After a horrible, no good, very bad week out west, the Tar Heels return to the friendly(?) confines of the Smith Center on Wednesday Night. They host a Notre Dame squad that has not gotten off to a great
start in the conference. Unlike Carolina’s 2-3 start where they were in every game, only one of Notre Dame’s ACC losses was by one possession — the Cal team that just beat UNC. On the surface, this looks like a mismatch.
Unfortunately we all know there’s a lot more beneath the surface here. So let’s check on three things to look for on Wednesday night.
Jet Lag
Even before the bad west coast swing, this particular game was going to be dangerous for Carolina because of not having an off date after spending a week in the Bay Area. Some teams get that; for whatever reason, the Tar Heels didn’t. They had an off date after their trip to SMU, they have one next week after their game against Virginia, but for whatever reason, they are playing this week.
So, the combination of having to spend a week across the country, fly home, practice to try and fix the mountains of issues facing them, and then get back out on the court against a Notre Dame squad that’s basically used to doing this could be a huge factor. It was going to be a factor even if they had gone 2-0 or 1-1, but now with the pressure they will be putting on themselves to start the recovery, how much bigger will it be?
Anyone that plans to play professionally will face this — just ask NBA players about having to spend multiple weeks on the west coast and then two days later playing a home game on the east coast. Still, it’s a new thing for this squad and the only time they’ll have to deal with it this year. Look to see how they’ve mentally recovered for this turnaround.
Guarding the Three
Look, let’s just call a spade a spade here. We have all seen just how poorly Carolina has defended the three these last few games, and until that gets better any hope the Tar Heels have for having a good season will go up in flames.
That said, Carolina may have finally figured something out in the second half against California. A big reason for the comeback was that the Golden Bears actually cooled off from all parts of the floor. The Tar Heels ramped up the pressure to get the comeback going, and it showed in the percentages. In the second half, Cal shot only 4/10 from three, and 10/24 overall. If you’re Carolina frankly you’ll take that, because the offense really hasn’t been the problem.
So who will you need to watch for on Wednesday? Meet Braeden Shrewsberry. He’s somewhat of a rarity in today’s game — he’s been with Notre Dame for three seasons. He is having by far his best season shooting from behind the arc, racking up a 50/117 stat line for a 42.7% clip. It is basically all he does, as his non-three point numbers are 15/39 for 38.4%. There’s little doubt he’s licking his lips to go up against this defense and try his luck in the Smith Center, especially since he’s coming off an 0-5 effort against Virginia Tech. He was only 4/11 from three against Carolina in South Bend last year and just 1/5 in 2024 when they were in Chapel Hill, in case you were curious.
The other player ready to light it up will be Cole Certa. So far he’s 37/96 and 38.5% from behind the arc, and 7/20 inside. He also struggled against the Hokies, going 2/7 from three, but with two weapons like that ready to put it up you know that’s going to be their primary focus.
Home Court Advantage?
You can have a realistic discussion about the fate of Hubert Davis after this season. It can’t be denied, no matter what side of the fence you are on, that the chatter is there — and it’s getting louder amongst the fanbase. Just hop on any message board, Facebook group, social media platform, or the comments of this site and you’ll see it. It’s just what happens when you’re the coach at UNC: the expectations are what they are, and fans have a long memory of how too many teams just fizzled.
Where this comes into play on Wednesday is how the crowd in general will react when and if Notre Dame hits some shots. Will the crowd be supportive to try and lift the team and give them a chance to feel good about a game which builds momentum for the coming showdown in Charlottesville, or will any sort of adversity build to a cascade of deafening silence — or boos?
Either way, Wednesday’s game has seemingly turned into a fork-in-the-road moment, at least until the next one on Saturday. That’s what this bad showing in three of the last four — and really all four if you’re counting how close the Wake Forest game was — will get you.
