The 2002–03 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

2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2002, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on Ap ...

. Their head coach was Matt Doherty. The team captains for this season were Jonathan Holmes and Will Johnson. 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

Schedule and results

The Tar Heels' preseason began with their annual Blue-White Scrimmage. The attendance at the scrimmage was 14,125 people, the most people at one of the Blue-White Scrimmages at that time. In between their run in the Preseason NIT, the Tar Heels played, and won, in the first game held in

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

Ted Constant Convocation Center Chartway Arena at the Ted Constant Convocation Center is a , multi-purpose arena in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, on the campus of Old Dominion University. It is operated by Oak View Group. Chartway Arena is part of the University Village pr ...

. The Tar Heels would go on to win that season's Preseason NIT, defeating

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, then ranked number two in the AP Poll, and

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

in the process. By the time the Tar Heels won over Stanford, they had their best start to a season since the 1998-99 season, when the Tar Heels started out with an 8-0 record. The Tar Heels didn't fare as well in the ECAC Holiday Festival, getting upset by

Iona Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...

in the first game. Iona's win against the Tar Heels was the first time Iona won over a ranked team in 23 years. The Tar Heels recovered in the second game, winning against St. John's. After the ECAC Holiday Festival, the Tar Heels would not appear in any other AP Polls that season. In addition to the first game held at the Constant Center, the Tar Heels played the first game at what was then known as the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

's Convocation Center. That game ended in an overtime loss for the Tar Heels. Several records involving three-point attempts were set this season. Thirty-five three-point attempts were made in the game against Davidson, setting a program record of three-point attempts made in a single game. The Tar Heels would come close to matching that record later that season against Wake Forest in the

and Clemson at

Littlejohn Coliseum The Littlejohn Coliseum is a 9,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Clemson, South Carolina, United States. It is home to the Clemson University Tigers men's and women's basketball teams. It is also the site of Clemson graduations and the Clemson ...

. Eight hundred and twenty two three-point goals were attempted and 290 three-point goals were attempted this season, both program-high records. The 40-point margin in the away game at

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 ...

became the third largest margin of defeat in the program's history, after a 43-point loss against Lynchburg Elks in 1915 and a 42-point loss against

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 ...

in 1950. Despite a winning record at the start of this season, the Tar Heels finished conference play with a 6–10 record. The Tar Heels needed a win in the

2003 ACC men's basketball tournament The 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball tournament took place from March 13 to 16 in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the Greensboro Coliseum. The 2003 edition marked the 50th ACC Tournament. Duke won the tournament for the fifth stra ...

to advance to the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

. The Tar Heels fell short of this goal, defeating Maryland in the quarterfinals but falling to

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 ...

in the semifinals. The Tar Heels' then 17–15 record was good enough for the

2003 National Invitation Tournament The 2003 National Invitation Tournament was the 2003 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. This was the last NIT to include a third-place game until 2021. During the following season, St. John's center Abe Keita revealed ...

. After defeating DePaul and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, the Tar Heels would fall to Georgetown in the quarterfinals with a 19–16 record. The 16 losses in this season were the second most losses in the program's history at the time. The record would be broken by the 2009-10 season with 17 losses. The losses occurring in the 2009-10 season and this season are second and third, respectfully, to the program's loss record set in the previous season. Days after the end of the Tar Heels' NIT campaign, Doherty resigned as head coach on April 1, 2003. On April 14, 2003, Roy Williams would become the next head coach of the Tar Heels men's basketball team. , - !colspan=12 style="background:#56A0D3; color:#FFFFFF;", ACC Tournament , - !colspan=12 style="background:#56A0D3; color:#FFFFFF;", NIT

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2002-03 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 ...

2002 in sports in North Carolina 2003 in sports in North Carolina