Carolina travels to Indiana to play Notre Dame on Wednesday, January 5. Game time is
9 p.m. on ESPN2. The Tar Heels are 10-3 overall, 2-0 in the ACC. Carolina has won seven of its last eight games.
UNC built a 31-point lead in the first half and went on to defeat Boston College, 91-65, in Chestnut Hill, Mass., on Sunday. Armando Bacot had 18 points, 11 rebounds and three steals, Caleb Love led four double-figure scorers with 22 points and the Tar Heels held the Eagles to 16.7% shooting from the floor in the first half in the victory. It was Carolina’s 13th win in the last 14 games against BC, as the Tar Heels improved to 9-1 all-time in Conte Forum.
Notre Dame is 7-5 overall and has split a pair of road games in ACC play, losing by 16 to BC and edging Pittsburgh, 68-67, on December 28th, the last time the Irish have played.
UNC and Notre Dame have mixed results among their two common opponents thus far this season. The Irish defeated Kentucky at Notre Dame and lost at BC; Kentucky beat Carolina by 29 points in Las Vegas, but defeated BC by 26 in Chestnut Hill.
About UNC
- Carolina has held the opposition to 65 or fewer points in the Tar Heels’ last seven victories. The 405 combined points are the fewest allowed over seven consecutive wins since the 2006-07 season. UNC allowed 393 points in wins from December 22 to January 17.
- Carolina is 30th in KenPom’s overall rankings. The Tar Heels are 16th in the country in offensive efficiency and 29th in effective field goal percentage.
- Carolina’s strength of schedule is the 59th most difficult in the country and the fourth toughest in the ACC (Syracuse 38, Florida State 55, Louisville 56).
- Carolina has shot 50% or better from the floor in the second half in each of the last seven games and nine times in 13 games this season. The Tar Heels have shot 50% or better three times in the first half this season.
- Carolina is shooting 53.1% from the floor in the second half and holding its opponents to 43.7 percent. The opponents are shooting just 37.0% in the second half in Carolina’s 10 victories.
- Armando Bacot leads the ACC in field goal percentage (.633) and is second in rebounding (9.9), sixth in blocks (21) and 10th in scoring (15.3).
- Five Tar Heels are averaging double figures in scoring this season. The last time five Tar Heels averaged 10 or more points was 2017-18.
- Five different Tar Heels also have scored 20 or more points in a game this season. Caleb Love has five 22-point games, Armando Bacot also has scored 20 or more four times, Dawson Garcia has three 20-point games, and Brady Manek and RJ Davis have two apiece.
About Notre Dame
- Notre Dame has won six straight games in Purcell Pavilion dating back to last season. In those six victories are wins over No. 11/11 Florida State last March and a 66-62 win over No. 10/12 Kentucky on December 11.
- Dane Goodwin has a career-best streak of double-digit scoring in all 12 games this season. He leads the Irish with 14.9 ppg.
- Goodwin is also averaging 49.2% from three which leads the team and is second in the ACC. That is tied for seventh among all major conference players this season.
- Freshman Blake Wesley has had 13 assists in the last three games. He posted a career-best nine against TAMU CC and he found Prentiss Hubb twice in the last four minutes of the game at Pittsburgh for two open three pointers that allowed the Irish to erase the an eight-point deficit in the comeback victory.
- Wesley is also averaging 13.3 ppg which is the third-best average in the ACC and eighth-best among major conference true freshman.
- Graduate student Paul Atkinson Jr. has averaged 15.6 ppg in the Irish’s last three victories while also averaging 6.3 rpg.
- 77.8% is the team free throw percentage for the Irish this season – tops in the ACC and tied for 15th in the nation.
UNC vs Notre Dame
- Carolina leads the series, 27-8.
- Carolina has won nine of the last 10 games.
- The Tar Heels are 11-4 since the Irish joined the ACC in 2013-14.
- Carolina is 5-3 at Notre Dame. This is UNC’s first game at Purcell Pavilion since 2/17/2020, when Nate Laszewski hit a game-winning three with 2.4 seconds to play to give Notre Dame a 77-76 win.
- The Tar Heels won both games against the Irish last season.
How to Watch
Time: 9:00 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN2 (Anish Shroff, Jordan Cornette)
Stream: WatchESPN
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Properties (Jones Angell, Eric Montross, Adam Lucas)
Per Release