Pace: 69. This is a decent step above the national average. UNC actually pushes the pace regularly at 70 possessions a game, 10th fastest nationally--while ND prefers 64 a game, No. 204 nationally. So, this game fitted UNC's style more.
Efficiency:
Notre Dame--130
UNC--118
Man, that was so fun. Just when thinks looked bleak for ND in the second half, they go on an insane quick burst of scoring that literally left UNC shell-shocked. By the time the Tarheels recovered, the game was nearly over.
Offense--Five starters in double-figures, but geez--Jerian Grant more than doubled UNC's FTA's as a team by himself. Grant scored 24 points on 4-for-10 shooting, but sank 15-for-18 FTA's. Tarheels only had 7 as a team. Connaughton had an insanely efficient 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-5 from 3's, and also contributed four rebounds and two assists.
Defense--UNC's front court went off as most of us have come to expect the last few games, but what was more surprising was for the first time in recent contests, a guard really got off on the Irish. Marcus Paige finished 9-for-18 from the field for 24 points, in addition to 5 assists. Defense has won games for ND recently, but it didn't tonight--the insane late offensive explosion won this one.
Identity Stats:
1) Effective Field Goal Percentage[/I]: 64.5 percent. On fiiiiiiiire. ND ranks No. 1 nationally with a 58.6 eFG%, and they managed to finish several points above even that. A very balanced 16-for-28 from 2's (57 percent,) and 10-for-20 from 3's (50 percent). Huge checkmark here.
2) Turnover Rate[/I]: 13 TO's in 69 possessions, 19 percent turnover rate (nearly one every five possessions.) Actually a disappointing night here, much worse than Notre Dame's season average of 14.4 percent, which is 3rd best nationally.
3) Free throw differential[/I]: Holy cow. ND earned a 67 percent free throw rate (32 FTA's to 48 FGA's,) UNC earned an 11 percent free throw rate (7 FTA's to 66 FGA's). Irish were just much more aggressive here for the most part, it wasn't necessarily a bad referee job. Still hard to imagine this kind of number, IN Greensboro for the ACC title.
Summary: We've been hyping up the defense a lot lately, but that fell off a bit tonight. Still, when you can post 1.3 points per possession in a semi-away game, you don't have to worry about defense.
I don't think my numbers will tell you anything more than the basic facts right now. In their last five games, ND has beaten Louisville on the road, Duke and UNC in Greensboro, plus Miami and Clemson. Three of those wins were by double-digits, and the closest margin was 7 (Miami, somehow.)
Can they keep playing like this into March? I'm not here to say they can or can't. But I will testify that if they do keep playing like this, it's hard to imagine them not at least in the Sweet 16. Only if they keep playing like they have in the last 10 days.
This post was edited on 3/15 12:09 AM by Jordan Wells
Efficiency:
Notre Dame--130
UNC--118
Man, that was so fun. Just when thinks looked bleak for ND in the second half, they go on an insane quick burst of scoring that literally left UNC shell-shocked. By the time the Tarheels recovered, the game was nearly over.
Offense--Five starters in double-figures, but geez--Jerian Grant more than doubled UNC's FTA's as a team by himself. Grant scored 24 points on 4-for-10 shooting, but sank 15-for-18 FTA's. Tarheels only had 7 as a team. Connaughton had an insanely efficient 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-5 from 3's, and also contributed four rebounds and two assists.
Defense--UNC's front court went off as most of us have come to expect the last few games, but what was more surprising was for the first time in recent contests, a guard really got off on the Irish. Marcus Paige finished 9-for-18 from the field for 24 points, in addition to 5 assists. Defense has won games for ND recently, but it didn't tonight--the insane late offensive explosion won this one.
Identity Stats:
1) Effective Field Goal Percentage[/I]: 64.5 percent. On fiiiiiiiire. ND ranks No. 1 nationally with a 58.6 eFG%, and they managed to finish several points above even that. A very balanced 16-for-28 from 2's (57 percent,) and 10-for-20 from 3's (50 percent). Huge checkmark here.
2) Turnover Rate[/I]: 13 TO's in 69 possessions, 19 percent turnover rate (nearly one every five possessions.) Actually a disappointing night here, much worse than Notre Dame's season average of 14.4 percent, which is 3rd best nationally.
3) Free throw differential[/I]: Holy cow. ND earned a 67 percent free throw rate (32 FTA's to 48 FGA's,) UNC earned an 11 percent free throw rate (7 FTA's to 66 FGA's). Irish were just much more aggressive here for the most part, it wasn't necessarily a bad referee job. Still hard to imagine this kind of number, IN Greensboro for the ACC title.
Summary: We've been hyping up the defense a lot lately, but that fell off a bit tonight. Still, when you can post 1.3 points per possession in a semi-away game, you don't have to worry about defense.
I don't think my numbers will tell you anything more than the basic facts right now. In their last five games, ND has beaten Louisville on the road, Duke and UNC in Greensboro, plus Miami and Clemson. Three of those wins were by double-digits, and the closest margin was 7 (Miami, somehow.)
Can they keep playing like this into March? I'm not here to say they can or can't. But I will testify that if they do keep playing like this, it's hard to imagine them not at least in the Sweet 16. Only if they keep playing like they have in the last 10 days.
This post was edited on 3/15 12:09 AM by Jordan Wells
