NCAA Tournament: Breaking Down The Elite Eight

North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

East Region: No. 1 Seed vs. No. 6 Seed

Synopsis: That North Carolina team everybody excepted to see all season has surfaced in March, the ideal time for a potentially elite team to play elite basketball. UNC entered the NCAA Tournament winning five straight games and has shown dominance in their first three NCAA Tournament games, topping Florida Gulf Coast, Providence and Indiana by a combined 50 points.

Notre Dame has taken the unconventional approach to the NCAA Tournament: playing from behind. In each of their first three games, the Fighting Irish have had to overcome a number of deficits and led for a grand total of 28 minutes and 22 seconds in their first three games combined but found ways to win all three.

What’s At Stake: North Carolina last won a national championship in 2009, which was also their last appearance in the Final Four. Notre Dame’s last appearance in college basketball’s final weekend came in 1978.

Key Stat: Considering this is the third meeting between North Carolina and Notre Dame this season, there aren’t a lot of surprises here. They both know what the other does well and what their weaknesses are.

In their first meeting at Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish, shockingly, trailed for most of the game before taking over in the second half and coming away with a four-point win, scoring 50 points in the second half.

Their second meeting came in the ACC Tournament and it was…a similar yet completely different story. Notre Dame led for a total of 19 seconds before UNC turned it on and began the annihilation, winning by 31 points.

In the first meeting, Notre Dame had five of the six players that scored in double-digits. In the second meeting, six total players scored again but just two were in double-digits for the Fighting Irish.

X-Factors: Demetrius Jackson and Zach Auguste get the headlines for Notre Dame, but it’s been V.J. Beachem that’s carried some of the load in the NCAA Tournament. Beachem has totaled 52 points in three games, taking some of the attention away from Jackson and Auguste. His shooting ability has opened up driving lanes for himself and for Auguste to operate in the post without a triple team.

For Carolina, it’s about Justin Jackson. For as talented as he is, Jackson has been the model of inconsistency in his two years wearing the Tar Heel baby blue. For every stretch he looks to have taken a step into stardom, he follows it up with spotty showings.

So far in the NCAA Tournament, Jackson has been on the stardom stretch, totaling 41 points and 12 rebounds. His shooting has been a bit hit-and-miss still, but his production has given North Carolina another dimension. That, plus Marcus Paige hitting his jumper again makes Brice Johnson’s job in the post a whole lot easier.

What’ll They’ll Have To Do: Notre Dame’s been sneaking its way past opponents so far in the tournament, but there will be no sneaking past the Tar Heels. They’re playing far too well and have seen the Fighting Irish enough times to know that.

In order for Notre Dame to win this game, they’ll need to keep holding opponents to very low scoring numbers. Through three games, the Fighting Irish are holding opponents to 64 points per game while the Tar Heels are scoring at an absurd rate, averaging 89 points per game.

Points will be scored by Carolina, but how many points will determine who wins this game. If the Tar Heels are held to 75 points or less, that gives Notre Dame a much better chance at earning the win.

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