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January Tar Heel History

January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December

January 1, 1947
#9 North Carolina starring Charlie "Choo-Choo" Justice plays in its first ever bowl game, a 20-10 loss to #3 Georgia in Tulane Stadium at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans (Game Program).

January 1, 1997
UNC cornerback Dré Bly has two interceptions, the Tar Heel defense makes a late-game 4th down stop, and quarterback Oscar Davenport is named the game's MVP as he Tar Heels beat West Virginia, 20-13, at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida.

January 1, 1998
Carl Torbush coaches the Tar Heels to a dominant 42-3 win over Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl after UNC coach Mack Brown leaves to take the head coaching job at Texas.

January 1, 2012
UNC defeats Monmouth 102-65 for a school record 26th consecutive win in the Smith Center.

January 2, 1993
Defensive back Bracey Walker blocks two punts for UNC, returning one for a 24-yard TD that ties the game at 14. The defensive MVP also lays a big hit to cause an interception and 44-yard return by teammate Cliff Baskerville that sets up the go-ahead TD in the fourth quarter as UNC beats Mississipi State 21-17 at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, GA.

January 2, 2024
Armando Bacot scores 16 points to become just the 7th player in UNC Basketball history to score 2,000 career points as the No. 8 Tar Heels beat the Pitt Panthers, 70-57, in Pittsburgh.

January 4, 1986
Brad Daugherty scores 28 points in 90-79 win over NC State in the final regular-season game played in Carmichael Auditorium. The Tar Heels conclude play there with a 169-20 record.

January 4, 2016
Brice Johnson scores career-highs 39 points (14-16 FG) and 23 rebounds (7 offensive) and Marcus Paige scores 30 points (plus 5 assists, 5 rebounds) to lead UNC to a 106-90 win at Florida State. Johnson has the first 20-20 game for a Tar Heel since Tyler Zeller's 20 points and 22 rebounds against Ohio in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

January 4, 2023
R.J. Davis becomes the 81st player in UNC Basketball history to score 1,000 career points in the Tar Heels' 88-79 win over Wake Forest in Chapel Hill. Davis scored 27 points, 22 of which came in the second half.

January 4, 2024
Alyssa Ustby records the first triple-double in UNC women's basketball history and is the first player in all of women's basketball history to record 15+ points, 15+ rebounds & 10 assists (16-16-10) vs. a ranked opponent, as the Tar Heels trounce No. 25 Syracuse 75-51 at Carmichael Arena.

January 5, 1933
UNC beats Guilford 66-9 in Chapel Hill in the first game in which Carolina wore numbers on its jerseys. Also, Dave McCachren was captain, marking the first of four brothers from Charlotte (Jim 1936, Bill 1939 and George 1943) to captain the team.

January 5, 2023
Deja Kelly becomes the 39th player in UNC Women's Basketball history to reach the 1,000-point career scoring mark with 19 points in No. 22 UNC's 62-58 loss to Miami in Coral Gables.

January 6, 2008
Wayne Ellington scores a career-high 36 points, including a three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime to beat Clemson 90-88 at Littlejohn Coliseum.

January 7, 1978
The Tar Heels set an NCAA field goal percentage record by making 16 of 17 shots from the floor in the second half. Carolina shoots 94.1 percent in the second half of a 76-61 victory over Virginia.

January 8, 1955
At 5:28 pm on January 8, 1955, UNC-TV went on the air for the first time. One of the first programs aired was the UNC vs. Wake Forest basketball game, which UNC won 95-78.

January 8, 2017
North Carolina men's basketball beats NC State 107-56 in Chapel Hill on January 8, 2017 (Box Score). It's the most points ever scored by the Tar Heels, and the 51-point win is the largest margin of victory over NCSU since 1921.

January 9, 1982
In another 1 vs. 2 match-up, top-ranked Carolina edges Virginia, 65-60, despite Ralph Sampson's 30 points and 19 rebounds. James Worthy and Michael Jordan combine for 33 points.

January 9, 1991
Hubert Davis scores 25 in a 105-73 win over Maryland, Dean Smith’s 700th win. He is the first ACC coach to win 700 games.

January 10, 1794
On January 10, 1794, UNC hired its first faculty member: David Ker, a native of Ireland and graduate of Trinity College Dublin. Ker's initial title was "Professor of Humanity."

January 10, 2012
Dexter Strickland scores 14 points to eclipse the 600 career point mark as the Tar Heels beat Miami 73-56 in Chapel Hill. Strickland would injure his knee 9 days later against Virginia Tech and miss the remainder of the season.

January 12, 1980
Al Wood scores 20 points and Dave Colescott adds 18 as the 15th-ranked Tar Heels knock off No. 1 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, 82-67.

January 12, 1984
Michael Jordan comes up with the steal and then slams home his legendary "rock the cradle" dunk in a 74-62 win at Maryland. (Video)

January 13, 1964
UNC's Billy Cunningham scores 40 points and has 28 rebounds in a 97-88 win over Maryland in Chapel Hill, one of the Kangaroo Kid’s 40 consecutive double-doubles.

January 13, 1975
The UNC women's basketball program plays its first varsity game in school history, defeating NC State 74-47 in Raleigh.

January 14, 1956
Lennie Rosenbluth ties the UNC record with 45 points in a 103-99 win at Clemson.

January 14, 1959
Third-ranked UNC beats No. 1 NC State, 72-68, in UNC's first of many wins over a No. 1 ranked team.

January 15, 1795
UNC held its opening ceremony on January 15, 1795, and soon after became the first state university to enroll students. It was a cold, windy, rainy day, and the roads were a muddy mess. The area looked more like a construction site than a college campus.

January 15, 1936
NYU beats the Tar Heels, 55-33, in Carolina’s first game in Madison Square Garden.

January 15, 1983
Sam Perkins scores 36 in Charlottesville and Tar Heels knock off second-ranked Virginia, 101-95.

January 16, 2017
UNC's 85-68 win over Syracuse is the 800th in Roy Williams' career. He becomes the ninth coach to win 800 games as a Division I head coach. Williams is 800-212 in 29 seasons, including 382-111 in 14 years at UNC. Williams won his 800th game in fewer seasons (29) than any coach in history. Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski won their 800th game in their 33rd seasons.

January 16, 2018
After making 6 3-pointers in an 87-79 win against Clemson, Cameron Johnson became the first player to make 6 3-pointers in a game both for and against the Tar Heels. He made six while playing for Pitt on 1/31/2017.

January 16, 2023
The No. 2 UNC women's tennis team beats ECU 7-0 to give coach Brian Kalbas, the winningest women's tennis coach in ACC history, his 500th victory at UNC.

January 17, 1970
Charles Scott scores 43 points in a 91-90 loss to Wake Forest. Later that year, the ACC’s leading scorer and co-Male Athlete of the Year scores 41 points in an ACC Tournament loss to Virginia. Scott averages 27.1 points, the third highest mark by a Tar Heel.

January 17, 1979
Dudley Bradley steals the ball from Clyde Austin and dunks home the game-winner with seconds to play in a 70-69 win over NC State in a game that stuns the Reynolds Coliseum crowd. Carolina led 40-19, but the Pack came back to take the lead before Bradley’s heroics.

January 17, 2004
No. 9 Carolina beats No. 1 Connecticut, 86-83, as Rashad McCants scores 27, including UNC’s final 10 points. His three-pointer with six seconds to play beats the Huskies, who later that year win the NCAA title.

January 17, 2009
Wayne Ellington catches fire and makes seven 3-pointers within a 10 minute span during the second half of UNC's 82-65 win over Miami in Chapel Hill (Video).

January 18, 1986
Steve Hale scores 28 points and Brad Daugherty adds 23 and 11 rebounds as No. 1 Carolina beats No. 3 Duke, 95-92, in first game played in the Smith Center.

January 18, 1989
Playing without Jeff Lebo, who was injured in a 106-83 loss at Virginia the previous game, UNC beats No. 1 and unbeaten Duke, 91-71, in Durham. Scott Williams scores 22 to lead the Tar Heels.

January 19, 1974
All-America Bobby Jones steals the ball and drives the length of the floor for a game-winning lay-up as time expires in 73-71 win at Duke.

January 20, 2014
James Michael McAdoo scores 11 points to become UNC’s 69th 1,000-point career scorer (most in NCAA history), but it's not enough as the Tar Heels fall to Virginia 76-61 in Charlottesville.

January 21, 2015
The Tar Heels shoot 60% from the field to help give Roy Williams his 150th career ACC victory as UNC beats Wake Forest 87-71 in Winston-Salem.

January 21, 2019
Freshman Coby White is the first Tar Heel to lead UNC in points (27), rebounds (7), assists (6) and steals (4) since Joseph Forte (24/16/6/3) at Duke, 2/1/2001 as No. 11 UNC blows out No. 10 Virginia Tech 103-82 in Chapel Hill.

January 21, 2023
Armando Bacot breaks Billy Cunningham's 60-year-old school record with his 61st career double-double and also breaks Tyler Hansbrough's career rebound record, which stood at 1,219, as the Tar Heels beat NC State 80-69 in Chapel Hill.

January 24, 1920
Billy Carmichael scored 16 points in a 36-25 win over Trinity in the first ever basketball game between the two schools located eight miles apart. Carmichael led the team in scoring in 1919-20 (10.8 ppg) and was later the University’s controller and acting president. Carmichael Auditorium was named in his honor.

January 24, 1925
John Purser scores 10 points to lead UNC to a 25-21 win at Duke’s Memorial Gymnasium. It was the first game ever played between North Carolina and Duke as the school formerly known as Trinity changed its name less than four weeks prior to the game.

January 24, 2016
With No. 2-ranked North Carolina's 75-70 win at Virginia Tech, Roy Williams becomes the first coach ever to achieve 350+ wins at two Division I schools.

January 26, 2022
UNC shoots 29.1% and defeats Boston College, 58-47, in Chapel Hill. It is the lowest shooting percentage to result in a win in UNC men's basketball history (3,143 games). Leaky Black becomes the 5th Tar Heel with 400 rebounds, 200 assists, 100 steals, and 50 blocks, joining James Worthy, George Lynch, David Noel, and Danny Green.

January 27, 1911
Carolina defeats Virginia Christian, 42-21, in UNC's first basketball game. Marvin “Philly” Ritch, considered the Father of Carolina Basketball is the team’s first captain and leading scorer.

January 27, 1993
Florida State leads by 17 at halftime and 73-54 with less than nine minutes to play. Carolina reels off 15 straight points and takes the lead for good on a George Lynch steal and dunk with just under two minutes to play. UNC outscores the Seminoles, 28-4, over the last nine minutes.

January 27, 2007
North Carolina hands legendary Arizona coach Lute Olson his worst career home loss 92-64.

January 27, 2019
Paris Kea's 30 points and 10 assists led North Carolina to a 78-73 upset of the top-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish on January 27, 2019 at Carmichael Arena. UNC's win snapped a 198-game losing streak by unranked teams against the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

January 28, 2009
Point guard Ty Lawson hits a running 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Tar Heels an 80-77 win over Florida State in Tallahassee.

January 29, 1972
A 92-72 win over Maryland is Carolina’s 1,000th victory. The Terps won the rematch in overtime, but Carolina won the rubber match, 73-59, to win the ACC Tournament. MVP Bob McAdoo averaged 15 points in the Tournament and Dennis Wuycik scored 24 in the championship game.

January 29, 2012
John Henson blocks 4 shots in a 93-81 win over Georgia Tech, moving him past Sam Perkins (274) and into second place among UNC career shot blockers.

January 29, 2022
Armando Bacot becomes the 79th Tar Heel to score 1,000 career points as UNC blows out NC State, 100-80, in Chapel Hill on a day that UNC honors recently retired coach Roy Williams and UNC's 1982 national championship team.

January 30, 1957
The Tar Heels beat Western Carolina, 77-59, in UNC’s first-ever game as No. 1 ranked team in the nation.

January 31, 2012
UNC defeats Wake Forest 68-53, becoming the first ACC team to win 600 ACC games.


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