3 Keys To Beating Notre Dame

Once again, North Carolina will have to quickly find a way to quickly cut the cord to a last-second loss as it visits Notre Dame on Monday night for a 7 pm tip.

The Tar Heels are coming off another last-second loss Saturday night to Virginia and have dropped five consecutive games. The Irish have lost consecutive contests, most recently by 34 points at Duke over the weekend. Previously, the Irish had won four straight.

UNC is 10-15 overall and 3-11 in the ACC while Notre Dame is 15-10 ad 6-8.

Here are 3 Keys for UNC to defeat Notre Dame:

Remember when winning the rebounding battle used to be a constant among the 3 Keys? That has been replaced by the need for the Tar Heels to cut the cord to the previous game, especially with a five-game losing streak – three of which were basically last-second shots. Grabbing more missed shots than the opponent is still one of Carolina’s keys every game, and it has long been the most important statistic to Roy Williams, but considering how things have gone, simply being ready and in the right frame of mind trumps everything else at this time.

So, the Heels must detach from the tough loss to the Wahoos and be ready for an angry Notre Dame team coming off an embarrassing loss.

Notre Dame is No. 1 in the nation in assist/turnover ratio, No. 8 in assists per contest averaging 16.8, and No. 18 in made 3-pointers per game. The Irish score a lot, push tempo and can score on the perimeter, as noted, and inside with forward John Mooney, one of the top bigs in the nation. Notre Dame is No. 36 in the nation in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency.

The Fighting Irish do have some weaknesses offensively that are at times exposed, so Carolina’s mission is to do just that. If it does, a victory is possible, if it doesn’t, a win is very unlikely.

It’s probable that Brandon Robinson will play Monday night, according to UNC, and if he does, that will give the Heels a needed presence on the perimeter to help Cole Anthony. BRob has 31 made threes in his last nine games in uniform, and he’s made at least three in seven of those games, so it stands to reason he will drain a few Monday.

Robinson did not play in the first game when Anthony erupted for 34 points in a Tar Heels’ victory, so any chance of Anthony going off again would be enhanced by Robinson catching, shooting and knocking down a few threes himself. If not, it will be another long night for the Heels.