6 North Carolina (16-9, 10-6 ACC) vs. Notre Dame No. 11 (10-14, 7-11 ACC)
Greensboro, NC – Greensboro Coliseum
Wednesday 10 March, 21:00 ET
ACCN (Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas)
Quotations
‘You have to be really very good and you have to play very well at this time of year. Watchmaking is extremely important. The pace of the games is extremely important. We went four years in a row and lost in the finals, I think, four years in a row, and we did very well once we got past a tournament, once we got into the NCAAs at that time. But we have a conference tournament, it’s the grandfather of everything. This is extremely important for the fans and the alums and how you play. ”- Roy Williams, UNC head coach, at the ACC tournament
‘This is a group that shows a lot of character. I know we do not have a hell of a lot to win, but this group hung together there, and at the ten minute mark it did not look very good. But I thought our leadership was great, and I thought Prentiss Hubb after a very difficult first half – you can not keep a winner down for about 40 minutes. – Mike Brey, head coach of Notre Dame, after his team’s victory in the first round with 80-77
Notes in advance
Completion of the Sweep: UNC led 26: 6 with 9:21 left in the first half. Duke never got the lead closer than twelve points, to achieve the victory of UNC, 91-73. Four tar heels scored in double digits led by Armando Bacot, Kerwin Walton and Caleb Love with 18 points each. Garrison Brooks added 14 points and five rebounds on his Senior Night, with two making three points for the first time in his career.
How we got here: UNC selected the number 6 and thus received a first round at the ACC tournament. 11-seeded Notre Dame won its match in the first round with Wake Forest at no. 14 closed on a 17-2 run over the final 6:58, while Trey Wertz drained a 30-foot at the buzzer to secure an 80-77 victory Tuesday night. Wertz and Juwan Durham each scored 16 points for Mike Brey’s squad, while Prentiss Hubb and Cormac Ryan each added 14 points. The Fighting Irish shot 51.7%, including a 46.2% effort from three points (12-of-26).
One-sided: Notre Dame, who finished 11th in the ACC standings, relies solely on his ability to make baskets. According to KenPom, Notre Dame is 16th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency, 30th in effective field goal percentage (54.6 percent), 36th in three-point percentage (37.2 percent), 47th in two-point percentage (53.7 percent) and 25th in release percentage (77 , 3 percent). To help things and make matters more difficult on defense, the Irish take care of basketball. It turns it on to 15.4 percent of the possessions (17th nation) and commits unforced errors or non-stealing turnover on 6.5 percent of the possessions (3rd nation).
Offensive glass: Despite a poor shooting performance in the first event, UNC achieved its victory over Notre Dame by dominating the attacking boards. The tar heels bounced back with 46.7% of their missions and grabbed 21 offensive rebounds. UNC scored 18-5 in the second-half points. The challenge for the Irish was to keep several corpses off the glass. Day’Ron Sharpe pulled off seven offensive rebounds, Armando Bacot grabbed five and Leaky Black and Garrison Brooks a total of three pieces. Notre Dame ranks 198th in opponents’ offensive rebound percentage (28.4) – and is even worse in the offensive rebound percentage (21.3%, 325th) – while UNC leads the country with 40.6% of its misses this season to get back.
ACCT record: UNC is 102-48 in ACC tournament play, including a 2-1 record in the second round. The tar heels are 117-34 in all games played at the Greensboro Coliseum, including a 40-19 record in the ACC tournament. UNC has won eight of its 18 ACC tournament titles in Greensboro.
Last meeting: Notre Dame led by 7:39 by seven points before UNC had a 66-65 victory at the Smith Center on January 2nd. Leaky Black’s drive with nine seconds to play gave the Tar Heels the lead. UNC shot 34.8% at Notre Dame’s 47.3%, but made another 14 field goal attempts to make up the difference. Sharpe achieved his breakout performance with 25 points and nine rebounds.
Series history: UNC leads the series of all time, 26-8. Each team has a win in the ACC tournament against each other.
Projected UNC entrees:
1 Leaking Black (Jr., 6-8, 195) – 5.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg
2 Caleb Love (Fri, 6-4, 195) – 10.4 ppg, 3.8 apg
5 Armando Bacot (So., 6-10, 240) – 11.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg
15 Garrison Brooks (Sr., 6-10, 240) – 10.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg
24 Kerwin Walton (Fr., 6-5, 205) – 8.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg
Projected ND entrees:
11 Juwan Durham (Gr., 6-11, 231) – 10.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg
3 Prentiss Hubb (Jr., 6-3, 175) – 14.6 ppg, 6.0 apg
5 Ryan Cormac (Jr., 6-5, 195) – 10.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg
14 Nate Laszewski (Jr., 6-10, 227) – 13.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg
23 Dane Goodwin (Jr., 6-6, 200) – 12.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg
Main ND reserves:
13 Nikola Djogo (Gr., 6-8, 230) – 5.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg
2 Trey Wertz (Jr., 6-5, 195) – 8.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg
UNC information
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Notre Dame Info
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