The 2001–02 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the

2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2001, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on April ...

. Their head coach was Matt Doherty. The team captains for this season were

Jason Capel Jason Maurice Capel (born January 15, 1980) is an American college basketball coach, currently an assistant at Pittsburgh. He was previously the 15th head coach of the Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball team. He is a former basketbal ...

and

Kris Lang Kristoffer Douglas Lang (born December 12, 1979) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for North Carolina between 1998 and 2002 before playing professionally in Poland, NBA D-League, South Korea, Spain, Italy, ...

. The team played its home games in the Dean Smith Center in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

as a member of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

Roster

Fingleton only played one game, against

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

, before announcing he would transfer at the end of 2001. He later transferred to

Holy Cross Holy Cross or Saint Cross may refer to: * the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus * Christian cross, a frequently used religious symbol of Christianity * True Cross, supposed remnants of the actual cross upon which Jesus was crucified * Feast ...

Schedule and results

The Tar Heels started their regular season with three losses, the first time they had done so in 73 years. Their first regular season and conference win over Georgia Tech avoided the program's first 0-4 start in its history. The Tar Heels were ranked number 19 in that season's preseason AP Poll. They fell out of the AP Poll after losing to Hampton. It would be the Tar Heels' only AP Poll ranking that season. The 2001-02 season was also the first season the Tar Heels did not make it to the championship game of the Tournament of Champions presented by

Hardee's Hardee's Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") with locations primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company has evolved through several corporate owne ...

in ten years, falling to

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

in the second game. The Tar Heels did manage to upset Saint Joseph's, then ranked number 15 in the AP Poll, in the consolation game. Prior to 2002, the largest margin of defeat against the Tar Heels in the Dean Smith Center was set in a 20-point loss against Duke in 1999. Kentucky, with 17 points, and NC State, with 18 points, nearly broke Duke's record, before Wake Forest succeeded with 22 points; Duke then reclaimed the record with a 29-point victory. At the time, the away game at

Cole Field House The Jones-Hill House is an indoor collegiate sports training complex located on of land on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park, a suburb north of Washington, D.C. Jones-Hill House is situated in the center of the campus, ...

was the worst defeat in 79 years against Maryland, and the most points an opponent scored over the Tar Heels. The defeat also nearly matched the Tar Heels' worst defeat in their history with the Atlantic Coast Conference. The home loss against NC State was also the worst home defeat to the Wolfpack since Dean Smith's first year as coach in 1962. The Tar Heels matched their record for most losses in a season (15 losses in the 1950–51 and 1951-52 seasons) after their loss to Maryland at home. They would end the season with 20 losses, the most losses in the history of the program. The Tar Heels ended their regular season at home with a 6-9 record, the worst home record in the history of the program. In the

2002 ACC men's basketball tournament The 2002 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball tournament took place from March 7–10 in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the second Charlotte Coliseum. Duke won the tournament for the fourth year in a row, defeating NC State in the champions ...

, the seventh-seeded Tar Heels were defeated by second-seeded Duke, who would go on to win that year's tournament. , - !colspan=12 style="background:#56A0D3; color:#FFFFFF;", ACC Tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2001-02 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball seasons North Carolina 2001 in sports in North Carolina 2002 in sports in North Carolina