No. 9 North Carolina welcomes a veteran Bucknell squad to the Smith Center on Wednesday before embarking on its four-game road trip out West.

North Carolina (1-0) vs. Bucknell (0-2)

Chapel Hill, N.C. – Dean E. Smith Center

Wednesday, 8 p.m.

ACC Network Extra (Dave Weekley, Mark Adams)

Quotable

“It’s a process. The reality is this group we have has not won a thing. They haven’t won a game yet. That’s the first thing — we’ve got to put ourselves in position to win our first game and go from there. If you start worrying about where we’re going to be in February or March, you’re going to miss out on what you need to do to be ready for February and March.” - Bucknell head coach Nathan Davis

PREGAME NOTES

Heels Awaiting Berry’s Return: The Tar Heels played well enough in their season-opening win over Northern Iowa on Friday night, as junior forward Luke Maye took command with a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds. Preseason All-ACC senior guard Joel Berry (right hand) and Pitt grad transfer Cameron Johnson (neck) were sidelined due to injury, although UNC head coach Roy Williams expressed some optimism on Monday that last year’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player could return for Wednesday’s tip. Freshman center Garrison Brooks also impressed in his debut, scoring 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbing six rebounds in 18 minutes.

Bucknell Reloaded: Don’t let the Bison’s 0-2 record fool you. Nathan Davis’s Bucknell squad returns all five starters and 10 of its 12 rotation players from last year’s Patriot League title and NCAA Tournament bid. Four Bison were named to the 2016-17 All-Patriot League teams. Bucknell dropped its season opener at Monmouth, 79-78, on Friday before being blown out at Arkansas, 101-73, on Sunday.

Thomas Balling Out: Senior forward Zach Thomas has built upon his All-Patriot League performance from a year ago in Bucknell’s opening two contests. The 6-foot-7, 228-pounder scored 31 points on 12-of-23 shooting (5-of-11 3FG) in the loss at Monmouth and then led his team once again with 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting (5-of-7 3FG) and 10 rebounds in the loss at Arkansas. Last season, Thomas averaged 15.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while knocking down 42.3 percent of his 3-point attempts.

Matchup to Watch: Bucknell center Nana Foulland is coming off a dominant junior season in which he earned Patriot League Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards in averaging 14.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. Standing 6-foot-10, 235 pounds, Foulland will represent a sizeable challenge for Brooks and fellow freshmen bigs Sterling Manley and Brandon Huffman. He’s a three-year starter who is shooting 57.6 percent for his career and has blocked 151 shots, thereby posing a threat on both ends of the floor. The Tar Heels succeed in getting Northern Iowa forward Bennett Koch in foul trouble early, and a similar plan of attack will help to mitigate Foulland’s talents inside.

Series Record: This is the first ever meeting between the programs.

Projected UNC Starters:

5 Jalek Felton (6-3, 190, Fr.) – 5.0 ppg, 1.0 apg

1 Theo Pinson (6-6, 220, Sr.) - 3.0 ppg, 5.0 apg

32 Luke Maye (6-8, 240, Jr.) – 26.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg

24 Kenny Williams (6-4, 185, Jr.) – 10.0 ppg, 5.0 apg

15 Garrison Brooks (6-9, 215, Fr.) – 14.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg

Projected Bucknell Starters:

23 Zach Thomas (6-7, 228, Sr.) – 27.5 ppg, 13.0 rpg

20 Nana Foulland (6-10, 235, Sr.) – 16.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg

01 Kimbal Mackenzie (6-1, 195, Jr.) - 1.5 ppg, 1.5 apg

11 Avi Toomer (6-3, 188, S0.) – 7.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg

02 Stephen Brown (5-11, 160, Sr.) – 12.0 ppg, 7.5 apg

UNC Info

Schedule/Results

Roster & Bios

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Bucknell Info

Schedule/Results

Roster & Bios

Stats