# 1987–88 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

The 1987–88 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Led by head coach Dean Smith, the Tar Heels completed yet another in a long line of impressive seasons, with an ACC Regular Season title, a top ten ranked team, and having reached all the way to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. After the season, longtime assistant coach Roy Williams would depart to become head coach of that season's national championship, Kansas. Williams would eventually leave Kansas to become the head coach of the Tar Heels since 2003, Williams would win national Championships with the Tar Heels in 2005, 2009, and 2017, surpassing Smith as having the most national Championships at UNC with three.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference Regular Season ||||||
| Nov 21, 1987* | No. 3 | vs. No. 1 Syracuse Hall of Fame Tip Off Classic | W 96–93 | 1–0 | Springfield Civic Center Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Nov 27, 1987* | No. 3 | vs. USC | W 82–77 | 2–0 | |
| Nov 28, 1987* | No. 3 | at Richmond Central Fidelity Holiday Classic | W 87–76 | 3–0 | Robins Center Richmond, Virginia |
| Dec 3, 1987* | No. 1 | Stetson | W 86–74 | 4–0 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Dec 5, 1987* | No. 1 | at Vanderbilt | L 76–78 | 4–1 | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee |
| Dec 12, 1987* | No. 5 | SMU | W 90–74 | 5–1 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Dec 17, 1987* | No. 4 | The Citadel | W 98–74 | 6–1 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Dec 19, 1987* | No. 4 | at Illinois | W 85–74 | 7–1 | Assembly Hall (16,712) Champaign, Illinois |
| Dec 30, 1987* | No. 4 | at Nevada | W 115–91 | 8–1 | Lawlor Events Center Reno, Nevada |
| Jan 2, 1988* | No. 4 | at UCLA | W 80–73 | 9–1 | Pauley Pavilion (12,544) Los Angeles, California |
| Jan 6, 1988* | No. 4 | vs. Fordham | W 76–67 | 10–1 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| Jan 9, 1988* | No. 4 | La Salle | W 96–82 | 11–1 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| ACC Regular season ||||||
| Jan 14, 1988 | No. 2 | at Maryland | W 71–65 | 12–1 (1–0) | Cole Fieldhouse College Park, Maryland |
| Jan 16, 1988 | No. 2 | Virginia | W 87–62 | 13–1 (2–0) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Jan 21, 1988 8:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 2 | No. 9 Duke Rivalry | L 69–70 | 13–2 (2–1) | Dean Smith Center (21,444) Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Jan 24, 1988 | No. 2 | at No. 20 NC State | W 77–73 | 14–2 (3–1) | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina |
| Jan 28, 1988 | No. 3 | at Wake Forest | L 80–83 | 14–3 (4–1) | Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Jan 30, 1988 | No. 3 | Georgia Tech | W 73–71 | 15–3 (5–1) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Feb 4, 1988 | No. 8 | at Clemson | W 88–64 | 16–3 (6–1) | Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, South Carolina |
| Feb 11, 1988 | No. 6 | No. 16 NC State | W 75–73 | 17–3 (7–1) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Feb 14, 1988 | No. 6 | at Virginia | W 64–58 | 18–3 (8–1) | University Hall Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Feb 17, 1988 | No. 5 | Wake Forest | W 80–62 | 19–3 (9–1) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Feb 20, 1988 | No. 5 | Maryland | W 74–73 | 20–3 (10–1) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Non-conference Regular season ||||||
| Feb 21, 1988* NBC | No. 5 | No. 1 Temple | L 66–83 | 20–4 | Dean Smith Center (21,444) Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| ACC Regular season ||||||
| Feb 28, 1988 | No. 9 | Clemson | W 88–52 | 21–4 (10–2) | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Mar 2, 1988 | No. 6 | at No. 13 Georgia Tech | W 97–80 | 22–4 (11–2) | Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia |
| Mar 6, 1988 1:00 p.m., NBC | No. 6 | at No. 9 Duke Rivalry | L 81–96 | 22–5 (11–3) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (8,564) Durham, North Carolina |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| Mar 11, 1988* | No. 9 | vs. Wake Forest Quarterfinals | W 83–62 | 23–5 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| Mar 12, 1988* | No. 9 | Maryland Semifinals | W 74–64 | 24–5 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| Mar 13, 1988* | No. 9 | vs. No. 8 Duke Championship game | L 61–65 | 24–6 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| 1988 NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 17, 1988* | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (15 W) North Texas State First round | W 83–65 | 25–6 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Mar 19, 1988* | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (10 W) No. 15 Loyola Marymount Second round | W 123–97 | 26–6 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Mar 25, 1988* | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (3 W) No. 10 Michigan West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 78–69 | 27–6 | Kingdome Seattle, Washington |
| Mar 27, 1988* | (2 W) No. 7 | vs. (1 W) No. 2 Arizona West Regional Final – Elite Eight | L 52–70 | 27–7 | Kingdome Seattle, Washington |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. ||||||