No. 5 seed North Carolina (20-12) vs. No. 12 seed Notre Dame (15-17)
Wednesday, March 12 — 2:30 p.m.
Charlotte, N.C. — Spectrum Center
TV: ESPN (Wes Durham, Cory Alexander)
Radio: Tar Heels Sports Network (Jones Angell, Tyler Zeller)
Quotables
“You guys know me. I’ve never looked at it that way. I think it’s most important to focus on what is real. And what is real is the game in front of you, and we play on Wednesday. Our job and our responsibility is whomever we play to be prepared to play our best game on Wednesday. If we play well enough, and we get to play on Thursday, then our preparation will be focused on that. What you can control, and what we can control, is our play and our preparation for Wednesday in the ACC Tournament.” — UNC coach Hubert Davis on Saturday night after losing to Duke in the regular-season finale, when asked about the Tar Heels’ approach for the ACC Tournament.
“I think the key for us is to just understand that the tournament is 0-0, but what we’ve done in the past and the growth we’ve made doesn’t stop at the end of the (regular) season. We’ve got to continue to keep making strides, and keep going in the right direction. Our record is 0-0, every game matters. Every possession matters now. But we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing, keep growing, and we’ll be all right.” — UNC guard Ian Jackson, after the loss to Duke.
Pregame Notes
Last Chance Saloon for UNC: The Tar Heels built a seven-point lead in the second half, but couldn’t conquer now-No. 1 Duke, falling 82-69 on Saturday night in the regular-season finale. Now, they turn the page to the ACC Tournament, their last chance to move to the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. UNC is 1-11 in all-important Quad 1 games, with that lone victory coming against UCLA four days before Christmas at Madison Square Garden. Last season, Virginia’s 2-7 record in Quad 1 games represented the lowest Quad 1 win total among at-large teams that made the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had UNC as the second team out of the 68-team field in his update on Tuesday, behind Boise State. Oklahoma, Indiana, Xavier and Ohio State were listed in that order among Lunardi’s last four teams in the field. Of the 108 NCAA Tournament projections compiled by Bracket Matrix, only 15 are projecting the Tar Heels in the 68-team field. Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Joe Rexrode included UNC as the last team in the field in his bracket update on Sunday.
The Tar Heels have a 59-percent chance of making the NCAA Tournament, according to Bart Torvik’s college basketball database. Those odds are better, according to Torvik, than fellow bubble teams Ohio State (55.1 percent), San Diego State (40.5 percent), Boise State (20.4 percent), Colorado State (19.6 percent) and Texas (13 percent).
UNC guard Ian Jackson and Notre Dame guard Markus Burton. (Photo: Jim Hawkins, Inside Carolina / Getty Images)
Looking at Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish edged 13th-seeded Pittsburgh, 55-54, in dramatic fashion Tuesday afternoon to advance to the second round of the ACC Tournament. A questionable foul call by official Tony Henderson awarded Notre Dame forward Tae Davis two free throws with 0.5 seconds remaining, and overtime looming with the score tied 54-54. Henderson whistled Pitt forward Zack Austin for a foul as Davis grabbed an offensive rebound. Davis proceeded to make one of the free throws to secure the first-round victory. Notre Dame was able to prevail despite coughing up a season-worst 17 turnovers and shooting just 20 percent from 3-point range (4-for-20).
Notre Dame checked in at No. 101 in the NET rankings on Tuesday. That’s one spot outside the parameters for a Quad 2 game, as an opponent must be rated among the top 100 of the NET for a neutral-site game to count as a Quad 2 contest. Carolina is a perfect 7-0 in Quad 2 games this season.
The Irish won their first four games to start this season. The opening stretch included a win at Georgetown (by an 84-63 margin), and home victories against Stonehill (89-60), Buffalo (86-77) and North Dakota (75-58). But the Irish dropped their next five straight, including an embarrassing home loss to Elon (84-77).
Notre Dame enters Wednesday’s second-round matchup on a three-game win streak. The Irish squeaked by Stanford 56-54 and then outlasted California 112-110 in a four-overtime marathon to close the regular season. Markus Burton delivered a monster 43-point performance in the victory against Cal, while playing an absurd 53 minutes of game time.
The Irish are led by second-year coach Micah Shrewsberry, who joined the program after two seasons in the top job at Penn State. Shrewsberry was a longtime assistant coach under Brad Stevens, across stops at Butler (2007-11) and in the NBA with the Boston Celtics (2013-19). Brady Stevens, son of Brad Stevens, is a freshman walk-on guard for the Irish.
ACC’s Top Scorer Drives Irish: Notre Dame is powered by the sophomore guard Burton, who’s the ACC’s leading scorer. He’s delivering 22.2 points per game, an average that ranks third nationally, trailing only Villanova’s Eric Dixon (23.6 ppg) and Northern Arizona’s Trent McLaughlin (22.3 ppg). And Burton’s scoring ticked up to 23.5 points per game in conference-only games during the regular season. Burton is shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from 3-point range on the season. He delivered 23 points in the Irish’s loss to Carolina in early January.
The 6-foot-9 Davis patrols the paint for Notre Dame. He’s supplying 15.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. His scoring production this season has increased by more than six points per game compared to last season. Davis played one year at Seton Hall, before transferring to the Irish.
Notre Dame has been without guard Braden Shrewsberry for three weeks now, after he suffered a season-ending lower abdomen injury. Shrewsberry was the third-leading scorer for the Irish, providing 14 points per game, while shooting 41.3 percent from the field, including 36.9 percent from 3-point range. He has connected on a team-best 72 successful 3-pointers this season.
Last Meeting: Elliot Cadeau’s rare four-point play with 4.8 seconds remaining rescued Carolina from the brink of defeat, and lifted UNC to a dramatic 74-73 victory at Notre Dame on the first Saturday of January. That 3-pointer while absorbing a foul, plus the ensuing free throw, marked UNC’s first four-point play in four seasons. Cadeau finished with 10 points and six assists. Ian Jackson pumped in a game-high 27 points and six rebounds for the Tar Heels.
Series History: Carolina leads the all-time series 31-9 against Notre Dame. The Tar Heels have won 13 of the last 15 matchups. These teams met in the 2021 ACC Tournament, and rolled 101-59 on that night at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Projected UNC Starters:
3 Elliot Cadeau (So., 6-1, 180) — 9.6 ppg, 6 apg, 2.8 rpg
4 RJ Davis (Gr., 6-0, 180) — 17.3 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.6 rpg
9 Drake Powell (Fr., 6-6, 195) — 7.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg
22 Ven-Allen Lubin (Jr., 6-8, 230) — 7.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg
24 Jae’Lyn Withers (Gr., 6-9, 220) — 6 ppg, 4.2 rpg
Projected Notre Dame Starters:
1 Julian Roper II (Sr., 6-4, 220) — 1.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg
3 Markus Burton (So., 6-0, 190) — 22.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.5 spg
7 Tae Davis (Jr., 6-9, 215) — 15.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.8 apg
25 Nikita Konstantynovskyi (Gr., 6-10, 260) — 2.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg
41 Matt Allocco (Gr., 6-4, 190) — 9.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.9 apg
UNC Info
Notre Dame Info
