North Carolina’s hastily arranged game with Notre Dame basketball is a nail-biter
Like many people, North Carolina’s Tar Heels were glad to put 2020 behind them, especially after ending the year with ACC losses to N.C. State and Georgia Tech.
For the Tar Heels, 2021 began in what has become predictable fashion in the pandemic: a hastily arranged basketball game. Notre Dame had a game postponed at Pittsburgh and agreed to fly to Chapel Hill for a Saturday game against UNC at the Smith Center.
The Tar Heels (6-4, 1-2 ACC) emerged with a 66-65 victory as freshman Day’Ron Sharpe had a season-high 25 points. While Sharpe was a game-long problem for Notre Dame (3-6, 0-3), Leaky Black’s driving layup with 9.1 seconds left in regulation gave UNC the 66-65 lead.
Notre Dame had the last look but could not get Nate Laszewski, who had 25 points, a final shot. Juwan Durham’s jumper was short and the Tar Heels had survived for their first ACC victory.
While Sharpe touched the ball a lot inside, Laszewski was spotting up at the 3-point line, getting open shots and making them. The versatile 6-10 junior, who beat UNC with a late 3-pointer last season at Notre Dame, was 7 of 11 on 3-pointers in scoring 25 points.
With UNC’s size advantage, the Irish strategy was to make enough perimeter jumpers and 3-pointers to offset it. That, and battle as hard as they could on the boards. And mix up the defensive looks.
UNC looked inside, again and again. And when that wasn’t there, the Tar Heels made enough 3-pointers to loosen the Notre Dame defense. They had 21 offensive rebounds — seven by Sharpe — and a 48-27 edge on the board while finishing with a season-low eight turnovers after a shaky start.
UNC coach Roy Willams was upset about the Tar Heels’ defensive play against N.C. State and Georgia Tech, but there were some plays Saturday that made him smile — maybe — behind his mask.
In one sequence, freshman Caleb Love, back in the starting lineup, deflected a pass and UNC then forced a 30-second turnover by the Irish. Later, freshman Walker Kessler swatted away a shot as the Irish tested the Tar Heels on a drive.
UNC consistently worked the ball inside to its bigs, another focus for the Tar Heels after a late lapse at Georgia Tech. Sharpe, Armando Bacot, Garrison Brooks all got their touches and the Tar Heels attacked the boards when the big guys missed.
After going dry on a run of possessions to fall behind 26-19, the Tar Heels put together a 10-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Brooks — his only points of the first half — and a three-point play by Black after an offensive board.
There were nine lead changes in opening half as Notre Dame used six made 3-pointers to edge to the halftime lead.
This story was originally published January 2, 2021 at 5:57 PM with the headline "North Carolina’s hastily arranged game with Notre Dame basketball is a nail-biter."
