UNC, NC Central to play in an impromptu scheduled basketball game
No. 16 North Carolina will have a men’s basketball game on Saturday after all. N.C. Central coach Levelle Moton confirmed to the News & Observer via text that the Eagles will tip off at 2 p.m., in the Dean E. Smith Center.
The game will be televised on the Regional Sports Network, which includes Fox Sports South in the Triangle.
Carolina was originally scheduled to play Elon. The Phoenix paused all activity on Dec. 1 when someone considered Tier-1 personnel tested positive for COVID-19. Elon did not specify whether it was a player, coach or someone on the support staff. The 14-day suspension of program activity also caused Elon to postpone its game at Duke that was originally supposed to take place this past Sunday.
NCCU had to pause its basketball program during the preseason because of a positive coronavirus test. Since it opened with a game at Iowa, Central has had games canceled at Wofford and USC Upstate. The Eagles also lost a game scheduled for Friday at Vanderbilt against head coach, and former UNC standout, Jerry Stackhouse.
This will be only the third time the Tar Heels and Eagles have played in series history -- all coming during Roy Williams’ tenure in Chapel Hill. UNC won both games including a 76-60 win in the last meeting on Nov. 14, 2014 in the Smith Center.
According to a release from UNC, the Tar Heels will try to re-schedule a game with Elon for the 2021-22 season.
The Tar Heels (3-2) are coming off a 93-80 loss at Iowa in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday. NCCU (1-2) is coming off a 78-71 loss at Coastal Carolina on Monday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 3:54 PM.