations. The Jayhawks went 23-11 overall and 10-8 in Big 12 Conference league play, finishing tied for fifth place in the conference standings. Kansas was bounced in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32, falling to Gonzaga 89-68.

Kansas has been college basketball’s preseason No. 1 team four times under longtime coach Bill Self. And in each of those seasons, the Jayhawks failed to make it past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Self, who’s in his 22nd season with the Jayhawks, took the Kansas job in 2003, after Roy Williams left to take the head post at UNC.

Kansas opened this season with an 87-57 beatdown of visiting Howard. The Jayhawks raced out to a 27-point lead by halftime (46-19), and never looked back from there. Kansas shot better than 60 percent from that field against the Bison and drained 11-of-22 attempts from 3-point range.

Star-Studded Transfer Class: Kansas has reloaded its roster with one of more talented transfer overhauls in the country. Six transfer additions for the Jayhawks made up the No. 3-ranked portal class, according to 247Sports. Those new faces include AJ Storr (from Wisconsin), Zeke Mayo (from South Dakota State), Rylan Griffen (from Alabama), David Coit (from Northern Illinois), Shakeel Moore (from Mississippi State and NC State) and Noah Shelby (from Rice).

Storr was tabbed the No. 4 overall transfer prospect by 247Sports. He’s on his third school in as many seasons, after making stops at St. John’s and Wisconsin. The 6-foot-7 guard was Wisconsin’s leading scorer last season at 16.8 points per game, and was named to the All-Big Ten second team.

Mayo, Griffen and Coit were added to help improve Kansas’ outside shooting, a noticeable weakness of last season’s team. The Jayhawks shot 33.2 percent from 3-point range last season. The transfer trio combined for 521 made 3-pointers across their college careers entering this season. Mayo and Coit were high-volume scorers at their mid-major stops last season, putting up 18.8 points and 20.8 points per game, respectively. On Monday night, Mayo supplied a team-high 19 points and five made 3-pointers as Kansas routed Howard.

And Griffen, of course, was a key piece in Alabama’s defeat of No. 1 seed UNC in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. He finished with 19 points and made five 3-pointers that night in Los Angeles, while serving as the primary defender on RJ Davis, who struggled to 4-of-20 shooting from the field, including 0-for-9 from 3-point range. Returning guard Dajuan Harris is another player who primarily guarded Davis during one of the worst shooting performances in his college career. Harris mostly guarded Davis during the 2022 national title matchup in New Orleans. Harris, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last season, limited Davis to 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting in the NCAA championship game.

Versatile and Deep Frontcourt: Hunter Dickinson headlines Kansas’ attack in the post, a group that blends length and athleticism with plenty of depth. The fifth-year senior Dickinson, who’s listed at 7-foot-2, was named to the preseason All-America team and preseason Big 12 Player of the Year. He averaged 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds and recorded 17 double-doubles last season. He supplied 16 points and six rebounds for the Jayhawks in Monday night’s season opener.

KJ Adams starts alongside Dickinson in the frontcourt. The 6-7, 235 pound Adams does most of his damage around the rim, using his strength and athleticism. Freshman big man Flory Bidunga serves as the Jayhawks’ primary post option off the bench. He was a McDonald’s All-American and recorded a 7-2 wingspan at the 2024 Nike Hoop Summit in April. Bidunga contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in 17 minutes of action in the season opener.

Last Meeting: Kansas knocked off Carolina 72-69 to claim the 2022 national championship. The Tar Heels led by 15 points at the half, but the Jayhawks stormed back to capture their fourth NCAA title.

RJ Davis and Armando Bacot paced the Tar Heels with 15 points apiece. Brady Manek added 13 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. UNC shot just 31.5 percent from the field that night at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, including a 5-of-24 showing from Caleb Love.

Series History: The all-time series between these two storied programs is split at 6-6. Kansas has won the last four meetings against Carolina. Each of those collisions came in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels are making their second-ever trip to Allen Fieldhouse. Their previous appearance in the historic arena came all the way back in December 1960, with UNC winning that game 78-70. The Tar Heels are 14-18 all-time against top-ranked teams, including 6-7 on the road in those such games.

Projected UNC Starters:
3 Elliot Cadeau (So., 6-1, 180) — 17 ppg, 8 apg, 4 rpg, 3 spg
4 RJ Davis (Gr., 6-0, 180) — 24 ppg, 7 rpg, 7 apg
7 Seth Trimble (Jr., 6-3, 195) — 15 ppg, 3 apg, 2 rpg
13 Jalen Washington (Jr., 6-10, 235) — 8 ppg, 4 rpg
24 Jae’Lyn Withers (Gr., 6-9, 220) — 10 ppg, 10 rpg

Projected Kansas Starters:
1 Hunter Dickinson (Gr., 7-2, 265) — 16 ppg, 6 rpg, 2 bpg
3 Dajuan Harris (Gr., 6-2, 175) — 6 ppg, 5 apg, 3 rpg
6 Rylan Griffen (Jr., 6-6, 190) — 5 ppg, 3 apg
8 David Coit (Sr., 5-11, 175) — 8 ppg, 4 apg, 2 spg
24 KJ Adams (Sr., 6-7, 235) — 7 ppg, 4 rpg, 3 apg

UNC Info
Schedule/Results
Roster & Bios
Stats

Kansas Info
Schedule/Info
Roster & Bios
Stats