Three Takeaways: No. 7 UNC 78, Notre Dame 47
Notre Dame was eliminated from the ACC Tournament 78-47 by top-seeded North Carolina in the semifinals on Friday night.
Blue & Gold Illustrated has three takeaways from the blowout loss.
Turning Point
It was an evenly played first half for more than 13 minutes, and the Fighting Irish trailed just 23-22 at the 6:10 mark after a layup from sophomore forward Bonzie Colson. UNC, though, responded to that score with an 18-0 run entering halftime. A myriad of Irish turnovers and missed shots, coupled with Tar Heels offensive rebounds contributed to a 41-22 halftime deficit.
It was highly reminiscent of Thursday’s first half against Duke. In that initial stanza, the Irish committed 10 turnovers and gave up nine offensive rebounds — against UNC on Friday in the same period, they coughed the ball up 10 times and allowed seven offensive rebounds.
The difference was against Duke, the Irish still only trailed by eight at halftime. But on Friday night versus the Tar Heels, that deficit was more than doubled at 19.
Backcourt Struggles
There’s an old saying that “guard play wins in March.” If the adage is true, then Notre Dame could have an early exit in the NCAA Tournament, given recent trends from their starting backcourt.
Against Duke on Thursday, juniors Demetrius Jackson and Steve Vasturia combined to shoot just 7 of 21 from the field and committed a combined nine turnovers. On Friday night, they combined to finish a shocking 1 of 16 from the field and turned the ball over five times.
Notre Dame cannot live long in the postseason with stat lines like that from two of its captains.
The loss to UNC marked four of five games with poor play from the duo, sans the home win over North Carolona State March 5.
Silver Lining — V.J. Beachem
Hidden between Notre Dame’s numerous struggles on Friday night was another solid game offensively from junior forward V.J. Beachem.
The Fort Wayne, Ind., native finished with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, after contributing 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting against Duke. He sank 4 of 7 from long range against the Blue Devils and 3 of 6 on Friday night to finished 7 of 13 from three-point range for the ACC Tournament.
Beachem was weighed down with confidence issues entering the postseason late in his sophomore year, and his playing time was limited then since his shot was not falling. He saw the floor for only single-digit minutes in all four of Notre Dame’s NCAA Tournament games.
Going into that same event this year, Beachem’s shot actually might be the only one on the team consistently falling. It’s an encouraging step forward not just for him entering this NCAA Tournament — but going into his senior year, when he’ll be relied upon on a nightly basis.