By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — Markus Burton missed his chance to beat North Carolina nearly 2½ months ago.
Burton drove to the basket against tough defense from Carolina point guard Elliot Cadeau, and his shot rimmed out at the buzzer as the Tar Heels held on in South Bend, Ind., for a 74–73 victory on Jan. 4.
After No. 12-seed Notre Dame (15–17) slipped by No. 13-seed Pittsburgh 55–54 in a first-round game at the ACC tournament in the Spectrum Center on Tuesday, Burton and the Irish get another shot at the No. 5-seed UNC (20–12).
“It’s big,” said Burton, the Irish’s leading scorer at 17.3 points per game, although he was held to 10 points on Tuesday. “Obviously, they got us at our crib, and it was a hard-fought game between both teams. But honestly, at the end of the day, it’s a game of runs, a game of fights.
“But they got the job done,” Burton said. “But now it’s win or go home and we get a chance to play them [Wednesday]. So, it’s honestly a blessing to be in this position, but it’s also basketball at the same time, so we’re just gonna go out and have fun with it.”
Only the NCAA men’s basketball selection committee can determine if this is a win-or-go-home situation for the Tar Heels. Most likely, it is.
The rematch at 2:30 Wednesday in the second round is for the right to meet No. 4-seed Wake Forest (21–10) in a quarterfinal game at 2:30 Thursday.
“I wouldn’t say I’m thinking about it,” Burton said of his late miss against UNC. “It was a great shot. We move on, but obviously we get a shot to play them [Wednesday], so we’re gonna get our heads straight, we gonna get mentality right, and we gonna go out and compete tomorrow.”
The Carolina team Burton faces on Wednesday is playing dramatically different basketball with a different rotation and taller starting lineup than when he first saw the Tar Heels. But Burton says the Irish’s mission will be much the same as during the first game.
“I think we just competed,” Burton said. “We stayed true to who we were. We did what the coaching staff asked us and we defended at a very high level.”
When asked what his focus would be, Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry’s first memory from the first meeting was Cadeau’s four-point play that gave UNC a late one-point lead.
“Try not to foul a 3-point shooter at the end of the game,” he said.
Shrewsberry outlined the keys for the Irish to win on Wednesday.
“Everything with Carolina is their transition,” he said. “They’re so good at that, have traditionally been so good at that. Obviously, RJ Davis is an unbelievable player, has been an unbelievable player in this league for a long time, so we’ve got to do a great job on him, as well as the other guys. They have a bunch of guys with he, with Cadeau, with Ian Jackson. You can go on and on with the guys on their team.
“We’ve got to get back. We’ve got to watch film. We’ve got to get our bodies right and be prepared for another 40-minute battle,” he said.
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday’s first round
No. 15 Pittsburgh 64, No. 10 Stanford 63
No. 11 SMU 86, No. 14 Syracuse 69
No. 13 Wake Forest 95, No. 12 Virginia Tech 89, OT
Wednesday’s second round
No. 7 N.C. State 98, Pittsburgh 88
No. 6 (No. 24 ranked) Louisville 62, SMU 58
No. 8 Florida State 95, No. 9 California 89
No. 5 Clemson 71, Wake Forest 62
Thursday’s quarterfinals
No. 2 (No. 10 ranked) Virginia 81, N.C. State 74
No. 3 Miami 78, Louisville 73
No. 1 (No. 1 ranked) Duke 80, Florida State 79
Clemson 80, No. 4 (No. 19 ranked) North Carolina 79
Friday’s semifinals
Virginia 84, Miami 62
Duke 73, Clemson 61
Saturday’s championship
Duke 74, Virginia 70
UNC season statistics
Notre Dame season statistics
KenPom comparison
| Category | UNC | Notre Dame |
| Overall ranking | 37 | 93 |
| Offensive efficiency | 119.6 (20) | 112.2 (87) |
| Defensive efficiency | 101.3 (71) | 104.5 (117) |
| Effective FG% | 54.5 (51) | 52.2 (113)) |
| Turnover % | 15.1 (41) | 16.7 (152) |
| Offensive rebound % | 29.4 (202) | 29.9 (187) |
| FTA/FGA | 34.6 (128) | 31.9 (201) |
| Strength of schedule | 41 | 71 |
Series: UNC 31, Notre Dame 9
| Date | Month/day | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 11 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 9 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at No. 25 Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | W, 77–64 | at Syracuse | 21–6, 9–5 |
| 23 | Monday | W, 77–74 | vs. Louisville | 22–6, 10–5 |
| 28 | Saturday | W, 89–82 | vs. Virginia Tech | 23–6, 11–5 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 67–63 | vs. Clemson | 24–6, 12–5 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 76–61 | at No. 1 Duke | 24–7, 12–6 |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte | |
| 12 | Thursday | L, 80–79 | Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson | 24–8 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 19 | Thursday | L, 82–78, OT | First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C. | 24–9 |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
