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North Carolina will take place in the inaugural Jumpman Invitational on Wednesday night when they take on Michigan at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

The Tar Heels enter having won three consecutive games and appearing to have found a solid groove, though that will be significantly tested against the Wolverines. Michigan comes in having beaten Lipscomb and Minnesota (on the road by 15 points) in its last two contests.

UNC is 8-4 overall while the Wolverines are 7-3.

The game tips at 7 PM and will air on ESPN.

Here are 5 Things To Watch For when the Heels face the Wolverines:

Michigan comes into the game ranked No. 278 in experience, averaging 1.45 years of college hoops experience per player on the roster. UNC is ranked 17th averaging 2.96 years. Carolina’s starters, however, are combined in their 20th year of college hoops, Michigan’s top six players have combined for 14 seasons, which includes Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewellyn, who played four seasons in the Ivy League.

Only one player who averaged at least 20 minutes per game last season is on this year’s squad, and while 7-foot-1 Hunter Dickinson is a load, he is surrounded by mostly young players. Carolina has five such players, including Pete Nance, who was at Northwestern, which is in the Big Ten.

Why does all of this matter? There was a time not too long ago when these Tar Heels were one of the youngest teams in the nation, and it often showed against much more experienced teams. Wednesday night, that script will be flipped. Or at least it should be.

Even with Dickinson averaging 8.4 rebounds per contest, the Wolverines rank No. 281 in rebound margin at minus-1.8 per game. They are No. 314 in offensive rebound efficiency, and No. 297 in defensive rebounding efficiency.

Carolina has been its usual self on the glass over the last three games, and is now up to 81st nationally in rebound margin at plus-4.8. Through their first nine games, the Tar Heels averaged grabbing only 31.3 percent of their missed shots, but over the last three contests, they have snared 39.8 percent of their misses.

So, there is no reason to not expect UNC will have a solid edge on the backboards in this game, and maybe end up with a large margin.

Overall, Carolina still ranked just No. 359 in bench usage, but that figure has been better the last four games. Even in the win over Ohio State last Saturday, when the starters played the final 14 minutes, including overtime, and 25 of 119 minutes after halftime. Reserves played 25 minutes in the first half, and over the previous three games, subs combined for 182 minutes.

Now, Hubert Davis cleared the bench in the win over The Citadel, but the bench played a lot before the game was out of hand and was highly productive.

UNC has the advantage here given the recent play of Tyler Nickel, continued comfort by Seth Trimble, and that Puff Johnson is due to play more consistently well than he has, and the possibility that Jalen Washington should give the Heels more and more as the season goes on.

So yes, Carolina should have an advantage here.

This will be a key for Carolina every time it plays the rest of the season, and the recent trend should give UNC fans some optimism. Love and Davis are coming off the first game this season in which both scored 20 or more points, and appeared more comfortable together than in any previous contest since the national championship game last April.

That’s a good thing for North Carolina, because if they are connected and make good decisions, everything else usually falls into place. That must happen in this game and each one that comes along until the end of the season.

But for Wednesday, having them play at that level again would be huge considering what it would mean with respect to the bigger picture.

Remarkably, the last time the Tar Heels took the court in Charlotte for a basketball game was a thrilling loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals in 2019. The football Tar Heels have played twice in the Queen City since then, so it’s time UNC is back in Charlotte.

And, that a sellout crowd is expected, and this is the Jumpman Invitation, so all things Michael Jordan will be magnified, that just lends itself to what should be an exciting, nostalgia-laced event and game.

How could Carolina lose under these conditions?

Note: UNC is 164-27 all-time in Charlotte, including 14-2 at the Spectrum Center.