*Note: Roy WIlliams and Armando Bacot press conferences are embedded in this report.

CHAPEL HILL – Roy Williams doesn’t sleep a whole lot during a basketball season even when his team is rolling and a legitimate national championship contender. But now that the Tar Heels are struggling in near-unprecedented fashion, the UNC coach is getting even less shut eye each night.

“I’ve never been one to sleep, I’m not sleeping at all now,” Williams said during Friday’s press conference at the Smith Center in advance of Saturday’s home game versus Clemson. “I’m serious. I can tell you right now, after that game, I can tell you everybody’s stat line across through there, what the other team did.

“I grade every tape, I stay up every night and the only thing is, when you’re winning, it’s easier to finally go to sleep. A normal night for me is four and a half to five hours and now it’s nowhere close to that.”

Keeping Williams up at night is his unwavering effort to find any nugget he can about his basketball team and their performances that can give him an edge in helping them take a step or two forward.

At 8-7 overall, and 1-3 in the ACC with the Tar Heels having lost six of their last eight games, Williams has been kicking over every stone, no matter how small they are. Included in the struggles are four losses in Carolina’s last five home games and a bevy of second-half meltdowns.

*The Tar Heels’ 59-0 record at home over Clemson, spanning nearly 100 years, is no secret to anyone with rooting interests in either program. And with the Tigers visiting the Smith Center on Saturday, in conjunction with UNC’s swoon, this might be one of Clemson’s best chances to end the streak.

As he has for 17 years since returning to UNC, Williams isn’t going to make a big deal of it and won’t really discuss it with his team.

“I’ve said the same thing for 17 years,” he said. “I’ve said the same thing exactly that it’s a streak that people talk about, you have nothing to do with it, it’s going to end at sometime, let’s try to put it off another year. I’ve said that for 17 straight years and never varied from it and then I let it go, I really do. It’s unusual but that’s it.”

On only a handful of occasions, however, have the Tigers seriously threatened the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, most recently in 2008, when Carolina overcame an 11-point deficit with 3:12 left in regulation and won in double-overtime, 103-93.

Williams remembers the game, which was one of three between the teams that season. Carolina won at Littlejohn Coliseum and defeated the Tigers in the ACC Tournament championship game in Charlotte.

“I think we played three games that year against Clemson and I think they could have won all three games,” Williams recalled. “And, fortunately for us, we won all three. But, I think that was really a good Clemson team and we were really good. There’s some trains of thought in my mind that that may have been as good a team as we’ve ever had.

"I remember that game, I remember that one specific play. It was a loose ball and Tyler Hansbrough just laid out and got it and we ended up scoring on the other end. I think I’m right, we were down like 13 or 14 with less than six of seven minutes to go in the game.”

*Williams said another coach, whom he greatly admires, recently told him going through what he is right now will make him a better coach. Williams scoffs at the notion.

“I am 69 years old, I’ve coached 32 years, do you think I give a blankety-blank about – I want to win,” Williams said. “I want to become a better coach by coaching every team and getting them closest to their potential as I possibly can.”

*The Tar Heels mainly shot and did some dummy offense stuff in practice Thursday, so Williams didn’t address how his team has responded to the Pitt game. He did emphasize that he didn’t know who would be able to practice, which has been too common all season and even this week.

“I’ve gotta wait until I walk out onto the court to see who’s going to practice…,” Williams said. “The day before the Pitt game, we didn’t even know if Jeremiah (Francis) was going to play. I didn’t know if Jeremiah was going to be able to play until that morning…

“It’s one of those years… and I wait to I go out there and look around and Doug gives me the injury report every day.

Williams said when the team came back from Christmas break, 10 of the 18 players on the roster were on the injured list, and this was after the team was off for five days.

Freshman forward Armando Bacot was the Tar Heel who fielded questions after Williams, and the focus was mostly on his recovery from a bad ankle injury suffered Dec. 4 in a loss to Ohio State, the team’s morale and a little bit on Clemson.

On the streak versus Clemson:

BACOT: “Me personally, I didn’t even really know about it until the other day. I guess it’s something that’s very special to everybody and it’s one of the biggest stats we have as far as winning and it’s huge. But, I don’t really know much about Clemson or just about the streak, so I can’t really say anything.”

On the mood of the team:

BACOT: "Obviously, both games were kind of close. Obviously, the Georgia Tech game in the first half was kind of tough, but we fought back. We’re just right there so we’re just ready to go out there and try to win."

On how Cole Anthony is handling his injury:

BACOT: “He’s just been working hard everyday just to get back. He’s also been another coach on the floor doing our games. He’s been coaching us up. But, as far as just how he’s been handling it, I feel like he’s been good. He’s not sad or anything, he’s just ready to get back out there."