UNC basketball faces Memphis in inaugural charity exhibition

College basketball will come about a month early for UNC, the program announced Thursday.

The Tar Heels head to Tennessee to face Memphis in the Hoops for St. Jude Tip-off Classic, one of Carolina’s two exhibitions. The event benefits the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is based in Memphis. It also has eight affiliate clinics, including one in Charlotte.

UNC plays at 7 p.m. Oct. 15 at the FedExForum. The Tigers women’s basketball team hosts reigning national champion South Carolina at 9:30 p.m.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday. All proceeds go to St. Jude and a ticket includes admittance to both games.

Several other major programs are participating in similar events this season, including Duke. The Blue Devils host Arizona State at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 with proceeds benefiting Duke Children’s Hospital. Ole Miss-Illinois, Indiana-Tennessee and UConn-Rhode-Island are among other teams playing in charity exhibitions.

Carolina finished 29-8 last season and 17-3 in ACC play. It won the ACC regular-season title but fell to N.C. State in the ACC Tournament Championship. The Tar Heels capped off their season with a trip to the Sweet 16.

They return RJ Davis, Elliot Cadeau, Seth Trimble, Jae’Lyn Withers and Jalen Washington from last year. Trimble entered the transfer portal before withdrawing his name this spring. The Tar Heels added five-star freshmen Ian Jackson, Drake Powell and James Brown. And the team dipped into the transfer portal, adding Georgia Tech transfer Tyzhaun Claude, Belmont transfer Cade Tyson and Vanderbilt transfer Ven-Allen Lubin.

Memphis ended its season 22-10 overall and 11-7 in conference play, finishing fifth in the American Athletic Conference. It lost six of its top scorers in the offseason and reloaded through the portal.

Both teams participated in the Battle 4 Atlantis last season but did not face each other. They are both scheduled to play in the Maui Classic in November.

This will be the first opportunity to see the Heels in action before their second exhibition against Johnson C. Smith on Oct. 27. Carolina opens the regular season Nov. 4 when it hosts Elon.