CHAPEL HILL — With all the noise surrounding the North Carolina basketball team this past week, it must have seemed like old times to head coach Hubert Davis.
A year ago, there were similar rumblings about whether Davis was the right fit to lead the illustrious program, but the Tar Heels went on a six-game winning streak near the end of the regular season to quiet the clamor.
Wednesday night, limping home after a two-loss West Coast trip and three defeats in four games, the 22nd-ranked Tar Heels faced a Notre Dame team enduring even greater struggles. The Fighting Irish were on a four-game losing streak, losers in five of their last six, and without their top scorer, Marcus Burton, who was injured after averaging 18.5 points through ten games.
Davis juggled his starting lineup for the third straight contest and the changes worked. Point guard Derek Dixon, starting his second consecutive game, opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from the right corner, and the Heels never trailed, coasting to a 91-69 victory.
“I thought about moving forward and not dwelling on California,” Davis said about his coaching approach in practice after the disappointing loss. “I didn’t want that to lead to the next game against Notre Dame. I wanted to be positive with these guys, give them confidence to go out there and play, and they were able to do that tonight.”
North Carolina is 12-0 at home this season, and the Tar Heels have won six in a row over Notre Dame. UNC is now 15-4 overall—a record most programs, not named North Carolina, would be happy with—and 3-3 in the ACC, while the Irish fall to 10-9 on the season, 1-5 ACC.
Notre Dame made two first-half runs at the Heels. Braeden Shrewsberry’s 3 cut the lead to one, but Luka Bogavac hit a 3-pointer from the left wing and Kyan Evans’s trey from the right corner gave UNC an 18-10 lead. When the Irish cut the margin to three, Carolina went on a 10-2 run and led 42-33 at the half.
After Henri Veesaar opened the second half with a hook shot and a 3-pointer, followed by another Dixon trey—extending the margin to 50-33 with less than two minutes gone in the half—the outcome was clear.
“At halftime, I said, ‘OK, let’s take another step, let’s get off to a good start, let’s raise our level even more,’” Davis said. “And we started off on an 8-0 run and we just continued it throughout the second half. That’s something that we hadn’t done in a while and I was very proud and very happy for them.”
Perhaps the loudest complaint after the loss to California was the perceived failure to get the ball to the Heels’ best player, Caleb Wilson—although the freshman took 12 shots, barely below his 12.3 shots per game average. Against Notre Dame, Wilson took only 11 shots but made eight, while converting 5 of 8 free throws to finish with 22 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
It was the 19th game in a row Wilson scored in double figures, just one off the UNC record to begin a career set by Rashad McCants. Veesaar scored 15 points and hauled in 12 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season, and Dixon finished with 11 points.
Eight different Tar Heels made 3-pointers in the game, tying the all-time UNC record.
Tar Heel fans also blamed Davis for North Carolina’s porous defense. In their three recent losses against SMU, Stanford, and Cal, opponents shot 54% from the field and 54.3% from the 3-point line. Against Notre Dame, the Heels mixed man-to-man defense with a 1-3-1 zone to limit the Irish to 36% shooting from the floor and 32% on 3-pointers—although Notre Dame did convert 6-of-12 treys in the first half.
“We talk about communication all the time, and the communication at times wasn’t there in the first half,” Davis said of his team’s 3-point defense. “We did a much better job of communicating in the second half.”
If there was a chink in the Heels’ armor, it was on the offensive boards where Notre Dame beat them 18-10, although UNC still held a 17-13 advantage in second-chance points. The Heels shot 50.8% from the field, 38.2% from 3-pointers, and enjoyed a 13-2 advantage in fast break points.
The win gives Davis and the Heels some breathing room, as the performance may quiet the discontent—at least a bit. But Carolina can hardly rest on its laurels as it faces 14th-ranked Virginia in Charlottesville next Saturday, and a loss—especially a bad loss—will put the spotlight back on its head coach.
“This is the first time with this group and we have 11 new players,” Davis said. “We’re learning, we’re growing, we’re getting better, and we’re looking forward to practice and preparation to play a really good Virginia team.”
https://www.wilsontimes.com/sports/lineup-changes-renewed-defense-help-no-22-tar-heels-cruise-past-notre-dame-0c03fff9
