UNC bounced back from two consecutive losses with a 91-69 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday. The Tar Heels scored the first ten points of the second half to extend their 42-33 halftime lead. They never trailed in the game.
Caleb Wilson was excellent, scoring 22 points and dishing out five assists. Threes were a huge factor in Carolina’s back-to-back losses, but they were the ones finding major success beyond the arc in this one. For a lot of the game, UNC had made more threes than two-point baskets. They finished with 13 made threes by eight different players. Henri Veesaar scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half after a very quiet first half. He had 12 boards as well for another double-double. Derek Dixon, making his second career start, was the only other Tar Heel in double figures with 11 points including three three-pointers. Kyan Evans and Luka Bogavac finished with nine points each.
The Tar Heels shot 51% from the field and 70% from the free throw line. They held Notre Dame to 36% from the field. The Irish did make six threes in the first half, but went just 2-13 from long distance in the second half. Braeden Shrewsberry, who came into tonight’s game shooting better than 40% from beyond the arc, was held to just three points.
It was a good confidence boosting game for Carolina after Stanford and Cal exposed their defense in back to back games. A wise man once said that everything looks better when the ball goes in the basket, and the Heels got their shot to fall quite a bit in this one. Making 13 threes will definitely cure a lot of ills if you can get them to fall. There were still some defensive concerns, especially with allowing Notre Dame 18 offensive rebounds, but the Irish had a much harder time getting their shot to fall so the damage was minimized this time around.
Carolina will need any and all confidence they gained in this one when they take on #14 Virginia in Charlottesville on Saturday.
