The University of North Carolina’s men’s basketball non-conference schedule for 2016-17 includes at least five games against teams that played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, three against teams in last year’s NIT and possibly three more against teams that were in the NCAA field.
The Tar Heels play host to Chattanooga (Nov. 13) and Northern Iowa (Dec. 21), play Kentucky in Las Vegas in the CBS Sports Classic (Dec. 17) and play at Hawaii (Nov. 18) and Indiana (Nov. 30 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge). Those five teams played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Carolina and Kentucky will be facing each other for the 16th time since 2000 and the 38th time overall. The Tar Heels leads the series, 23-14 and have won seven of the last 11 meetings under head coach Roy Williams.
The Tar Heels beat Indiana, 101-86, in the East Region semifinals in Philadelphia. The Hoosiers are playing host to UNC for the third time in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. IU beat Carolina in Bloomington, Ind., in 2012-13, and the Tar Heels won at Assembly Hall in 2004-05.
Northern Iowa, which advanced to the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, handed Carolina its first loss last year, 71-67, in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The Tar Heels return to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in Lahaina on Nov. 21-23. Brackets have not been announced, but the field also includes host Chaminade, Connecticut, Georgetown, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Tennessee and Wisconsin. UConn, Oregon and Wisconsin played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament with the Ducks advancing to the West Region final.
Carolina has won the Maui tournament three times – in the 1999-2000, 2004-05 and 2008-09 seasons. This is UNC’s first trip to Maui since the 2012-13 season.
The Tar Heels face UNC Pembroke on November 4th. in a preseason exhibition at the Dean E. Smith Center. Carolina opens the regular season with three games in five days, beginning on November 11th at Tulane, then plays host to Chattanooga on the 13th and Long Beach State on the 15th. After a five-game road swing in Hawaii and Indiana, the Tar Heels return home for games against Radford (Dec. 4), Davidson (Dec. 7) and Tennessee (Dec. 11). Kentucky and Northern Iowa conclude the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule, and Monmouth, coached by former UNC point guard King Rice, caps the non-conference schedule with a game in Chapel Hill on December 28th.
Carolina’s ACC schedule will include home-and-home series against Duke, NC State, Pitt and Virginia; home games against Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Virginia Tech; and away games at Boston College, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Miami and Wake Forest.
Nine of UNC’s 18 ACC games will be against teams that played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament and 12 of the 18 are against teams that played in the postseason.
2016-17 MEN’S BASKETBALL NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Nov. 4 vs. UNC Pembroke (exhibition game in Chapel Hill)
Nov. 11 at Tulane (New Orleans, La.)
Nov. 13 vs. Chattanooga (Maui Jim Maui Invitational in Chapel Hill)
Nov. 15 vs. Long Beach State (Chapel Hill)
Nov. 18 at Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Nov. 21-23 in Maui Jim Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
Nov. 30 at Indiana (ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Bloomington, Ind.)
Dec. 4 vs. Radford (Chapel Hill)
Dec. 7 vs. Davidson (Chapel Hill)
Dec. 11 vs. Tennessee (Chapel Hill)
Dec. 17 vs. Kentucky (CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas, Nev.)
Dec. 21 vs. Northern Iowa (Chapel Hill)
Dec. 28 vs. Monmouth (Chapel Hill)