1976–77 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team


The 1976–77 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Tar Heels were coached by Dean Smith in his 16th season at North Carolina. They played their home games in Carmichael Auditorium as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 28–5, 9–3 in ACC play to win the ACC regular season championship. They defeated NC State and Virginia to win the ACC Tournament. As a result, the received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. There, they defeated Purdue, Notre Dame, and Kentucky to advance to the Final Four. At the Final Four, they defeated UNLV before losing to Marquette in the National Championship game.

1976–77 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
NCAA tournament, runner-up
ACC Tournament Champions
ACC Regular Season Champions
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 5
Record28–5 (9–3 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaCarmichael Auditorium
Seasons
1976–77 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 5 North Carolina 9 3   .750 28 5   .848
No. 9 Wake Forest 8 4   .667 22 8   .733
Clemson 8 4   .667 22 6   .786
Maryland 7 5   .583 19 8   .704
NC State 6 6   .500 17 11   .607
Virginia 2 10   .167 12 17   .414
Duke 2 10   .167 14 13   .519
1977 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
November 26*
No. 3 vs. No. 15 NC State
Big Four Tournament/Rivalry
W 78–66  1–0
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
November 27*
No. 3 vs. Wake Forest
Big Four Tournament
L 96–97 OT 1–1
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
December 1*
No. 9 Marshall W 90–70  2–1
Carmichael Auditorium 
Chapel Hill, NC
December 6*
No. 9 at Michigan State W 81–58  3–1
Jenison Fieldhouse 
East Lansing, MI
December 11*
No. 12 vs. Virginia Tech W 81–77  4–1
Carmichael Auditorium 
Roanoke, VA
December 20*
No. 20 BYU W 113–93  5–1
Carmichael Auditorium 
Chapel Hill, NC
December 27*
No. 10 vs. Oral Roberts
Far West Classic quarterfinals
W 100–84  6–1
Veterans Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, OR
December 29*
No. 9 vs. Oregon
Far West Classic semifinals
W 86–60  7–1
Veterans Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, OR
December 30*
No. 9 vs. Weber St
Far West Classic championship
W 75–54  8–1
Veterans Memorial Coliseum 
Portland, OR
January 5
No. 6 vs. No. 16 Clemson W 91–63  9–1
(1–0)
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
January 8
No. 6 Virginia W 91–67  10–1
(2–0)
Carmichael Auditorium 
Chapel Hill, NC
January 13
No. 5 at No. 7 Wake Forest W 77–75  11–1
(3–0)
Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, NC
January 15
No. 5 Duke
Rivalry
W 77–68  12–1
(4–0)
Carmichael Auditorium 
Chapel Hill, NC
January 19
No. 4 at NC State L 73–75  12–2
(4–1)
Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
January 22
No. 4 at No. 13 Maryland W 71–68  13–2
(5–1)
Cole Field House 
College Park, MD
January 26
No. 4 No. 10 Wake Forest L 66–67  13–3
(5–2)
Carmichael Auditorium 
Chapel Hill, NC
January 29
No. 4 at No. 19 Clemson L 73–93  13–4
(5–3)
Littlejohn Coliseum 
Clemson, SC
February 4*
No. 13 vs. Georgia Tech
North-South Doubleheader
W 98–74  14–4
Charlotte Coliseum 
Charlotte, NC
February 5*
No. 13 vs. Furman
North-South Doubleheader
W 88–71  15–4
Charlotte Coliseum 
Charlotte, NC
February 9
No. 14 Maryland W 97–70  16–4
(6–3)
Carmichael Auditorium 
Chapel Hill, NC
February 12*
No. 14 vs. Tulane W 106–94  17–4
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
February 16*
No. 13 South Florida W 100–65  18–4
Carmichael Auditorium 
Chapel Hill, NC
February 20
No. 13 at Virginia W 66–64  19–4
(7–3)
University Hall 
Charlottesville, VA
February 23
No. 9 NC State W 90–73  20–4
(8–3)
Carmichael Auditorium 
Chapel Hill, NC
February 26
No. 9 at Duke
Rivalry
W 84–71  21–4
(9–3)
Cameron Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
February 27*
No. 9 vs. No. 10 Louisville W 96–89  22–4
Charlotte Coliseum 
Chapel Hill, NC
ACC Tournament
March 4*
No. 5 vs. NC State
Semifinals
W 70–56  23–4
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
March 5*
No. 6 vs. Virginia
Championship
W 75–69  24–4
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
NCAA Tournament
March 12*
No. 4 vs. Purdue
First round
W 69–66  25–4
Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
March 17*
No. 5 vs. No. 10 Notre Dame
Regional semifinal
W 79–77  26–4
Cole Field House 
College Park, MD
March 19*
No. 5 vs. No. 13 Kentucky
Regional final
W 79–72  27–4
Cole Field House 
College Park, MD
March 26*
No. 5 vs. No. 4 UNLV
Final Four
W 84–83  28–4
The Omni 
Atlanta, GA
March 28*
No. 5 vs. No. 7 Marquette
National Championship
L 59–67  28–5
The Omni 
Atlanta, GA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

[1]

Roster

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1976–77 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
F 22 Dudley Bradley 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Edgewood, Maryland
F 40 Bruce Buckley (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Bladensburg, Maryland
G 20 Dave Colescott 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Marion, Indiana
F 30 Woody Coley (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Sr Lumberton, North Carolina
F 24 Walter Davis (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Pineville, North Carolina
G 23 Ged Doughton 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 162 lb (73 kg) So Winston-Salem, North Carolina
G 12 Phil Ford 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Rocky Mount, North Carolina
F/C 54 Steve Krafcisin 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Chicago Ridge, Illinois
G 15 John Kuester (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Richmond, Virginia
F/C 45 Tommy LaGarde (C) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Detroit, Michigan
G/F 31 Mike O'Koren 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Jersey City, New Jersey
G 43 John Virgil 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Elm City, North Carolina
F 25 Randy Wiel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles
C 42 Jeff Wolf 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Kohler, Wisconsin
F/C 50 Rich Yonakor 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Euclid, Ohio
G/F 32 Tom Zagliagiris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Livonia, Michigan
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

References

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