1986–87 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1986–87 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball

ACC regular season champions
NCAA Tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 2
Record	32–4 (14–0 ACC)
Head coach	Dean Smith (25th season)
Assistant coaches	Bill Guthridge (19th season) Roy Williams (9th season) Dick Harp (1st season)
Home arena	Dean Smith Center
Seasons← 1985–86 1987–88 →

1986–87 ACC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 North Carolina	14	–	0	1.000	32	–	4	.889
No. 13 Clemson	10	–	4	.714	25	–	6	.806
No. 17 Duke	9	–	5	.643	24	–	9	.727
Virginia	8	–	6	.571	21	–	10	.677
Georgia Tech	7	–	7	.500	16	–	13	.552
NC State †	6	–	8	.429	20	–	14	.588
Wake Forest	2	–	12	.143	14	–	15	.483
Maryland	0	–	14	.000	9	–	17	.346

† 1987 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1986–87 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Led by head coach Dean Smith, the Tar Heels completed yet another impressive season in a long line of impressive seasons, with an ACC regular season title, a top-five ranking, and a trip to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament to show for it.

Roster

1986–87 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	3	Jeff Denny	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Fr	Rural Hall, North Carolina
G	11	Rodney Hyatt	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	—	Fr	Wadesboro, North Carolina
G	14	Jeff Lebo	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Carlisle, Pennsylvania
F	20	Steve Bucknall	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	London, England
G	21	Michael Norwood	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Sr	Henderson, North Carolina
F	24	Joe Wolf	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Sr	Kohler, Wisconsin
G	30	Kenny Smith	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	New York City, New York
G	33	Ranzino Smith	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Jr	Chapel Hill, North Carolina
F	34	J. R. Reid	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Fr	Virginia Beach, Virginia
F/C	35	Dave Popson	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	Ashley, Pennsylvania
C	42	Scott Williams	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	Hacienda Heights, California
F	43	Curtis Hunter	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Sr	Durham, North Carolina
F	45	Marty Hensley	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	Fr	Marion, North Carolina

Head coach

Dean Smith (Kansas)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Nov 28, 1986*	No. 1	at Hawaii	W 98–78	1–0	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, HI
Dec 1, 1986*	No. 1	at UCLA	L 84–89	1–1	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
Dec 3, 1986*	No. 1	Stetson	W 100–64	2–1	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 6, 1986*	No. 1	Miami	W 122–77	3–1	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 13, 1986*	No. 5	Jacksonville	W 98–69	4–1	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 20, 1986*	No. 4	No. 5 Illinois	W 90–77	5–1	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 22, 1986*	No. 4	Furman	W 95–65	6–1	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC
Dec 27, 1986*	No. 4	Kansas State	W 81–62	7–1	Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO
Dec 29, 1986*	No. 4	No. 2 Purdue The Dallas Morning News Classic	W 94–81	8–1	Reunion Arena Dallas, TX
Dec 30, 1986*	No. 4	at Southern Methodist The Dallas Morning News Classic	W 88–86	9–1	Reunion Arena Dallas, TX
Jan 3, 1987*	No. 4	at La Salle	W 79–72	10–1	The Palestra Philadelphia, PA
Jan 8, 1987	No. 3	vs. Maryland	W 98–65	11–1 (1-0)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 10, 1987	No. 3	at No. 17 Duke	W 85–77	12–1 (2-0)	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC
Jan 14, 1987	No. 3	at Virginia	W 95–80	13–1 (3-0)	University Hall Charlottesville, VA
Jan 18, 1987	No. 2	vs. No. 17 NC State	W 96–78	14–1 (4-0)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 22, 1987	No. 2	at Wake Forest	W 79–53	15–1 (5-0)	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
Jan 24, 1987	No. 2	vs. Georgia Tech	W 92–55	16–1 (6-0)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 28, 1987	No. 1	at No. 14 Clemson	W 108–99	17–1 (7-0)	Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, SC
Feb 1, 1987*	No. 1	at Notre Dame	L 58–60	17–2	Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN
Feb 5, 1987	No. 3	at NC State	W 96–79	18–2 (8-0)	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC
Feb 8, 1987	No. 3	vs. Virginia	W 74–73	19–2 (9-0)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 11, 1987	No. 3	vs. Wake Forest	W 94–85	20–2 (10-0)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 14, 1987	No. 3	at Maryland	W 93–86	21–2 (11-0)	Cole Fieldhouse College Park, MD
Feb 15, 1987*	No. 3	vs. Marquette	W 83–74	22–2	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 18, 1987*	No. 3	vs. East Tennessee State	W 118–65	23–2	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 21, 1987	No. 2	vs. No. 10 Clemson	W 96–80	24–2 (12–0)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 26, 1987	No. 2	vs. No. 17 Duke	W 77–71	25–2 (13–0)	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC
Mar 1, 1987	No. 2	vs. Georgia Tech	W 92–76	26–2 (14–0)	The Omni Atlanta, GA
ACC Tournament
Mar 6, 1987	(1) No. 2	at (8) Maryland Quarterfinals	W 82–63	27–2	Capital Centre Landover, MD
Mar 7, 1987	(1) No. 2	vs. (4) Virginia Semifinals	W 84–82	28–2	Capital Centre Landover, MD
Mar 8, 1987	(1) No. 2	vs. (6) NC State Championship	L 67–68	28–3	Capital Centre Landover, MD
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1987*	(1 E) No. 2	vs. (16 E) Penn First round	W 113–82	29–3	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC
Mar 14, 1987*	(1 E) No. 2	vs. (9 E) Michigan Second Round	W 109–97	30–3	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC
Mar 19, 1987*	(1 E) No. 2	vs. (5 E) No. 18 Notre Dame Sweet Sixteen	W 74–68	31–3	Brendan Byrne Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey
Mar 21, 1987*	(1 E) No. 2	vs. (2 E) No. 10 Syracuse Elite Eight	L 75–79	31–4	Brendan Byrne Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East region. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Main article: 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

"1986-87 UNC Tar Heels Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
"North Carolina Tar Heels 1986-1987 Basketball Roster". Tar Heel Times. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
"North Carolina 113, Pennsylvania 82". UPI Archives. March 13, 1987. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
"North Carolina, Syracuse Reach Final in East". The Washington Post. March 20, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2022.

v t e North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
Venues	Bynum Gymnasium (1910–1923) Tin Can (1924–1938) Woollen Gymnasium (1938–1965) Carmichael Auditorium (1965–1986) Dean Smith Center (1986–present)
Rivalries	Duke (Carlyle Cup) Kentucky NC State Wake Forest
Culture & lore	Rameses The Marching Tar Heels Junior varsity team Inside Carolina Four corners offense Blue blood status Dixie Classic/Big Four Jumpman Invitational Tobacco Road Academic-athletic scandal Gambling scandal
People	Head coaches Honorees Honored players NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics

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