Heel Tough Blog: Georgetown Preview

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After starting the season with a five-game homestand, the Tar Heels return to the friendly confines of the Smith Center for three straight games, beginning this afternoon against Georgetown. Earlier this week, Carolina secured a road win at Kentucky, 67-64 in the ACC/SEC Challenge, behind the heroics of freshman Derek Dixon, who scored 5 points in the final minute to help propel Carolina to a win. It was the first road win for UNC against a ranked opponent since winning at Duke in March of 2024, when they locked up the ACC regular season title. 

Ed Cooley is in his third season at Georgetown, and after a nine-win improvement from year one to year two, expectations are for the Hoyas to compete for an NCAA Tournament spot in what’s looking like a down Big East conference. They have secured wins over Maryland and Clemson, but suffered losses to Miami and Dayton, so it’s hard to tell just how good the Hoyas are going to be this season. They boast an offense that features four double-digit scorers when healthy, led by KJ Lewis, and his 16.6 points per game. Their last double-digit scorer, Viince Iwuchukwu, who averages 11.6 points per game, has missed the last handful of games for Georgetown, and his status for today’s game is up in the air. His backup, Julius Halaifonua, averages over 8 points and nearly 5 rebounds, boasting the size necessary to compete with Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar inside. Cooley knows how to coach against Carolina, having pushed the Tar Heels in two separate matchups in the NCAA Tournament, once in 2014 and the other in 2016. 

It might only be December, but it’s never too early to start looking at how Carolina’s NCAA Tournament resume is taking shape, and after the win at Kentucky, UNC already has more Quad 1 wins this year as opposed to last, and they find themselves 15th in the NET, their highest ranking in over two years. Today is a maturity game for UNC, coming off an emotional win on the road, how do they follow up against a quality opponent from another Power Conference? 

There’s a lot of history between these two programs, despite not having played since the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Today marks the first of two matchups, with Carolina set to visit the Hoyas next year, in the return game of the home-and-home series, and here’s what to watch for in tonight’s contest: 

1. Be Ready to Play: After Carolina beat Kansas back in November, they didn’t have to follow that up with a quality power conference opponent, capable of pushing Carolina for 40 minutes, but that will be the case today after the win at Kentucky. A lot of praise has come Carolina’s way after that win, and we all know what Hubert Davis tells his team about blocking out the noise and ignoring sideshow distractions. This is a completely new team that’s been put together, and they're coming off their first significant win away from the Smith Center. We’ll learn a lot about their maturity later today. 

2. Establish Inside Scoring Presence: With the backcourt still in flux, given the injury to Seth Trimble, and the unsteady play of Kyan Evans, it’s important that Carolina’s plays through Wilson and Veesaar as much as possible. The two carried UNC all night long against UK, and will need to do so until the backcourt is healthy, and getting more consistent play from Evans, Young, and others. The two are combined to average 35 points and 25 rebounds, and with Georgetown’s frontcourt beaten up, they need to play inside-out right from the jump. Wilson will need to play through multiple double-teams, but with his 6 assists on Tuesday night, he proved he can be a willing passer in those situations. 

3. Generate Fast Break Scoring Chances: Given the struggles of Carolina’s half-court offense at times, it would go a long way if they could generate some points on the open floor to open the lid on the offense. UNC scored just 6 fast break points at Kentucky on Tuesday night, not anywhere close we expected them to be when they put this roster together in the off-season. Expect Hubert Davis to deploy his full-court press and his run-and-jump defense to get the pace sped up more to his liking. The more that Carolina stays stuck in the half-court, the more this offense is going to struggle while they wait the return of Seth Trimble. When they get out in transition, that’s when Kyan Evans has been at his best, along with Jonathan Powell, another player Carolina is counting on to step up in a big way. 

Series History: 

• Carolina is 4-5 all-time against the Hoyas, having lost the first two matchups back in 1920 and 1921, and the two most recent matchups in 2003 and 2007. That 2007 loss came in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, denying UNC a trip to the Final Four. As you know by now, Carolina beat Georgetown in the 1982 national title game to give Dean Smith his first national championship. 

KenPom: 

• North Carolina - 24th overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 118.2 (41st) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 97.7 (28th) 

• Georgetown - 91st overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 113.5 (79th) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 104.7 (117th) 

NET: 

• North Carolina - 15th. 

• Georgetown - 115th. 

TV Info: 

• Today’s game will start at 5 PM on ESPN. 

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