No. 7 UNC men's basketball defeats Notre Dame on Senior Night
UNC senior guard RJ Davis (4) is recognized on Senior Night during the men’s basketball game against Notre Dame at the Dean E. Smith Center on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
On a Senior Night in which the No. 7 North Carolina men’s basketball team (24-6, 16-3 ACC) honored seven of its graduating players, UNC dismantled Notre Dame (12-18, 7-12 ACC) 84-51, its largest ACC win since Jan. 13.
From the jump, the Fighting Irish made their defensive strategy clear: double graduate forward Armando Bacot as soon as he received a pass in the post.
This strategy had a promising start. Eventually, though, UNC went away from feeding the post and found other ways to pull away from the Irish — namely, senior guard RJ Davis and junior forward Harrison Ingram.
With UNC up 18-16, Davis hit a pull-up 3-pointer off a Bacot screen. He ripped Notre Dame’s Markus Burton the next play for a fast break layup. Then it was Ingram’s turn, taking advantage of a late Irish switch to hit a step-back 3-pointer.
Off an out-of-bounds play, Davis curled off a screen from the wing and hit a floater to put the Tar Heels up double digits. Then, in transition after an emphatic Bacot block, Ingram attacked the trip and hit a well-timed Euro step for a layup, forcing a Notre Dame timeout.
UNC senior guard RJ Davis (4) scores on a fast break during the men’s basketball game against Notre Dame at the Dean E. Smith Center on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
Ingram wasn’t quite done. A jumper just beyond the free throw line and a turnaround fadeaway over two defenders gave UNC a 16-point lead, its largest of the game. Ingram and Davis combined for 20 first-half points as the Tar Heels led 41-25 at the end of the first half.
The second half would not get better for Notre Dame, who went scoreless for the first 5:25 of the second half.
“We wanted to get back to really playing with a sense of pride and urgency on the defensive end,” graduate guard Cormac Ryan said. “And I think we did that. We showed that we could guard for a full 40 minutes.”
Bacot stonewalled any Irish attempt to score in the paint. Notre Dame would only break its duck once Bacot subbed out. Being stalled by Bacot is a familiar feeling for sophomore forward Jalen Washington, who has to practice against Bacot every day.
“He knows guys’ tendencies — what they want, the type of shot they want to shoot,” Washington said. “And he just kind of takes that away.”
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Meanwhile, North Carolina could not miss. The Tar Heels shot 5-7 from the field before the first media timeout of the second half, a stretch which included a Bacot 3-pointer — just the fourth trey of his five-year UNC tenure.
Bacot fired and connected again from beyond the arc, after which he and other seniors subbed out and received a standing ovation from the Dean E. Smith Center. UNC led by as much as 38 en route to a statement win.
Bacot said he wanted to take a three during Saturday’s game against N.C. State, but UNC struggled to pull away from the Wolfpack in that game. Tuesday, however, was the perfect opportunity.
“I knew I had to leave with at least one made three,” Bacot said.
Did head coach Hubert Davis know Bacot was becoming a sharpshooter?
“No,” Davis said. “But, you know, he can shoot the three, and I've told him he can shoot it. I just want him to shoot it at the right time.”
Tuesday’s win means North Carolina will at least share a regular season ACC title with Duke, securing the Tar Heels’ first title since 2019.
UNC has a chance to make itself the sole ACC regular season champion on Saturday when it concludes its regular season with a showdown at Duke. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m.
