It’s right back to the drawing board for Hubert Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels, who struggled down the stretch in Wednesday’s 83-70 loss at Louisville.
UNC (8-6, 1-1 ACC) played fairly solid basketball until the final five minutes, when it only scored one point – on an Ian Jackson free throw. North Carolina never trailed by more than nine points, until the host Cardinals (9-5, 2-1 ACC) pulled away during those same five minutes.
The Tar Heels stay on the road to open up 2025, as they’ll head up to South Bend, Ind. on Saturday, January 4 for a 12 p.m. tip-off against Notre Dame.
UNC owns a 30-9 all-time record against the Fighting Irish (7-6, 1-1 ACC), whom we’re about to give you a deeper dive into.
Notre Dame started the year 4-0 by beating Stonehill College (89-60), Buffalo (86-77), Georgetown (84-63) and North Dakota (75-58), leading to hope amongst fans the Irish were back to their Mike Brey level of winning (13 NCAA Tournaments in 23 seasons).
A loss to a significantly-improved Elon squad on November 22 made the South Bend faithful think again, as Notre Dame began a 5-game losing streak. The Irish then snapped their skid, starting a 3-game winning streak against ACC rival Syracuse, but are fresh off a New Year’s Eve loss at an average Georgia Tech program.
North Carolina’s defense will face a tall task on Saturday, facing a Notre Dame offense with four double-digit scorers.
Markus Burton, a top guard in the ACC and one of the country’s best, leads the Irish with 18.2 points per game. Forward Tae Davis averages 16.6 points per game. Braeden Shrewsberry, starting guard and son of head coach Micah Shrewberry, contributes 16.2 points per game. Matt Allocco adds 10.2 points per game, rounding out Notre Dame’s collection of double-digit scorers.
The Irish are in a similar position to that of our Tar Heels, needing to start a winning streak that shows they’re capable of making the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame hasn’t made the Big Dance since 2021-2022, while UNC is in danger of missing March Madness for the second time in three seasons.
Can North Carolina escape South Bend with a victory, or will prolonged issues persist and lead to a second-straight loss?
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