After a week off, the Tar Heels return to the hardwood later tonight, as they host Alabama, in the second annual ACC/SEC Challenge. The last time we saw the Heels, they lost to Michigan State in the consolation game of the Maui Invitational, concluding a 1-2 record in the event, and left with more questions than answers. When Hubert Davis met with the media on Monday, he said that the week off allowed him and his staff to take a step back and reevaluate everything that they’ve done in the early going part of the season, to see how they can correct the slow starts, and start to beat NCAA Tournament competition.
Like UNC, Alabama has challenged itself in the early part of the non-conference season. While they are 6-2, they have earned wins over ranked opponents in Illinois and Houston. Yesterday they received some devastating news, after learning that their third-leading scorer, Latrell Wrightsell Jr, ruptured his Achilles, and will miss the rest of the 2024-25 season. Like RJ Davis, Mark Sears hasn’t had the start to the season he had anticipated but he still leads Alabama in scoring, at 16.0 points per game, despite shooting just 35% from the field, and 28% from behind the arc. As you can imagine, Alabama is a top-11 scoring offense in the country, and one of the best rebounding teams as well, meaning UNC will have their work cut out for them for 40 minutes.
The storyline around this game will focus on UNC seeking revenge after Alabama sent the Tar Heels from the NCAA Tournament last season, and while it would be nice to avenge that loss for Cormac Ryan, Harrison Ingram, and Armando Bacot, there are bigger things at stake here. It’s too early to talk about NCAA Tournament resumes. But if UNC were to lose, they’d be 4-4 on the season, and 0-4 against power conference teams, and 0-4 against NCAA Tournament teams from last season. With the ACC opener looming on Saturday, this can be a tone-setter for a month, that will more than likely make or break the 2024 Tar Heels.
Tonight it will be a “white-out” in the Smith Center, in addition to the Tar Heels wearing their throwbacks from the Michael Jordan era, which will create a fun, atmosphere in arguably the second-biggest home game of the season. Here’s how Carolina can get back on track, and earn a much-needed win against a power conference opponent:
Outplay Their Backcourt: Tonight’s game will have a March Madness type feel to it, with how much is riding on the backcourts for both teams. RJ Davis and Mark Sears both enter tonight’s game not playing at the level their respective teams expected them to, but both are capable of turning it on at a moment’s notice. While Davis has struggled, Seth Trimble has excelled, meanwhile, Elliot Cadeau has experienced an up-and-down start to his sophomore season. In Maui, Cadeau struggled with foul trouble in two of the games, hindering him from impacting the game the way that he’s capable of doing so. Tonight, while you need RJ to start to play like the All-American that he is, it’ll take the entire starting backcourt, along with Ian Jackson off the bench, to help UNC outscore one of the more explosive backcourts in all of college basketball.
Win the Foul Line: Both teams are inside the top-10 in made free throws per game, and expect tonight to be a race to get each other in foul trouble the quickest. Carolina was good enough from the foul line in two games while in Maui, but was unable to draw fouls in their semifinal loss to Auburn. Both teams will put relentless pressure on each other’s defense, so Carolina will need to limit their fouls, while also looking to get an Alabama team, that’s without Wrightsell Jr, into foul trouble.
Limit Turnovers: There isn’t a team in the country that converts turnovers into points quicker than Carolina. UNC entered the Maui Invitational averaging the fewest turnovers of any team in college basketball, but that is no longer the case after their turnover issues against Dayton in the opener. They’ll need to value the basketball tonight like never before, because a turnover, almost certainly guarantees a bucket for Alabama the other way.
Series History:
Carolina is 8-6 all-time against the Crimson Tide but has lost to them the last two seasons. In Chapel Hill, Carolina is 2-0, with wins coming in 1955, and in 1990.
KenPom:
North Carolina - 16th overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 120.7 (6th) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 98.7 (65th)
Alabama - 10th overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 122.1 (3rd) Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 98.0 (53rd)
NET:
North Carolina - 28th.
Alabama - 15th.
TV Info:
Tonight’s game will be televised on ESPN starting at 7:15.
The Four Corners Podcast:
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