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

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

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

1986–87 ACC men's basketball standings

	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

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) Bill Guthridge (Kansas State) Roy Williams (North Carolina) 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 OT	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 2OT	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