The 2001–02 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

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 Apr ...

. Their head coach was Matt Doherty. The team captains for this season were Jason Capel and Kris Lang. The team played its home games in the

Dean Smith Center The Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center (commonly known as the Dean Smith Center, Smith Center, or the Dean Dome) is a multi-purpose arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, used primarily as the home for the University of North Carolina at Ch ...

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

as a member of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

Roster

Fingleton only played one game, against Davidson, before announcing he would transfer at the end of 2001. He later transferred to Holy Cross.

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 The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

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 Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria ** Hampton railway station, Melbour ...

. 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, fast-food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurants, CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") with locations primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company has ...

in ten years, falling to Charleston 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 Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, with 17 points, and

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

, with 18 points, nearly broke Duke's record, before Wake Forest succeeded with 22 points;

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

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 campu ...

was the worst defeat in 79 years against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, 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 Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball Coach (basketball), head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North C ...

'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 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 North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

2001 in sports in North Carolina 2002 in sports in North Carolina