UNC Basketball vs. Notre Dame: Game preview, info, prediction and more
The North Carolina Tar Heels are officially in the danger zone with their hopes of making it to the NCAA Tournament.
After another disappointing loss that resulted in two blown chances for a Quad 1 win, UNC is 0-8 in Quad 1 games and is team No. 69 in Joe Lunardi’s latest mock bracket. With four games left, they need to win as many of those as they can and they need to also avoid the bad losses.
Those bad losses would be road games at Notre Dame and Florida State.
On Wednesday, the Tar Heels begin the stretch of four games to close out the season with a trip to South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish. Mike Brey’s team has also seen their struggles this year, entering this game at 10-17 overall and 2-14 in ACC play. Notre Dame has really struggled in conference play but has played well of late.
Last week, they lost to Duke by four and Virginia by twp, both on the road as they almost pulled the upsets. They even had a shot to beat the Cavaliers with a last-season three-point attempt that fell short.
This isn’t a team that UNC can take lightly.
For UNC, they really need to come out and get this win and start to build some momentum going into March. You can say this is the start of their tournament.
Key to Victory
Guard play. The Tar Heels have struggled with the backcourt this year with Caleb Love and R.J. Davis just not clicking. But Wednesday is another game for the duo to come out and both play well.
Against NC State, Love led the way with 23 points but it was Davis that arguably had the worst game of his career.
The Tar Heels really need to get them both on the same page and playing well down the stretch. If they can do that, they should have a good chance to win some games.
Something to watch
Three-point shooting. This is for both teams. North Carolina enters this game as one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country. They have struggled big time from behind the three-point line and its cost them some games.
Notre Dame is among the better teams in that area, shooting 36.28 percent from the three-point line which is 68th in the country.
If UNC isn’t careful and the trends continue, it could be a very long night in South Bend.
What you need to know
WHAT? North Carolina (16-11, 8-8 ACC) at Notre Dame (10-17, 2-14 ACC)
WHEN? Wednesday, Feb. 22, 9 p.m. ET
WHERE? Purcell Pavillion in South Bend, Indiana
TV? ESPN (Watch and stream the game live on ESPN+)
RADIO? Tar Heels Sports Network
LINE? UNC -6.5
LAST MEETING? Jan.7, 2022. UNC 81, Notre Dame 64
ALL-TIME SERIES? UNC leads 28-9
PREDICTION? UNC 72, Notre Dame 67
