UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Falls to Notre Dame After a Slow Start
by Derrick Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team played down to their opponent again. They came out sluggish with no energy on the defensive end. UNC had the obvious inside advantage with Armando Bacot who had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the first half to keep the Tar Heels in striking distance, but he only received 4 touches in the second half.
The Tar Heels used a switching defense to stay in front of their opponent but they didn’t execute or stay disciplined and it allowed Notre Dame to hit wide open 3 pointers. They were 13-31 from the 3 point line. Which was enough for them to eke out a 78-73 win.
UNC Game Stats
1st 2nd TOT
North Carolina 35 38 73
Notre Dame 39 39 78
North Carolina
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||||||||
| A. Bacot F | 36 | 9-13 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 21 | ||||||||
| B. Manek F | 33 | 4-11 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||||||||
| R.J. Davis G | 39 | 6-12 | 3-7 | 4-4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 19 | ||||||||
| C. Love G | 33 | 6-12 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 15 | ||||||||
| L. Black G | 30 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||||||||
| D. Dunn G | 8 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| D. Styles G | 3 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| A. Harris G | 18 | 2-3 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||
| TEAM | 29-59 | 8-22 | 7-8 | 5 | 34 | 39 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 73 | |||||||||
| 49.2% | 36.4% | 87.5% | |||||||||||||||||||
Notre Dame
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| N. Laszewski F | 35 | 7-11 | 6-7 | 0-0 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| P. Atkinson Jr. F | 18 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| B. Wesley G | 34 | 8-18 | 2-8 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 18 |
| D. Goodwin G | 35 | 7-11 | 0-3 | 3-3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| P. Hubb G | 35 | 2-9 | 1-5 | 2-6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| T. Wertz G | 20 | 1-4 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| C. Ryan G | 23 | 3-4 | 3-4 | 2-2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| TEAM | 29-61 | 13-31 | 7-11 | 1 | 26 | 27 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 78 | |
| 47.5% | 41.9% | 63.6% |
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had 21 points, 17 rebounds, and 1 block.
RJ Davis had 19 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal.
Caleb Love had 15 points, 2 steals, and 2 rebounds.
Brady Manek had 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Needs Work
The guards have to do a better job of taking care of the ball and getting the team into their offensive sets more successfully. Bacot had the advantage inside but they went away from him.
They have to take better advantage of the mismatches and stay disciplined to secure the win.
The coaches have to make adjustments more quickly when they see a scheme not working like the switching defense.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels reverted back to their old ways with a lackluster first-half performance that only Bacot salvaged. North Carolina is a more talented team and they have to grow up and mature in realizing that they can’t take any opponent for granted.
If they would have just ridden Bacot the whole game it would have put them in a better position to win. Just through attrition of pounding the ball inside and causing foul trouble to Notre Dame’s interior players.
North Carolina must regroup and hopefully get Garcia, Walton, and McCoy back for their game against Virginia on Saturday at 1 pm on ESPN.