University of North Carolina Athletics
Know Your Opponent: Notre Dame
February 12, 2018 | Men's Basketball
By Bobby Hundley
Notre Dame (UND.com)
Location: South Bend, Ind.
Rankings: ND - No. 37 KenPom, NR AP; UNC - No. 10 KenPom, No. 14 AP
RPI/SOS: ND - 71/41; UNC - 9/3
Records: ND - 15-10, 5-7 ACC; UNC - 19-7, 8-5 ACC
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 22-7 (UNC 69, Notre Dame 68, Jan. 13, 2018, Joyce Center)
KYO: Notre Dame - Jan. 13
A once-promising season has been pushed to the brink by an incredible run of terrible injury luck that has impacted four of Notre Dame's top seven players. Senior Bonzie Colson went down with a broken foot after 14 games, at which point the Irish were 11-3 with a Maui Invitational title to their credit. Since then, ND has been without some combination of Colson, Matt Farrell, D.J Harvey and John Mooney in falling to 15-10 and 5-7 in the ACC.
The good news for Mike Brey is that Harvey could be back as soon as Saturday and that Colson's most recent X-ray was positive. In addition to that boost, the Irish have won two in a row, including Saturday's extremely impressive 84-69 win over Florida State. If Notre Dame were to field a fully healthy lineup in Brooklyn and win a game or two, the Irish could be one of the most intriguing NCAA tournament cases in history.
It is worth noting that while ND's best win - the Maui final over Wichita State - came with a healthy Colson, so too did two of its three worst losses - home against Ball State and Indiana on a neutral floor. Regardless, Colson's return would likely negate at least a few of the seven straight losses that came between Jan. 6 and Tuesday's 96-85 win over BC. Five of those setbacks were by single digits, something that won't be lost on those tasked with evaluating the true Notre Dame.
In the short term, however, the Irish will look to keep things rolling on the offensive end. After scoring just 0.85 points per possession in a 76-58 loss at NC State on Feb. 3, Notre Dame posted an eye-popping 96 points in 68 possessions in the win win over Boston College. ND then got 28 from Farrell, a career-high 19 from Rex Pflueger and 19 from T.J. Gibbs to post 1.18 PPP against Florida State on Saturday.
Notre Dame (UND.com)
Location: South Bend, Ind.
Rankings: ND - No. 37 KenPom, NR AP; UNC - No. 10 KenPom, No. 14 AP
RPI/SOS: ND - 71/41; UNC - 9/3
Records: ND - 15-10, 5-7 ACC; UNC - 19-7, 8-5 ACC
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 22-7 (UNC 69, Notre Dame 68, Jan. 13, 2018, Joyce Center)
KYO: Notre Dame - Jan. 13
A once-promising season has been pushed to the brink by an incredible run of terrible injury luck that has impacted four of Notre Dame's top seven players. Senior Bonzie Colson went down with a broken foot after 14 games, at which point the Irish were 11-3 with a Maui Invitational title to their credit. Since then, ND has been without some combination of Colson, Matt Farrell, D.J Harvey and John Mooney in falling to 15-10 and 5-7 in the ACC.
The good news for Mike Brey is that Harvey could be back as soon as Saturday and that Colson's most recent X-ray was positive. In addition to that boost, the Irish have won two in a row, including Saturday's extremely impressive 84-69 win over Florida State. If Notre Dame were to field a fully healthy lineup in Brooklyn and win a game or two, the Irish could be one of the most intriguing NCAA tournament cases in history.
It is worth noting that while ND's best win - the Maui final over Wichita State - came with a healthy Colson, so too did two of its three worst losses - home against Ball State and Indiana on a neutral floor. Regardless, Colson's return would likely negate at least a few of the seven straight losses that came between Jan. 6 and Tuesday's 96-85 win over BC. Five of those setbacks were by single digits, something that won't be lost on those tasked with evaluating the true Notre Dame.
In the short term, however, the Irish will look to keep things rolling on the offensive end. After scoring just 0.85 points per possession in a 76-58 loss at NC State on Feb. 3, Notre Dame posted an eye-popping 96 points in 68 possessions in the win win over Boston College. ND then got 28 from Farrell, a career-high 19 from Rex Pflueger and 19 from T.J. Gibbs to post 1.18 PPP against Florida State on Saturday.
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