No. 22 North Carolina will aim to snap a two-game skid Wednesday night when it faces Notre Dame in an Atlantic Coast Conference game in Chapel Hill, N.C.
After losing both games on its road swing in California — to Cal and Stanford — the Tar Heels (14-4, 2-3) fell eight spots in the latest AP Top 25 poll, released Monday.
The common thread in both defeats was North Carolina’s lackluster effort in defending the 3-point line. Stanford went 16 of 28 from behind the arc, while Cal was 14 of 26. Both clips, 57.1% and 53.8%, respectively, were the best UNC has allowed opponents to shoot this season.
Deep shooting has been North Carolina’s sort-of kryptonite this season, as the team is 0-4 in games in which its opponent shoots 50% or better from 3-point land.
North Carolina led for most of the Stanford game last Wednesday before losing 95-90. On Saturday vs. Cal, the Tar Heels trailed by 20 points in the second half before falling 84-78.
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis seemed to think the loss to Stanford lingered and snowballed into the poor performance against Cal.
“I really believe against Cal we were … shook from the game against Stanford,” Davis said. “By the time that we woke up, we were down 18 or 20 and we started to play better and started to play the way that I know we can play.”
Davis added: “It would be great to go undefeated, having perfect practices and no turnovers, no injuries and no delays in travel, but that kind of stuff just doesn’t happen. So I always tell the players the two things you have control over are how you react and how you respond. I was not happy with how we reacted and responded against Stanford and Cal.”
The job for Davis and his Tar Heels is to not allow two consecutive losses turn into three against Notre Dame (10-8, 1-4), which has lost four straight games.
North Carolina might not have to worry about the Fighting Irish surging from 3-point range. In its most recent loss, 89-76 to Virginia Tech on Saturday, Notre Dame shot just 25% from behind the arc.
Notre Dame allowed the Hokies to shoot 50.9% from the floor, the highest percentage the Irish have allowed in ACC play this season. Virginia Tech also won the rebounding battle (32-30) and scored 36 points in the paint.
“Just dominated the paint,” Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “We’re playing small, so we have to run around and scramble and trap. And our ball screen coverage, they just kept attacking us in the paint.”
The Irish likely will have to continue to play small, as 6-foot-10 senior forward Kebba Njie is out for the season with a knee injury. Notre Dame leading scorer Markus Burton, who averages 18.5 points per game, has been out with an ankle injury since early December but is expected back this season. Jalen Haralson has led the Irish with a 14.7 scoring average in Burton’s absence.
For North Carolina, the leaders are the frontcourt tandem of Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar. Wilson averages 19.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, while Veesaar is at 17.2 ppg and 9.1 rpg.
–Field Level Media
