Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s 78-73 road loss to Notre Dame on Wednesday night.
Highlights:
Condensed Game:
Carolina lost a great opportunity to open ACC play 3-0 (all on the road!). After a sub-par first half on several fronts (the main of which was defensive effort) the Tar Heels progressively outperformed in the second half, but still had too many omissions and errors to go on with the ACC Road victory.
UNC was down to three regular rotation players - either Dawson Garcia (Concussion Protocol), Kervin Walton (COVID Protocol), or Justin McCoy (COVID Protocol). Those absences help to explain the loss, but they are no excuse for it. Carolina still played eight scholarship players, which eventually exceeded Notre Dame's seven.
With a short bench, it was essential that the players (especially the starters) did not get into the wrong trouble. Armando Bacot and Caleb Love whistled three each, but no one was in real danger.
Love should have only had two personal fouls on his laser, but Ted Valentine whistled him to accuse him of little contact play, and the defender who took the biggest brunt of the said minimum contact had his foot in the restricted area. It should have been a block or, at worst, a no-call.
One of the issues of the night was that Carolina often showed up in a hurry. Caleb Love swung back and forth between a less new version of himself and a much better sophomore variety. As evidence of the downside, he finished with zero assists against four turnovers. Becote, while brilliant in most aspects, was not patient enough in the post and whistled for a few travel calls.
An example of a love forcing issue: A Bacot block hit UNC back down the ball four times with 45 seconds left in the first half. Seven seconds later, the Tar Heel guard was whistled for an offensive foul to try to force the issue into the alley at the other end.
That said, both the young men played very well overall. After scoring just two runs in the first half, Love inevitably pushed the Tar Heels several times in the second half. It felt like, at other times, Love felt the need to carry too much of the responsibility on his shoulders throughout the game rather than let the offense flow naturally.
Becott registered a career-high with 17 rebounds and led all-scorers with 21 points. After marking that career-high rebound, he now averages a double-double with 15.7 points and 10.4 rebounds. Junior Center has recorded five straight in Carolina's first 14 games and a double-double in 10 total. Tonight he achieved a double-double two minutes before halftime.
Overall, Carolina struggled to share the ball well. He achieved a support percentage of 34.5 on 29 made baskets with 10 assists. This percentage is about five percent lower than the previous low (39.1% versus Kentucky) and the second time this season the assist percentage has been below 40%.
UNC had four more turnovers (14) than assists (10).
Thanks to shooting exactly 50.0% in the second half (14–28), the heels have shot 50.0% or more in the last eight games and have done so in at least one half in each of the last nine games. This team will score, there is no question. But can they (and will) defend?
Here's what's weird about this game: It felt like Notre Dame was bombing everything, while Carolina struggled to shoot at times. And yet, the Heels had a better field goal percentage for the game (49.2 to 47.5). There was a difference in the type of shot made and turnover. While UNC made a respectable 36.4% of their three, they made just eight of them to Notre Dame's 13. To get more points, you need to make more shots, to make more shots you have to take more shots, in order to take more shots you have to hang onto the ball. Possession matters. Unfortunately, though, Carolina doubled down on Notre Dame to a 14-7 turnover. Those two discrepancies are more than enough to make a five-point difference.
Just as Love carried Carolina aggressively in the second half, so did RJ Davis and Bacot in the first 20 minutes. Combined, the two scored 27 out of 35 for UNC.
During most of the game, UNC switched all ball screens, from one to five, and it didn't work consistently enough. Notre Dame either took advantage of the mismatch or found itself open. When Coach Davis switched to a shorter ball lineup, his team defended more efficiently.
At one point in the first half, the Irish hit four of five three-point attempts during just 3:16. Sure, shots do fall sometimes, but it's an unacceptable defense.
Nate Lazewski in particular has been a Carolina killer from deep down. He has made 13 combined threes facing the heels the last two times.
The good news about this defeat is that, unlike the Tennessee or Kentucky games, Carolina kept fighting and almost came back to snatch the game from the home team. Notre Dame led 13 with 13:54. Carolina also took a brief one point lead just shy of 3:30, but the Irish quickly regained the lead and never gave up.
There were signs of life under the stretch. Love forced a loose ball and pigeon to secure possession before finally burying a three as part of a quick 8–0 pace. Davis gave back-to-back dimes to Bacot and Manek, making easy baskets for Carolina's big men.
The final nail in the coffin was about 45 seconds left. Notre Dame had the ball with a two-point lead. In another example of an Irish exploit mismatch, Prentice Hub pumped Becote into a three-shot foul and made two for three. Carolina could never turn things back into a one-possession game.
Finally, assuming everything is going well between now and the weekend, the Tar Heels will host an ACC game on Saturday when Virginia comes to town. It would be nice to have Garcia, Walton and McCoy back in the lineup, but we'll have to wait to see.
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