Lucas: Notre Dame Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. It doesn't matter how they did it, it just matters that they did it. Carolina got a miraculous four-point play from Elliot Cadeau to survive Notre Dame, 74-73.

2. The Tar Heels had watched an 11-point second half lead disappear, as the Irish scored from the field and the free throw line consistently over the final 15 minutes of the game. But the final six points of the game came from Cadeau, providing an extremely improbable--but still sweet--win.

3. Carolina had actually drawn up a play for a three-pointer when trailing by three with 29.1 seconds left. But Cadeau saw an opening and took an immediate two-pointer. That ended up being a key play when he followed it with a four-point play with 4.8 seconds remaining. Cadeau was the only Tar Heel other than Jackson in double figures, as he scored ten.

4. Ian Jackson is rapidly moving into rare territory in the Tar Heel record books. His 27 points put him over 20 for the fourth straight game--the last Tar Heel to do that as a freshman was Tyler Hansbrough nearly 20 years ago. And he's doing it efficiently, making 11 of 18 from the field and converting three of his five free throws.

5. The Tar Heels absolutely have to figure out a way to defend without fouling. Louisville's parade to the line was the big story in Wednesday's loss, and Markus Burton (9-10 from the line) and Notre Dame did it again on Saturday. During one stretch, the Tar Heels only managed two defensive stops in 14 trips--one of those "stops" featured two Irish offensive rebounds and three missed shots.

6. Jackson was terrific in the first half. The freshman carried the Heels for a segment of that half, scoring eight straight points at one juncture, and finished with 17 in 18 minutes of first half playing time. Jackson took 10 of Carolina's 27 shots in that half, but it honestly felt like the right amount of his share of the offense given the way he was playing.

7. Carolina played without Seth Trimble for the third straight game. Trimble has been sidelined by an upper body injury and would have been important defending Burton.

8. Notre Dame, meanwhile, regained some perimeter depth. Burton returned for the Irish, and although he didn't start, he was very involved once he got in the game.

9. RJ Davis passed Armando Bacot for second in career scoring at Carolina and ninth in the ACC all-time. Davis finished with eight points. Davis is now 4-20 on three-point shots in true road games.

10. Carolina' s big men weren't spectacular, but they did what the Heels needed them to do. James Brown made a rare first half appearance and although he didn't put up big box score numbers, he was active. Jalen Washington tied for the team-high (with Jackson) with six rebounds and also scored eight points. Washington also made a big defensive play in the final 30 seconds to force a Burton turnover in a three-point game, and he had five blocks. This year's Carolina team doesn't need Washington to be Rasheed Wallace. If he could be, well, pretty much what he was on Saturday, that would be a big help.

11. Among that strong Tar Heel representation in South Bend: 2009 national champion Bobby Frasor and former Diamond Heels standout Dustin Ackley.

12. Now Carolina gets to come back home to face SMU on Tuesday. The Tar Heels didn't dominate this game, but they did enough to win it--which was what they had to do.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

James Brown

Elliot Cadeau

RJ Davis

Ian Jackson

Seth Trimble

Jalen Washington

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