Rush the Court will be providing wall-to-wall coverage of each of the NCAA Tournament from each of the 13 sites this year. Follow our NCAA Tourney specific Twitter accounts at @RTCEastregion, @RTCMWregion, @RTCSouthregion and @RTCWestregion.

Three Key Takeaways.

North Carolina Heads to Houston as the Favorite (USA Today Images)

1. It will take a monumental defensive effort to beat North Carolina. Unfortunately for Notre Dame, that simply wasn’t its style. The Irish were one of the worst defensive teams in the NCAA Tournament this season, winning games with an ultra-efficient, spread offense that exploited mismatches with shooters. Against conservative, defensive-minded teams, the strategy worked. But against a team with an even better offense that the Irish were forced to defend, the outcome was far different. Notre Dame shot 27-of-49 from the floor, including a lights-out 50 percent from beyond the arc, but it simply couldn’t generate enough stops on the other end of the floor. The result was a shootout where the team with the better firepower won.
2. North Carolina’s hot shooting remains an anomoly, but its impact cannot be ignored. The Tar Heels ranked 284th nationally in perimeter shooting (32.1%) coming into Sunday’s game, but the sneaky-hot shooting of Marcus Paige and Joel Berry has taken a lot of teams by surprise: Paige went 6-of-9 from three-point range against Indiana on Friday night and started 2-of-2 against Notre Dame before cooling off this evening. Making jump shots forces defenses to respect the Tar Heels’ perimeter game — something Tom Crean and Mike Brey didn’t expect — and it completely changes the dynamic of its offense. When the jumper is falling, Paige can more easily navigate into the lane and create high-percentage shots for himself and his teammates.
3. Notre Dame was a deceptively good team this season. Tucked within a loaded conference, Notre Dame didn’t exactly stand out with an 11-7 record and sixth place finish. But along the way the Irish snagged some quality wins against Duke, Iowa, North Carolina and Louisville. Over the course of the season, with Zach Auguste –– one of the best rebounders in the country — manning the paint, Brey figured out how to best spread his players along the perimeter and run dangerously effective pick-and-rolls. The graduation of Auguste will undoubtedly hurt this team going forward, but assuming there are no other NBA Draft declarations, the remaining core will return next season in search of another nice NCAA Tournament run.

Star of the Game. Brice Johnson’s 25-point, 12-rebound effort says it all. He was often paired with another UNC big man, allowing Johnson to slide to the four where he capitalized on a significant height advantage. At other times, with the Irish’s Auguste in foul trouble, the 6’10 forward shot over defenders and finished around them on his way to a 10-of-15 shooting performance. Most importantly, he proved difficult to keep off the glass, acting as a major factor in UNC’s 23 second chance points and 42 points in the paint.

Quotable.

• Mike Brey: “We took that one-point lead and they really answered it like men, and we didn’t have much left. They wore us down a little bit with their depth and their front line. And they shot the heck out of the ball.”
• Brey, on Zach Auguste‘s struggles: “The foul trouble probably hurt him and never really got him into a rhythm. He sat the whole half… but when we’re getting big-time defensive rebounds, it’s usually that guy getting them. And he didn’t get as many tonight.”
• Marcus Paige, on his team’s Tournament expectations: “I think we always thought we would be the favorite because in our minds, when we play our best, we can’t be beat.”
• Roy Williams, after cutting his finger during the net-cutting ceremony: “”I’ve really got good-looking blood; it’s very bright, deep colors.”

Sights & Sounds. The crowd was somewhat diminished compared to Friday’s turnout, in part due to a late night tip but also a result of Wisconsin and Indiana fans already at home. That being said, noise levels were unchanged and there were more Notre Dame fans in the house this evening. Given its location, Philadelphia always garners a good turnout for its college hoops games and this year’s event was no different.

What’s Next? North Carolina will advance to Houston to take on this year’s “cinderella,” Syracuse. Roy Williams’ squad has come away with the upper hand in both meetings this season, but the Orange have clearly demonstrated another gear in March. Notre Dame heads home following a second consecutive season in which they fell just one win short of an elusive Final Four.

Justin Kundrat (175 Posts)

Villanova grad, patiently waiting another 10 years for season tickets. Follow Justin on twitter @JustinKundrat or email him at justin.kundrat@gmail.com

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 27th, 2016 at 11:27 pm by Justin Kundrat and is filed under 2016 ncaa tournament, feature, rushed reactions. Tagged: elite 8, Notre Dame basketball, rushed reactions, UNC basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.