UNC Basketball looking to build win streak on Saturday

As Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball program welcome Notre Dame on Saturday morning, the focus will be on building a winning streak.

After a strong second-half performance against Wake Forest, the UNC basketball program hopes that it could continue that trend on Saturday morning against Notre Dame.

It’s an unusual start time for this one, as the Tar Heels have been prone to struggle a bit in earlier contests. However, this group must come in ready to play, as the Fighting Irish have lost four of five and would love to pick up their first conference victory of the season on Saturday.

Can the Tar Heels start putting together a winning streak, or will the Fighting Irish spoil North Carolina’s weekend?

Key to Victory for North Carolina

Okay, Okay. You got me here. Of course, I’m going to stress the importance of feeding the ball inside.

However, the main key to victory here is playing defense, especially on three-point shooters.

Notre Dame is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the ACC, and it’s certain that they will take plenty on Saturday at the Dean Smith Center. North Carolina must close out on shooters and limit the number of open looks the Fighting Irish get. If they don’t Notre Dame may have a field day from beyond the arc.

Something to Watch

We’ll give you two things to watch for, starting with the injury status of Pete Nance.

Nance will be a game-time decision, as he’s dealing with some lower back problems that seem to have occurred during the team’s loss to Pittsburgh.

If Nance can’t go, how will Davis fill his void in the starting lineup?

There are plenty of options, such as inserting Justin McKoy or Puff Johnson at the four, but I personally would like to see the three-guard lineup of Seth Trimble, RJ Davis and Caleb Love (a group we saw a lot of against Wake Forest) be the group that Davis elects to go with.

Speaking of Love, can he bounce back after shooting 3-15 from the floor in the Tar Heels’ last contest? We know he’s a very talented player, but he hasn’t shot the ball as effectively as we’ve all hoped.

If he can’t get going offensively, the Tar Heels need him to still play with his high energy, especially on the defensive side of the floor. Whether you agree with him playing a ton of minutes or not, his production will be key to this team’s success down the road.

Last Meeting

The last time these two teams met was just over a year ago, as the Fighting Irish defeated the Tar Heels by a score of 78-73 in South Bend, Indiana.

Nate Laszewski (who the Tar Heels need to control on Saturday) paced the Notre Dame offense with a team-high 20 points. Blake Wesley (18 points) and Dane Goodwin (17 points) also had productive outings.

For the Tar Heels, it was Armando Bacot who led the way with a dominant 21 points and 17 rebounds. RJ Davis had 19 points in 39 minutes of action, while Love contributed 15 points of his own.

Projected Starters

No. 4 R.J. Davis (Jr., 6-0, 175) – 16.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.3 apg
No. 2 Caleb Love (Jr., 6-4, 200) – 16.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.4 apg
No. 1 Leaky Black (Gr., 6-9 205) – 7.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.4 apg
No. 32 Pete Nance (Gr. 6-11, 230) – 10.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.7 apg
No. 5 Armando Bacot (Sr., 6-11, 235) – 18.6 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 1.3 bpg

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