donbosco
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North Carolina (8-6, 1-1 ACC) at Notre Dame (7-6, 1-1 ACC)
Saturday, Jan. 4 — Noon
South Bend, Ind. — Purcell Pavilion
TV: CBS (John Sadak, Clark Kellogg)
Radio: Tar Heels Sports Network (Jones Angell, Tyler Hansbrough)
UNC Tar Heels:
Cadeau #3 P=25, E=100, I=70, X=45
Davis #4 P=45, E=0, I=10, X=25
Tyson #5 P=15, E=95, I=15, X=15
Jackson #11 P=0, E=75, I=85, X=40
Washington #13 P=65, E=100, I=50, X=55
Powell #9 P=10, E=65, I=10, X=10
Trimble #7 P=65, E=95, I=10, X=35
Withers #24 P=0, E=20, I=80, X=40
Lubin #22 P=0, E=100, I=15, X=10
Claude #0 P=100, E=30, I=20, X=60
Brown #2 P=15, E=20, I=0, X=10
Coach Davis Wisdom = 0
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
14 Keeba Njie 6-10 7ppg, 6rpg, Jr. NA
7 Tae Davis 6-9 17ppg, 6rpg Jr NA
11 Braeden Shrewsberry 6-2 17ppg, So NA
41 Matt Allocco 6-4, 10ppg, 4rpg, 4apg, Sr NA
1 Julian Roper 6-4, 1ppg, 2rpg, Sr NA
26 J.R. Konieczny 6-7, 5ppg, 3rpg, Jr NA
25 Nikita Konstantynovskyl 6-10 4ppg, 3rpg, Sr. NA
2 Logan Imes 6-4, 4ppg, 2rpg, So NA
Coach Micah Shrewsberry
Look-In: The Birthdates of the Notre Dame players are obscure (first time in over 20 years that this has happened with an entire squad) so no biorhythms for the Fighting Irish. On with the Look-In…Markus Burton, the Irish Star will not play and hasn’t for a month due to injury. Coach’s son Sophomore Braedan Shrewsberry has picked up the slack, averaging just shy of 17 points per game and playing lead guard well. The real story is the rise of 6-9 Tae Davis as an inside player…averaging over 20 ppg and almost 8 rebounds since Burton went out. He’s tough and likely to give the Heels fits. Matt Allocco, over from Princeton is a hateable three point specialist (45.7%) and big enough to get the shot off easily (6-4). The rest of the Irish are support but all bring size. Shrewsberry gets a lot out of what he’s got and no doubt Notre Dame smells blood in the water and a chance to lay low Carolina.
Frontcourt: There is hope here with good looks from Jalen Washington and Ty Claude. Lubin and Brown look down. Withers is a walking X-Factor but today he’s a smart guy.
Wings: Doldrums here overall though there is an impressive level of positive energy in Powell, Tyson, and Jackson. Hope springs eternal in the young. Jackson is also a thinking man.
Guards: Elliott Cadeau shares the positivity and intel and Davis has some athleticism. The Mystery of Seth Trimble continues. At this early hour there is no word on whether he will play. If he does, his elevated physicality will be a huge help.
Overall: On the bubble now, Carolina cannot afford a loss today. Positives are what appears to be a lot of enthusiasm from a group that has been the brunt of some dark and hurtful criticism from a faction of spoiled fandom. Granted that the entire set-up of college basketball these days is itself dark and conducive to hurtful criticism, if there is such a thing as a “Carolina Way” for ball players then there ought to be a similar standard for followers. Of course there are challenges, troubling ones at that, afoot but this is our team for this year. If you give up on them then recognize what you are.
All of that aside now…this certainly looks like a trap game in South Bend. Notre Dame has nothing to lose and Carolina has little to gain and a great deal to lose. Shrewsberry and Davis have played well of late and Allocco is exactly that dead-eye from deep that tends to sting Carolina in away games. Classes do not begin at Notre Dame until January 13 so this should not be a standard home game at Purcell Pavilion, filled with drunk and rowdy partisan students. This could be favorable though the game is in Indiana so those stands will be filled with Carolina-hating goobers just the same. The ideal scenario is a Tar Heel squad that taps into the high Emotion Arcs of Powell, Jackson, Tyson, Cadeau, Washington, and Lubin and welcomes back a prime-time Seth Trimble. Minutes for Claude could prove positive as well. Withers is cagey. Jackson and Cadeau are likewise clever men today. Of course they will shadow Davis relentlessly so others must step up. Without Irish Birthdates the prognostication is less calculation than it is a sense of things. Las Vegas sez UNC by 4.5. The Biorhythms are feeling a 7 point UNC win with stand-out play from Jackson, Washington (“Back Home in Indiana”), and Trimble – and sagacity from Cadeau. No Trimble? Carolina by 2.
