UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Puts the Hammer Down on the Fighting Irish

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team faced off against Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon. With Pete Nance out with a lower back injury, freshman guard Seth Trimble was inserted into the starting lineup. It was a close game early with both teams having success offensively. North Carolina was great with their ball movement and player movement, which allowed them to get quality shots every time down the floor.

UNC shot 50% from the field and made 5 threes in the first half. With about 10 minutes left in the first half, the Tar Heels picked up their intensity on defense and it changed the entire trajectory of the game. The Heels were active, alert, and disruptive defensively, which led to 5 blocks and 5 steals alone in the first half. They held Notre Dame to just 38% from the field in the first half and kept the Fighting Irish off the three-point, which is known to be one of the better three-point shooting teams in the country.  Carolina’s intensity on defense led to fast break points and prompted their 21-10 run to end the half giving the Tar Heels a 13-point lead going into halftime. 

In the second half, North Carolina picked up where they left off in the first half moving the ball around until they got the best shot available on offense. The Heels continued to hound Notre Dame on defense and force them off the three-point line and into more difficult shots. UNC had full control of this game at this point and pushed their lead to 16 before the first media timeout.

The Tar Heels were in a good rhythm and pace on both sides of the floor as they led by double figures for most of the second half. However, Notre Dame would not go away and would go on a run that got the UNC lead down to 7. During this run, North Carolina got sloppy with the ball and started to take contested shots that allowed Notre Dame to get out in transition. The Fighting Irish took advantage and started to knock down threes and got into a rhythm offensively for the first time since early in the first half.

Carolina would stop Notre Dame’s run after getting a few stops in a row and making a couple of baskets to get the lead back to double digits. The biggest basket came from Puff Johnson’s and-one dunk that led to a flagrant foul from a Notre Dame player that was ejected as a result of the play. This play would change the momentum of the game back in North Carolina’s favor as they extended their lead to as much as 17 down the stretch of the game.

Armando Bacot and Caleb Love led the way with 21 points and 18 points respectively. The Tar Heels also had great contributions from the bench from Puff Johnson, D’Marco Dunn, and Jalen Washington that helped them get a complete team win. North Carolina arguably played their best game of the season from start to finish in this game on both sides of the floor and it would lead to their 81-64 victory over Notre Dame.

UNC Game Stats

	1	2	T
Notre Dame 8-8	28	36	64
North Carolina 11-5	41	40	81

North Carolina

STARTERS	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
A. Bacot	21	13	4	9/17	0/0	3/7	2	31	0	2	2
C. Love	18	3	2	6/16	3/6	3/3	3	36	2	0	1
R. Davis	13	5	5	5/11	2/4	1/2	2	36	3	0	1
L. Black	4	7	3	2/7	0/2	0/0	2	23	2	2	0
S. Trimble	3	3	4	1/2	0/1	1/4	2	23	0	2	2
BENCH	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
P. Johnson	11	6	1	4/5	2/3	1/1	2	22	0	0	0
D. Dunn	7	1	0	2/2	1/1	2/2	1	16	0	0	0
T. Nickel	2	1	0	1/2	0/1	0/0	0	2	0	0	0
J. Washington	2	3	0	1/2	0/0	0/0	1	7	0	0	2
D. Styles	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	1	0	0	0
J. McKoy	0	0	0	0/1	0/1	0/0	0	3	0	0	0

Notre Dame

STARTERS	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
N. Laszewski	17	8	0	7/10	1/1	2/3	2	35	0	0	1
J. Starling	10	3	3	4/10	1/4	1/3	1	31	2	0	2
D. Goodwin	10	7	1	5/10	0/1	0/0	3	37	0	0	0
C. Ryan	8	6	2	3/12	2/5	0/0	2	28	1	1	2
M. Hammond	7	0	3	2/8	2/4	1/4	1	25	1	0	1
BENCH	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
T. Wertz	7	3	2	2/6	1/3	2/2	1	25	0	0	1
D. Campbell	3	2	0	1/3	0/0	1/2	5	8	0	0	0
M. Zona	2	0	0	1/1	0/0	0/0	1	7	0	0	1
R. Carmody	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	2	1	0	0
T. Sanders Jr.	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	2	0	0	0

UNC Bright Spots

Armando Bacot had 21 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. 

Caleb Love had 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. 

RJ Davis had 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. 

Puff Johnson had 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist.  

Needs Work

The Tar Heels need to make sure they take better shots and do not turn over the ball as much when they have double-digit leads. They need to not be so lackadaisical with their play against teams to let their opponents back in the game. 

Final Observations

The Tar Heels improve to 11-5 on the season and 3-2 in ACC play. Carolina seems to be finding their groove at the right time of the season in the heart of ACC play. Players are more comfortable in their roles and everyone who is on the court is contributing. Pete Nance is out with injury so we still haven’t seen the team at their full potential quite yet, but we have seen glimpses in the last couple of games.

Coach Davis is also starting to trust his bench more, which is great because this team does have depth and can punish teams more when their players are fresher on the court. Going forward the Heels need to continue playing this brand of basketball putting an emphasis on sharing the ball offensively and playing tough-minded aggressive defense. This will put them in the best position to continue to have success and become that championship-caliber team we expected them to be coming into this season. Next up is Virginia on January 10 at 9:00 P.M.