# 2019–20 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

The 2019–20 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach is Roy Williams, who was in his 17th season as UNC's head men's basketball coach. The Tar Heels played their home games at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Tar Heels finished the season 14–19, and 6–14 in ACC play. They defeated Virginia Tech in the first round of the ACC tournament before losing to Syracuse in the second round. The tournament was cancelled before the quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NCAA tournament and NIT were also cancelled due to the pandemic.

## Previous season

The Tar Heels finished the season 29–7, 16–2 in ACC play to finish tied for the regular season conference championship with eventual NCAA tournament champions Virginia. As the No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament, they advanced to the semifinals before ultimately losing to Duke. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region, where they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to Auburn.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Seventh Woods | 0 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Junior | Columbia, South Carolina | Transferred to South Carolina |
| Coby White | 2 | G | 6'5" | 185 | Freshman | Goldsboro, North Carolina | Declared for the 2019 NBA draft; selected 7th overall by the Chicago Bulls. |
| Nassir Little | 5 | G/F | 6'6" | 220 | Freshman | Orange Park, Florida | Declared for the 2019 NBA draft; selected 25th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers. |
| Cameron Johnson | 13 | G | 6'9" | 210 | Senior | Moon Township, Pennsylvania | Graduated; selected 11th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves. |
| Kenny Williams | 24 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Senior | Midlothian, Virginia | Graduated |
| Luke Maye | 32 | F | 6'8" | 240 | Senior | Huntersville, North Carolina | Graduated |

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jeremiah Francis PG | Pickerington, Ohio | Pickerington Central | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Aug 11, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Armando Bacot C | Richmond, Virginia | IMG Academy (FL) | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Aug 16, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Cole Anthony PG | Portland, Oregon | Oak Hill Academy (VA) | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 23, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 96 ||||||
| Anthony Harris CG | Fairfax, Virginia | Paul VI High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Apr 23, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 84 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: #11 247Sports: #8 ESPN: #9 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Christian Keeling | G | 6'4" | 175 | Graduate Student | Augusta, GA | Graduate Transfer from Charleston Southern University |
| Justin Pierce | G/F | 6'7" | 215 | Graduate Student | Glen Ellyn, Ill | Graduate Transfer from the College of William & Mary |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2019* 7:30 pm, ACCNX | No. 9 | Winston-Salem State | W 96–61 | – | 18 – Brooks | 11 – Brooks | 7 – Tied | Dean Smith Center (20,285) Chapel Hill, NC |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2019 7:00 pm, ACCN | No. 9 | Notre Dame | W 76–65 | 1–0 (1–0) | 34 – Anthony | 11 – Anthony | 5 – Tied | Dean Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC |
| November 8, 2019* 7:00 pm, FloSports | No. 9 | at UNC Wilmington | W 78–62 | 2–0 | 20 – Anthony | 12 – Tied | 4 – Platek | Trask Coliseum (5,100) Wilmington, NC |
| November 15, 2019* 9:00 pm, ACCN | No. 6 | Gardner–Webb | W 77–61 | 3–0 | 28 – Anthony | 11 – Bacot | 6 – Black | Dean Smith Center (20,374) Chapel Hill, NC |
| November 20, 2019* 8:30 pm, ACCRSN | No. 5 | Elon Battle 4 Atlantis campus game | W 75–61 | 4–0 | 22 – Bacot | 14 – Bacot | 8 – Anthony | Dean Smith Center (20,251) Chapel Hill, NC |
| November 27, 2019* 2:30 pm, ESPN | No. 6 | vs. Alabama Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | W 76–67 | 5–0 | 20 – Brooks | 15 – Bacot | 6 – Anthony | Imperial Arena (1,405) Paradise Island, Bahamas |
| November 28, 2019* 1:30 pm, ESPN | No. 6 | vs. Michigan Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals | L 64–73 | 5–1 | 22 – Anthony | 8 – Brooks | 4 – Robinson | Imperial Arena (1,828) Paradise Island, Bahamas |
| November 29, 2019* 11:30 am, ESPN | No. 6 | vs. No. 11 Oregon Battle 4 Atlantis 3rd place game | W 78–74 | 6–1 | 23 – Bacot | 12 – Bacot | 4 – Robinson | Imperial Arena (2,110) Paradise Island, Bahamas |
| December 4, 2019* 9:30 pm, ESPN | No. 7 | No. 6 Ohio State ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 49–74 | 6–2 | 15 – Anthony | 7 – Brooks | 3 – Tied | Dean Smith Center (21,115) Chapel Hill, NC |
| December 8, 2019 4:00 pm, ACCN | No. 7 | at No. 5 Virginia | L 47–56 | 6–3 (1–1) | 12 – Anthony | 8 – Brooks | 2 – Tied | John Paul Jones Arena (14,629) Charlottesville, VA |
| December 15, 2019* 4:00 pm, ACCN | No. 17 | Wofford | L 64–68 | 6–4 | 17 – Brooks | 13 – Bacot | 9 – Keeling | Carmichael Arena (6,272) Chapel Hill, NC |
| December 18, 2019* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 2 Gonzaga | L 81–94 | 6–5 | 16 – Brooks | 6 – Tied | 3 – Tied | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| December 21, 2019* 3:00 pm, CBS | | vs. UCLA CBS Sports Classic | W 74–64 | 7–5 | 15 – Bacot | 12 – Bacot | 4 – Francis | T-Mobile Arena (12,740) Paradise, NV |
| December 30, 2019* 7:00 pm, ACCN | | Yale | W 70–67 | 8–5 | 20 – Robinson | 11 – Brooks | 5 – Francis | Dean Smith Center (20,765) Chapel Hill, NC |
| January 4, 2020 6:00 pm, ACCN | | Georgia Tech | L 83–96 | 8–6 (1–2) | 35 – Brooks | 11 – Brooks | 6 – Robinson | Dean Smith Center (21,099) Chapel Hill, NC |
| January 8, 2020 7:00 pm, ACCN | | Pittsburgh | L 65–73 | 8–7 (1–3) | 21 – Brooks | 10 – Brooks | 4 – Bacot | Dean Smith Center (20,798) Chapel Hill, NC |
| January 11, 2020 4:30 pm, ACCRSN | | Clemson | L 76–79 $^{OT}$ | 8–8 (1–4) | 27 – Robinson | 11 – Brooks | 6 – Platek | Dean Smith Center (21,077) Chapel Hill, NC |
| January 18, 2020 12:00 pm, ESPN | | at Pittsburgh | L 52–66 | 8–9 (1–5) | 16 – Brooks | 13 – Brooks | 4 – Platek | Peterson Events Center (12,376) Pittsburgh, PA |
| January 22, 2020 8:00 pm, ACCN | | at Virginia Tech | L 77–79 $^{2OT}$ | 8–10 (1–6) | 28 – Brooks | 13 – Brooks | 6 – Brooks | Cassell Coliseum (9,275) Blacksburg, VA |
| January 25, 2020 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Miami (FL) | W 94–71 | 9–10 (2–6) | 29 – Robinson | 12 – Bacot | 7 – Bacot | Dean Smith Center (21,125) Chapel Hill, NC |
| January 27, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at NC State Rivalry | W 75–65 | 10–10 (3–6) | 25 – Brooks | 11 – Brooks | 3 – Brooks | PNC Arena (19,533) Raleigh, NC |
| February 1, 2020 6:00 pm, ACCN | | Boston College | L 70–71 | 10–11 (3–7) | 26 – Anthony | 10 – Tied | 3 – Anthony | Dean Smith Center (21,492) Chapel Hill, NC |
| February 3, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 8 Florida State | L 59–65 | 10–12 (3–8) | 16 – Anthony | 8 – Anthony | 3 – Tied | Donald L. Tucker Center (10,015) Tallahassee, FL |
| February 8, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 7 Duke Rivalry/ESPN College GameDay | L 96–98 $^{OT}$ | 10–13 (3–9) | 24 – Anthony | 11 – Anthony | 9 – Black | Dean Smith Center (21,500) Chapel Hill, NC |
| February 11, 2020 8:00 pm, ACCN | | at Wake Forest | L 57–74 | 10–14 (3–10) | 15 – Keeling | 7 – Bacot | 4 – Anthony | LJVM Coliseum (10,894) Winston-Salem, NC |
| February 15, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPN | | Virginia | L 62–64 | 10–15 (3–11) | 20 – Brooks | 16 – Bacot | 5 – Anthony | Dean Smith Center (21,308) Chapel Hill, NC |
| February 17, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at Notre Dame | L 76–77 | 10–16 (3–12) | 23 – Anthony | 10 – Tied | 6 – Anthony | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,150) South Bend, IN |
| February 22, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 11 Louisville | L 55–72 | 10–17 (3–13) | 18 – Anthony | 9 – Bacot | 3 – Robinson | KFC Yum! Center (21,079) Louisville, KY |
| February 25, 2020 9:00 pm, ESPN | | NC State Rivalry | W 85–79 | 11–17 (4–13) | 30 – Brooks | 9 – Brooks | 5 – Anthony | Dean Smith Center (21,338) Chapel Hill, NC |
| February 29, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN | | at Syracuse | W 92–79 | 12–17 (5–13) | 26 – Brooks | 14 – Brooks | 7 – Cole | Carrier Dome (29,312) Syracuse, NY |
| March 3, 2020 7:00 pm, ACCN | | Wake Forest | W 93–83 | 13–17 (6–13) | 28 – Anthony | 8 – Black | 7 – Anthony | Dean Smith Center (21,280) Chapel Hill, NC |
| March 7, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 12 Duke Rivalry | L 76–89 | 13–18 (6–14) | 26 – Brooks | 13 – Brooks | 3 – Anthony | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| ACC tournament |||||||||
| March 10, 2020 7:00 pm, ACCN | (14) | vs. (11) Virginia Tech First round | W 78–56 | 14–18 | 20 – Brooks | 11 – Bacot | 4 – Tied | Greensboro Coliseum (13,310) Greensboro, NC |
| March 11, 2020 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | (14) | vs. (6) Syracuse Second round | L 53–81 | 14–19 | 18 – Brooks | 7 – Bacot | 3 – Tied | Greensboro Coliseum (20,809) Greensboro, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 9 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 17 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Not released |
| Coaches | 11 | 11* | 4 | 4 | 7 | 16 | 23 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament ranking *No Coaches Poll Week 1