Carolina takes a Hawai’ian Vacation.

The no. 10 North Carolina Tar Heels (2-1, 0-0 ACC) travel to Honolulu, Hawai’i to play the unbeaten Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (4-0, 0-0 Big West) in what will likely be a packed (capacity: 10,300) Stan Sheriff Center. Tipoff is at 12:30 am EST – yes, you read that correctly, 12:30 AM – on 11/23, which equates to 7:30 pm local time on 11/22. UNC opened as a 15.5-point favorite. Aside from this true road game, the Heels have had nothing but practice since their 107-55 victory over the American Eagles last Friday in Chapel Hill, as they look forward to the Maui Invitational during the week of Thanksgiving. Carolina will begin that august early season tournament against the Dayton Flyers on Monday, 11/25 at 11:30 pm. Famously, all three of Roy Williams’ national titles at UNC were presaged by hoisting the trophy in Maui. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though: Hawai’i awaits.

The Rainbow Warriors are led in scoring and rebounding by graduate center Tanner Christensen (17 PPG, 6.5 RPG), who presents a more legitimate challenge for Washington & co. in the post than what they faced against American a week ago. As a team, Hawai’i struggles to shoot well behind the arc, hitting 27.8% of their three-point attempts. That figure improves to right at 30% when including only players who have attempted five or more three-pointers thus far. Hawai’i’s 51.4% overall field goal percentage is actually better than the Tar Heels, who have shot at a 46.6% clip. The Heels, however, average 6.5 more rebounds per game. Friday night’s game will be Hawai’i’s fifth consecutive home game. In fact, their first road matchup of the season doesn’t come until they go to Phoenix, Arizona to play Grand Canyon on 12/3. At 4-0, the Rainbow Warriors have defeated NAIA Life Pacific (96-61), San Jose State (80-69), Pacific (76-66), and Weber State (73-68 OT).

In the American game last week, Jalen Washington (11 PPG, 5.3 RPG) produced a career high with 18 points and 3 rebounds in 18 minutes. He shot perfectly from the field (6/6) and almost perfectly from the free throw line (6/7). Jae’Lyn Withers (9.3 PPG, 8.7 RPG) was also a solid contributor down low, with 7 points and 7 boards in 21 minutes of play. Ven-Allen Lubin (7.3 PPG, 5 RPG) had a respectable night as well, but the player of the game in the post was perhaps freshman wing Drake Powell (4.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG), who – in highly athletic Harrison Ingram-esque style – played everything from his natural position to a small ball big. In 26 minutes, he positioned himself well on the floor and outmuscled others to play a bigger game than his 6’6″ height would suggest, finishing with 7 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal.

Cade Tyson looked the most comfortable that he has in any game action to this point, and the Smith Center completely erupted when he hit the Tar Heels’ first three-pointer of the night with 12:43 to go in the second half. He finished with 11 points and 2 rebounds in 21 minutes, shooting 3/7 from three. Among the guards, Elliot Cadeau had the standout performance. The sensational sophomore dished 8 assists and stole the ball 4 times to only a single turnover of his own. He scored an efficient 18 points and topped the performance off with 3 rebounds. Seth Trimble had 13 points and 6 boards on only 6 field goal attempts. RJ Davis also had 13, but on as many shots – he was 1/7 behind the arc. Davis still leads the Heels in points, averaging 17. But he’s 20% from three, a figure he will look to improve in Hawai’i this coming week.

Carolina’s game against Hawai’i airs on ESPN2 at 12:30 am Friday night/Saturday morning.