Notre Dame 80 UNC 76: Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

UNC led by nine at halftime and it didn't go well after that. Here is how it looked in terms of the numbers.

15-19, 28-32, 31-38

Those numbers are the what Notre Dame has shot at the free throw line in the past three games against UNC. As was the case last year, Notre Dame drew fouls consistently against the Tar Heels. UNC was called for a season high 27 fouls which 17 of those coming in the second half.

From a defensive standpoint, UNC did a solid job shutting down the Irish offense from the floor.  The Irish attempted just 16 threes for a 3PA% of 24.2, well below the season average of 34.7. The Tar Heels held the Irish to just 34.8% shooting and 3-16 from three. In that respect, this was a generally solid defensive effort. The problem arose with the fouls. Notre Dame more than made up for lack of shooting from the floor with a 57.6% free throw rate and 81% shooting on 37 attempts.

Yes, the fouls were a problem and UNC needs to do a much better job of defending without fouling but a team hitting 20 straight free throws to keep the offense afloat is a fairly amazing occurrence. Losing the battle at the line 31-16 is a surefire way to lose on the road.

19.9 and 19 points

This was UNC's turnover rate and what Notre Dame did with it. UNC came into the game with one of the better turnover rates on the country at a tick under 15%. Notre Dame entered the game with a defensive efficiency ranked in the 200s and a defensive turnover rate ranked 322nd at 15.5 In theory UNC should have had little trouble taking care of the ball. In this case the theory was wrong

For much of the game UNC's TO% was much higher than the game final 19.9. At one point it was sitting around 25% and like the fouls Notre Dame made the Tar Heels pay. Notre Dame ended up scoring 19 points off turnovers to UNC's zero. Why? The Irish simply didn't turn the ball over. Notre Dame had just two all game for a TO% of 3.2.

With Notre Dame controlling the tempo, UNC needed to be efficient and force turnovers to create transition opportunities. The turnovers on UNC's offensive end hurt the Tar Heel efficiency. UNC still ended up with an OE of 114.2 which is below the season OE of 119.8 because of the turnovers. Without any Notre Dame miscues to capitalize on the transition offense remained in neutral.

43.5 and 23 points

Notre Dame entered the game as a decent offensive rebounding team. The Irish ORB% for the season was 33.7 which is 59th nationally. While it was expected Notre Dame would have some success grabbing offensive rebounds, UNC brought size and the ACC leader in individual defensive rebounding rate in the person of Brice Johnson. Needless to say it didn't go well as the numbers on paper indicated.

Notre Dame topped 40% in ORB for just the sixth time this season and converted those rebounds to 23 second chance points. As was the case with the free throws, UNC did a great job with stopping Notre Dame from hitting shots but didn't end those possessions with a defensive rebound. That kept giving an offense that was struggling to hit shots another chance against a scrambling defense.

7-12 FG, 5-8 3P, 21 points

Marcus Paige's line for the night hitting 20+ points for the first time since the January 4th game at Florida State. Paige also went 5-8 from three and after missing two jumpers inside the arc scored on a pair of drives to the basket. If this game was the game that got Paige right, it may well be worth the loss.

1-7 FG, 0-1 3P, 5 points

Justin Jackson's line who continues to struggle even missing an easy layup with no one around him. Jackson also had his share of troubles on the defensive end. Jackson played well at Louisville scoring 16 points but in this game couldn't get on track.