Heel Tough Blog: Notre Dame Recap

Bob Donnan- Imagn Images

That’s more like it. After an 0-2 trip to the West Coast last week, the Tar Heels returned to the Smith Center looking to bounce back as they faced the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In what was their most complete game of the conference season so far, the Tar Heels would blow out Micah Shrewsberry’s shorthanded squad 91-69.

It started in the first half where the team navigated some more bumps guarding the perimeter shots to lead by nine at the break. A big part of that was the seven 3-point field goals that the team hit in the first half which came from six different players. Caleb Wilson, as he has done many times so far this season, helped set the tone by dropping a team-high 14 points, while Derek Dixon followed up his strong showing at California on Saturday with eight first half points.

The Tar Heels started the second half on a 10-0 run that would extend the lead to 19 and they never looked back. After shooting 48.1% from the field in the first half and hitting those seven threes, the team would shoot 52.9% in the second half and hit six more threes on the way to the much-needed 22-point victory over the Fighting Irish.

Leading the way on the night was Wilson, the sensational freshman, who poured in 22 points on a very efficient 8-of-11 shooting from the field, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out a team-high six assists. Meanwhile, his low post mate had another double-double performance for himself, dropping 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting and pulling down a team-high 12 rebounds. Derek Dixon was the other Tar Heel to reach double figures on the night, scoring 11 points on 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.

1. Team Finally Responds on Defense: The most important thing this Tar Heel team had to do on Wednesday was respond to the lackluster performances they had out West defensively and they did that. While it wasn’t perfect, it was certainly a step in the right direction. There were still some moments in the first half that left you questioning where the communication and ball pressure was, but that changed in the second half. After allowing the Fighting Irish to shoot just 35.3% in the first half but hit six 3-pointers, the Tar Heels held them to just 36.6% shooting and two made 3-pointers in the second half. The 36.0% shot by Notre Dame was the lowest field goal percentage the team has allowed since the Florida State game and the eight made 3-pointers are the fewest since the team allowed two to East Carolina. Now we’ll have to see if the team can build on this performance in Charlottesville over the weekend.

2. Point Guard Position Produces: One of the other big issues for the team during their rocky start to conference play has been the play of the point guard spot, but that wasn’t an issue on Wednesday. Dixon was the guy who got things started scoring those eight first half points, but Kyan Evans chipped in, as well, looking the most confident he has in a while on the way to a nine point night where he was 3-of-5 from the field, all of which came from three. It’s going to be hard to expect this every game from this duo because of what they’ve shown you for most of the season, but the hope is that they can start to find the consistency that they have been lacking.

3. Bigs With Another Strong: This was a game that the duo of Wilson and Veesaar were expected to dominate because of the lack of size and they did just that, especially when it mattered. The two combined for 37 points on a combined 14-of-21 from the field and pulled down 19 rebounds on the way to the dominant victory. It might not have been their best performances of the season, but they certainly did enough to lead the way on this one.

4. Starting Lineup Switch Works: For a second straight game, the Tar Heels switched up the starting lineup on Wednesday night and it paid off. While Jaydon Young may not have had a great night, it was what Carolina needed on the defensive end of the floor. Starting him sent a clear message to the rest of the lineup that effort would be rewarded and it seemed to spark something from the team during this game. Tip of the cap to Hubert Davis for this one.

5. Bench Thrives: The Tar Heels are still lacking a consistent rotation, but they got plenty of production from their bench group on Wednesday. Evans helped lead the way with those nine along with Luka Bogavac, who also had nine. Jarin Stevenson also had one of his more successful nights off the bench, adding eight of his own. In total, the Tar Heels bench produced 35 points, a healthy number that we hope to see more often, especially with the starting lineup in flux.