Nov. 23, 2008
Game Notes (.pdf)
LAHAINA, MAUI, HAWAII - Top-ranked North Carolina (3-0) will open play in the 2008 EA Sports Maui Invitational when it plays host Chaminade on Monday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time (4:30 p.m. in Hawaii) in the Lahaina Civic Center in Lahaina, Hawaii. The game will be televised nationally by ESPNU.
Carolina has won six consecutive games in the Maui Invitational, winning the event the last two times it has visited the island (during the 1999-2000 and 2004-05 seasons).
Monday's game marks the second contest in a four-game, nine-day road trip for the Tar Heels. UNC is in the midst of a stretch during which five of the team's six games will be played away from Chapel Hill.
The morning after winning at UC Santa Barbara, 84-67, on Friday night, Carolina flew from Los Angeles to Maui. The UNC traveling party left Chapel Hill on Wednesday evening Nov. 19 and will return home on the day after Thanksgiving, Friday Nov. 28. Carolina will face a quick turnaround after its return, hosting UNC Asheville on Sunday Nov. 30 in Chapel Hill.
Chaminade will be playing its first regular-season game of the 2008-09 campaign on Monday against the Tar Heels.
UNC is ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today coaches polls this week. Chaminade is unranked.
The winner of Monday's game between Carolina and the Silverswords will play the winner of Monday's game between Alabama and Oregon in the Maui Invitational semifinals on Tuesday afternoon.
THE SERIES VS. CHAMINADE
Monday's game will be the first meeting between UNC and Chaminade. Carolina is making its fifth appearance in the Maui Invitational but has never faced the Silverswords.
CAROLINA IN MAUI INVITATIONAL
Carolina is 10-2 all-time in the Maui Invitational, winning the event in 1999-2000 and 2004-05 and reaching the finals in 1989-90 and 1995-96.
The Tar Heels have reached the championship game in all four of their appearances in the event.
UNC has won six straight games in the Maui Invitational, last losing here in the championship game to Villanova, 77-75, on Nov. 22, 1995.
In 2004-05, Carolina beat Brigham Young (86-50), Tennessee (94-81) and Iowa (106-92) to win the title (see more detailed summary below).
In 1999-2000, freshman Joseph Forte was named the event's MVP while point guard Ed Cota and center Brendan Haywood were named to the all-tournament team as UNC defeated Southern California, Georgetown and Purdue by an average of 12.7 points on the way to the title.
In 1995-96, the Tar Heels defeated Vanderbilt and Michigan State before losing to Villanova in the finals.
In 1989-90, Carolina reached the finals by defeating James Madison (on a last-second shot by King Rice) and Villanova before losing to Missouri in the title game.
LAST TIME IN MAUI (NOV. 2004)
UNC blitzed the rest of the tournament field with a high-tempo attack that averaged 95.3 points per game. Carolina won its three contests by an average of 21.0 ppg.
Junior point guard Raymond Felton was named tournament MVP after averaging 9.3 points and 8.3 assists in the three wins. He played 33 minutes in the semifinal vs. Tennessee and 28 minutes in the title tilt vs. Iowa despite a painful sprained left wrist, suffered less than eight minutes into the game with the Volunteers.
Junior Rashad McCants was named to the all-tournament team after hitting 23 of 39 shots (59.0 percent) in the three wins and leading the Tar Heels by averaging 20.7 ppg.
The Tar Heels shot 51.0 percent from the floor in three Maui games.
Roy Williams IN HAWAII
Carolina coach Roy Williams is making his fourth appearance at the Maui Invitational and second as the UNC head coach. His first two appearances (1996-97 and 2001-02) came as head coach at Kansas.
Williams is 8-1 as a head coach at the Maui Invitational and 13-3 overall in games played in Hawaii.
The Williams-led Tar Heels won the 2004 Maui Invitational title, winning their three games by over 20 points per contest (see note above).
Williams led the Jayhawks to the 1996 Maui Invitational championship with wins over Louisiana State, California and Virginia. The Williams-led Jayhawks went 2-1 at this event in Nov. 2001, losing in the opening round to Ball State before defeating Houston and Seton Hall in the consolation round.
Williams is 5-2 in non-Maui Invitational games in Hawaii. His Jayhawks defeated Hawaii (Loa) 111-58 on Dec. 28, 1990. Kansas went 2-1 in Honolulu in late December of 1992, defeating Jackson State and Hawaii before losing to Michigan. Williams' Jayhawks also went 2-1 in Honolulu in late December of 1997, defeating Ohio State and Vanderbilt before losing to Hawaii.
FAMILY CONNECTIONS FOR HANSBROUGH, ZELLER
Two Tar Heel players -- senior Tyler Hansbrough and freshman Tyler Zeller -- have brothers who are members of the Notre Dame squad that also is participating in this week's Maui Invitational.
Hansbrough's younger brother, Ben, is on the Notre Dame roster this season after transferring from Mississippi State. Ben Hansbrough is sitting out this season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Zeller's older brother, Luke, also plays for Notre Dame and is a senior this season.
THOMPSON STEPS IT UP
Junior Deon Thompson has stepped up early this season, helping pick up the slack left by injuries to Tyler Hansbrough and Tyler Zeller early this season. Thompson leads Carolina in scoring at 16.3 points per game and is second on the team with 8.7 rebounds per contest through three games.
Thompson tied his career high with 17 points against Penn on Nov. 15, hitting 7 of 11 field goal tries and grabbing seven rebounds.
He followed up that performance with a career-high 20 points and nine rebounds (including a career-high seven on the offensive glass) against Kentucky on Nov. 18.
Thompson posted his second career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win at UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 21.
ROAD WINNING STREAK
Carolina won its 14th consecutive road game on Nov. 21 at UC Santa Barbara, 84-67. The current, 14-game road winning streak matches the longest by UNC in over 50 years.
UNC's longest road winning streak since the founding of the ACC in 1953-54 is 14 games on three occasions. The first began on March 1, 1975, at Duke and ended on Jan. 19, 1977, at NC State. The second 14-game streak began on March 2, 1983 (at Georgia Tech) and ended on January 30, 1985, in a 52-50 loss at Clemson. The third is currently active.
The longest road winning streak in program history is 23 games, beginning on March 7, 1922 at Duke and ending on Feb. 2, 1925, at Harvard.
Carolina also had a 14-game road winning streak in the mid-1940s, beginning on Dec. 27, 1945, at New York University and ending on Feb. 23, 1945, at Little Creek A.B.
GREEN IN SELECT COMPANY
Senior Danny Green is one of just four players in Atlantic Coast Conference history to compile both 100 career blocked shots and 100 career made three-point field goals.
Entering the Maui Invitational, Green has 105 career blocks and 111 career three-pointers made.
Other ACC players to reach the century mark in both categories include Josh Howard (Wake Forest), Terence Morris (Maryland) and Shane Battier (Duke).
