Lucas: Notre Dame Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Carolina got what they needed in another home win, this one an 81-64 decision over Notre Dame. Carolina had 19 assists on 31 field goals in a well-played win. The challenge now is to do it on the road, where the Heels are winless this season--a big test awaits Tuesday in Charlottesville.

2. Armando Bacot is very quietly having an ACC Player of the Year season. Perhaps because he started slowly, his recent performances have flown somewhat under the radar. You couldn't hide him on Saturday, though, as he was the one Tar Heel for which Notre Dame had no answer at all. And he's not just overpowering opponents. Against the Irish, he showed the crafty ability to dribble out of a doubleteam (he'll see plenty more of that Tuesday at Virginia) and also swatted two first half shots. Don't forget that Bacot also had the defensive assignment on Nate Laszewski, who had torched the Tar Heels in the last two meetings. The Virginia native finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. He also passed Sam Perkins for second all-time at Carolina in rebounding and essentially single-handedly fouled out Dom Campbell. For the first time in his career, Bacot has scored 20+ points in five straight games.

3. The Tar Heels played without Pete Nance, who is dealing with a back injury. Hubert Davis elected to go small with the starting lineup in Nance's absence, utilizing Seth Trimble as the fifth starter and deploying the three-guard lineup that was so effective in the second half against Wake Forest.

4. Having depth doesn't always mean playing 12 guys in every game. Sometimes it means having the personnel to find the matchups that work and going with it. On Saturday, that meant the Tar Heels had the versatility to start Trimble but also to give extensive minutes to Puff Johnson, who had six first half points and also contributed three rebounds on his way to 11 points, six rebounds, and a fun basket through contact on Cormac Ryan in the second half. It's starting to look like this year's team might be one that may not have a "regular rotation," but has the ability to utilize different personnel depending on the matchups. The bench was very good, with Johnson, Jalen Washington (who was effective finding the middle of the Fighting Irish zone), Trimble (two more blocks) and D'Marco Dunn (a big offensive rebound and putback forced a Mike Brey timeout) all contributing important plays. The Carolina bench scored 22 points in the game.

5. That flexibility gave the Heels the option of switching almost everything defensively. Because the Tar Heels were willing to compete even when they ended up with a bad matchup--like Seth Trimble standing up to Nate Laszewski in the post and forcing a miss on one play in the second half--the Heels were able to stay with the strategy for most of the game.

6. Welcome back, Caleb Love. After a couple of subpar games, Love was much more effective on Saturday. He had 13 first half points, but even more importantly, he did it on an efficient eight shots. Love finished with 18 in one of his best games in recent weeks. The favorite Love play of the day, though, might have been the way he immediately stepped in when Ryan kicked at Johnson on the floor. That St. Louis edge is a valuable quality in a teammate.

7. As expected against the undersized Irish, Carolina dominated the rebounding battle. The Tar Heels had a double-digit rebounding edge, won the offensive rebounding battle, and had the advantage in second chance points.

8. Notre Dame's entire offense is based on shooting the three-pointer effectively. So it was a little surprising to see Carolina shoot more trifectas than the Irish in the first half (10 to 8). Couple the fact that the Heels made five of them along with having an edge in points in the paint (18-14), and you have the formula for a comfortable 13-point halftime advantage. For the game, Notre Dame hit 7-for-18 from the arc.

9. Good to see Marvin Williams at the Smith Center, who received a big roar from the crowd.

10. In Nance's absence, Leaky Black drew the assignment on the opening tip--and won it.

11. Saturday's 11:30 a.m. start is believed to be the earliest starting time in Smith Center history (if anyone remembers a pre-noon start in the building, let us know). The reason for the early tip was the NFL schedule, as ESPN has a three-hour pregame show to squeeze in before their 4:30 NFL game. Therefore, the two-hour broadcast window for a basketball game opened at 11:30, and here we are. The Fighting Irish didn't seem to mind the early start--their team bus arrived at the arena before 9:30.

12. Reminder that if you still need your copy of Together, signed copies (plus a few other items that make great gifts for your favorite Tar Heel fan) are available here. The behind the scenes stories from last season, including the buildup to the game at Cameron and the Final Four battle, never get old.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

D'Marco Dunn

Puff Johnson

Caleb Love

Pete Nance

Seth Trimble

Jalen Washington

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