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 (ACCN)
No. 12 Notre Dame 55, No. 13 Pittsburgh 54
No. 15 California 82, No. 10 Virginia Tech 73, 2 OTs
No. 11 Florida State (17–14) vs. No. 14 Syracuse (13–18), 7:50.
Wednesday’s second round
No. 8 Georgia Tech (16–15) vs. No. 9 Virginia (15–16), noon, ESPN
Notre Dame (15–17) vs. No. 5 North Carolina (20–12), 2:30, ESPN
California (14–18) vs. No. 7 Stanford (19–12), 7 p.m., ESPN2
FSU-Syracuse winner vs. No. 6 SMU (22–9), 9:30, ESPN2/U
Thursday’s quarterfinals
Ga. Tech-Virginia winner vs. No. 1 (and No. 1-ranked) Duke (28–3), noon, ESPN/2
Notre Dame-UNC winner vs. No. 4 Wake Forest (21–10), 2:30, ESPN/2
Cal-Stanford winner vs. No. 2 (and No. 13-ranked) Louisville (25–6), 7 p.m., ESPN/2
FSU, Syracuse or SMU vs. No. 3 (and No. 10-ranked) Clemson (26–5), 9:30, ESPN/2
Friday’s semifinals
Thursday afternoon winners, 7 p.m., ESPN/2
Thursday evening winners, 9:30, ESPN/2
Saturday’s championship
Semifinal winners, 8:30, ESPN
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 | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 84–76 | at No. 16 Memphis | Exhibition |
| 27 | Sunday | W, 127–63 | vs. Johnson C. Smith | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 4 | Monday | W, 90–76 | vs. Elon | 1–0 |
| 8 | Friday | L, 92–89 | at Kansas | 1–1 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 107–55 | vs. American | 2–1 |
| 22 | Friday | W, 85–69 | at Hawai’i | 3–1 |
| Maui Invitational | ||||
| 25 | Monday | W, 92–90 | Dayton | 4–1 |
| 26 | Tuesday | L, 85–72 | No. 3 Auburn | 4–2 |
| 27 | Wednesday | L, 94–91, OT | No. 7 Michigan State | 4–3 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Wednesday | L, 94–79 | vs. No. 5 Alabama | 4–4 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Saturday | W, 68–65 | vs. Georgia Tech | 5–4, 1–0 ACC |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 93–67 | vs. LaSalle | 6–4 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 90–84 | No. 4 Florida | 6–5 |
| CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden | ||||
| 21 | Saturday | W, 76–74 | UCLA | 7–5 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Sunday | W, 97–81 | vs. Campbell | 8–5 |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Wednesday | L, 83–70 | at No. 13 Louisville | 8–6, 1–1 |
| 4 | Saturday | W, 74–73 | at Notre Dame | 9–6, 2–1 |
| 7 | Tuesday | W, 82–67 | vs. SMU | 10–6, 3–1 |
| 11 | Saturday | W, 63–61 | at N.C. State | 11–6, 4–1 |
| 15 | Wednesday | W, 79–53 | vs. California | 12–6, 5–1 |
| 18 | Saturday | L, 72–71 | vs. Stanford | 12–7, 5–2 |
| 21 | Tuesday | L, 67–66 | at Wake Forest | 12–8, 5–3 |
| 25 | Saturday | W, 102–96, OT | vs. Boston College | 13–8, 6–3 |
| 28 | Tuesday | L, 73–65 | at Pittsburgh | 13–9, 6–4 |
| February | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | L, 87–70 | at No. 1 Duke | 13–10, 6–5 |
| 8 | Saturday | W, 67–66 | vs. Pittsburgh | 14–10, 7–5 |
| 10 | Monday | L, 85–65 | at No. 10 Clemson | 14–11, 7–6 |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 88–82 | at Syracuse | 15–11, 8–6 |
| 19 | Wednesday | W, 97–73 | vs. N.C. State | 16–11, 9–6 |
| 22 | Saturday | W, 81–66 | vs. Virginia | 17–11, 10–6 |
| 24 | Monday | W, 96–85 | at Florida State | 18–11, 11–6 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | W, 92–73 | vs. Miami | 19–11, 12–6 |
| 4 | Tuesday | W, 91–59 | at Virginia Tech | 20–11, 13–6 |
| 8 | Saturday | L, 82–69 | vs. No. 1 Duke | 20–12, 13–7 |
| ACC tournament Spectrum Center, Charlotte | ||||
| 12 | Wednesday | 2:30 | 2nd-round: vs. Notre Dame | ESPN |
| 13 | Thursday | 2:30 | Quarterfinal (with win): vs. Wake Forest | ESPN or ESPN2 |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
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