#9 Tigers to Face #5 Tar Heels Wednesday Night in Chapel Hill

Jan. 20, 2009

Game Setup Site: Smith Center (21,750) Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 City: Chapel Hill, NC Time: 9:00 PM Television: ESPN (Mike Patrick, Dick Vitale) Radio: Clemson Tiger Radio Network (Pete Yanity, Tim Bourret) Rankings: Clemson – 9 USA, 10 AP North Carolina – 5 AP, 6 USA

Series History Overall: UNC leads 121-19 at Chapel Hill: UNC leads 53-0 at Smith Center: UNC leads 22-0 at Littlejohn: UNC leads 26-12 at Clemson: UNC leads 35-15 at Neutral: UNC leads 33-4 First Meeting: UNC 48-24 in 1925-26 at UNC Last Year: UNC 90-88 at Clemson (OT), UNC 103-93 at UNC (2OT), UNC 86-81 in ACC Title Game Streak: UNC won 9 in row Next Meeting: Only meeting this year

Quick Facts Clemson travels to Chapel Hill, NC on Wednesday, where it has never won (0-53), the longest road losing streak in college basketball history. The Tigers will face a fifth-ranked (AP) North Carolina team, the 34th time the Tar Heels have been ranked in the top 20, including the 25th time they have been ranked in the top 10, entering the game vs. Clemson in Chapel Hill. Clemson has been the higher ranked team in Chapel Hill twice, 1980 and 1997.

The closest Clemson has come to winning in Chapel Hill took place last year when Clemson took the Tar Heels to double overtime, the first time Clemson has taken UNC to overtime on the Tar Heels’ homecourt.

Even with the loss to Wake Forest last Saturday, Clemson remained in the top 10 in both polls this week. This is the first time in history Clemson has had an 0-1 record during a week and did not drop in the polls.

Clemson has a 4-0 record on the opponent’s home court, tied for the eighth longest active road winning streak in the nation. Clemson is 7-0 overall away from home.

Junior forward Trevor Booker went over the 1000 point mark when he scored nine against Wake Forest last Saturday. Booker leads the ACC in field goal percentage and blocked shots and is second in rebounding. He has 18 blocked shots in 4 career games against North Carolina.

K.C. Rivers can become the winningest player in Clemson history with a win over North Carolina. He has played in 84 wins, the same total as Cliff Hammonds (2004-08) and Elden Campbell (1986-90). Rivers needs just 19 points to reach 1500 for his career. He will become the ninth player in Clemson history to reach 1500 points, the first to reach that mark since Terrell McIntyre, who was a senior in 1998-99 and finished with 1839.

This is the second time Clemson and North Carolina have both been ranked in the top 10 entering the game in Chapel Hill. The only other time took place in 1986-87, Horace Grant’s senior year, when Clemson was 10th and North Carolina was third. It is the sixth time both teams have been ranked in the top 20 entering a game in Chapel Hill.

Clemson’s number nine ranking in the USA Today poll is the second highest for a Clemson team entering a game in Chapel Hill. Clemson was ranked second entering the game in 1996-97, but the 19th ranked Tar Heels defeated Rick Barnes Tigers, 61-48.

Clemson had the lead at intermission in all three games against North Carolina last year.