North Carolina is finally back home in the Smith Center on Wednesday for the first time in 25 days when the Tar Heels host Northeastern of the Colonial Athletic Conference.

The Tar Heels have played four consecutive games on the road since Jan. 23, splitting them with wins at Pittsburgh and Duke and losses at Clemson and Virginia.

The Huskies are in second place in the CAA with a 9-7 overall mark and 8-2 in league play. They returned last week from a lengthy COVID pause in which four consecutive games were postponed. They went from Jan. 24 until Feb. 13 in between games, and this past weekend split a pair at Towson.

Before that, Northeastern had won seven of eight games, including a weekend sweep of College of Charleston, which UNC opened the season against at the Smith Center. The Huskies have played three other games versus teams from power conferences, losing by six points at Syracuse in December before falling by 18 at Georgia, and by 22 at West Virginia in December before starting CAA play.

They did defeat UMass, which is tied for second place in the Atlantic 10 and No. 110 in the NET. Northeastern is currently No. 144 in the NET.

UNC is 12-7 overall and 7-5 in the ACC. The Tar Heels have won seven of their last 10 games.

Here are 5 Keys for UNC to defeat Northeastern.

Northeastern doesn’t have great size in the paint but it does play a lot of length elsewhere, and it has posted impressive defensive numbers. So while the Tar Heels will have a clear advantage inside, they could have trouble getting the entry passes to the bigs, so it’s imperative the big men make themselves available to allow for easier entries.

The Huskies don’t generally play anyone taller than 6-foot-9, but seven of their eight main rotation players are 6-foot-5 or taller, and five are 6-foot-7 or taller. And, it should be noted, that in three games at Syracuse, Georgia and West Virginia, the Huskies allowed those quality P5 teams to shoot a combined 41.9 percent from the floor. So they didn’t give up a lot of easy looks.

That said, if UNC can control the game in the post, it should earn a victory.

There are matchups in which a team like UNC doesn’t really need to hit a bunch of threes to win, or at least shouldn’t. That could be the case versus the Huskies, but it should be noted that if the Tar Heels have trouble getting the ball into the post, which has been an issue at times this season, and is forced to take a lot of threes, Northeastern’s defensive numbers on the perimeter could be a concern for UNC.

The Huskies are ranked No. 112 in the nation in three-point defense, allowing opponents to shoot 32.2 percent, but more interestingly is that Syracuse, Georgia and West Virginia combined to shoot 9-for-52 from the perimeter, which is just 17.3 percent. The Orange were 2-for-18 in the Carrier Dome and only defeated the Huskies by six points.

So, if UNC has to make threes to win, it could be a struggle, though coming off a 2-for-16 performance on the perimeter at Virginia might mean the law of averages are on Carolina’s side. Or maybe not.

There have been games in which the Tar Heels have had decided edges on the glass and still lost, so dominating the backboards isn’t always a recipe for success for this Carolina team. However, given that Northeastern is No. 256 in the nation in rebound margin at minus-2.2 and that it plays most of its games against significantly lesser competition than the Tar Heels, one would think UNC should have a huge advantage on the glass to where it helps lead to a victory.

Only one Husky averages more than 4.9 boards per game, and that’s 6-foot-6 guard Shaquille Walters, who grabs 6.8 per contest.

Looking for the most interesting player matchup in this game, how about Northeastern point guard Tyson Walker versus UNC’s Caleb Love?

A sophomore, Walker was named the CAA Player of the Week for the third time this season last week after netting 52 points in two games versus Towson. He has hit the 30-point mark twice this season, and is third in the CAA averaging 18.0 points per game, but leads the conference in steals at 2.3 and assists at 5.1 per contest.

He did struggle some versus Syracuse (seven points) and West Virginia (10) but Walker netted 19 at Georgia.

This game shouldn’t come down to whoever wins this battle, but many UNC observers will watch the game gauging progress in addition to the running score, so how Love plays versus a quality D1 point guard is important moving forward.

UNC wanted a game so badly it went to Twitter in search for someone, and Northeastern obliged. The Tar Heels cannot look at this game as mid-December fodder and simply go through the motions, this is an important contest for multiple reasons.

To begin with, Carolina needs a win to add to its NCAA resume, and any win will help right now. It also must play well. The Heels are at a point in the season where wobbling around isn’t a good sign, so to show continued growth, which is had revealed at times over the last month, a quality performance against a solid opponent is a must.

And the Heels must use this game to get better and build a good vibe, which is reflected in confidence. This isn’t suggesting the Heels lack confidence, but after struggling to score in two of their last three games (50 points at Clemson, 48 at UVA), this club could use a fun performance to get right.