Notre Dame vs UNC Men's basketball preview

Head coach Mike Brey and the Fighting Irish are preparing to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in a game that Brey says will test the Notre Dame’s ability to control the pace of the game and out-rebound their opponent.

“They’re really scoring and they’re shooting it well,” Brey said. “They’ve made 10 threes in their league games. And this is a new North Carolina. They’ve been really potent offensively; they still play fast. We’ve got to control tempo. It’s a little bit like the Kentucky game plan. We want to run some, but not a total track meet. 

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team is back from a brief holiday break as they prepare to take on their next ACC opponent against a college basketball blue blood in the North Carolina Tar Heels at Purcell Pavilion Wednesday.  But head coach Mike Brey says a deciding factor in who wins this one will be winning the rebound battle.

“They still want to feed the post to Bacot,” Brey said. “He is a great low-post guy. And they still pound the offensive boards. Which we’ve gotten better at. I’ve been encouraged at how we’ve been keeping people one and done. They’re (North Carolina) just really confident in shooting the ball right now. 

The Irish are 5-0 on their home court this season and another key element for an Irish victory will be leadership from seniors including forward Nate Laszewski, who understands the challenge even if the tar heels are not ranked in the top 25 right now.

“You always want to protect your home floor,” senior forward Nate Laszewski said. “We feel like we’ve played really well on this floor this year so we want to keep that rolling. Keep that juice flowing on this home court in front of our fans and get another great win. 

Brey also went on to say over 6,000 tickets for Wednesday’s game have already been sold. Tip off at Purcell Pavilion is 9 p.m.