With 34 points against Syracuse on Tuesday night, Coby White became the first freshman in UNC basketball history with three 30-point games.
Zero. That is the amount of Carolina freshman to have three 30-point games in a season, in their 109-year history. On Tuesday, Coby White became the first to do so.
With two 30-point games coming into their matchup with Syracuse (Texas and Miami), White scored 34 points, making it his third game this season breaking the 30-point mark, and making Carolina history.
Not only does he hold that record, but he also holds the third, fourth and fifth highest scoring total from a Carolina freshman in their history.
On the season, White is averaging 15.9 points, 4.1 assists, and shooting 37.2 percent from three.
What makes this even more impressive is the position that he is playing. It is no secret that freshman point guards struggle their first season at North Carolina, having a difficult time running the detailed schemes that Roy Williams wants, all while playing with the pace that Williams’ wants.
So how does White match up against some of the other top Carolina point guards in recent memory?
How is Coby White is different than other freshmen point guards in the Roy Williams era?
— chris (@dadgumboxscores) February 27, 2019
Obvious starting point is he's a scorer
Chart showing offensive rating & points per 40 minutes for freshmen point guards in Roy Williams era
Up & to the right is good pic.twitter.com/nSJEHFtFjf
At this point in the season (27 games played) White’s15.9 point per game average is the fifth highest scoring total amongst Carolina freshman, behind the likes of Tyler Hansbrough (18.9), Rashad McCants (17.0), Joseph Forte (16.7) and Phil Ford (16.4).
Coach Roy Williams had this to say following White’s record performance on Tuesday,
"“I’ve said it before, he’s the best scoring point guard that I have coached…. Ty Lawson got to that stage later that he could really score. Coby is a scorer and I have never minded a scoring point guard. I knew he was bound to make some because he hadn’t made any the last three or four weeks.”"
There is no question Coby White is one of the best freshmen in the country and in Carolina history, and come the NCAA Tournament, he could put an exclamation point on his record season.