What to Expect: North Carolina at Indiana

Indiana will search for its seventh straight win to start the season when it hosts North Carolina Wednesday night time. The Tar Heels are 5-2 and ranked No. 18 within the newest Related Press high 25 ballot.

Wednesday’s sport is about for a 9:15 p.m. ET tip on ESPN:

The second of Indiana’s 4 main non-conference video games ideas tonight in Bloomington. North Carolina, the preseason No. 1 group within the Related Press high 25 ballot, involves Meeting Corridor on a two-game skid.

The Tar Heels dropped video games to Iowa State and Alabama in Portland over the weekend and dropped 17 spots within the AP ballot. North Carolina’s ultimate sport in Portland, a loss to Alabama, went 4 overtimes.

Whereas it gained’t be No. 1 coming to Meeting Corridor, Wednesday night time ought to present one other terrific late-night environment on Department McCracken Courtroom.

MEET THE TAR HEELS

North Carolina’s run to the nationwide championship sport final spring got here as a No. 8 seed and included wins over Marquette, Baylor, UCLA, Saint Peter’s and Duke. It could have been onerous to create a greater state of affairs for first-year coach Hubert Davis. The UNC grad beat Duke at Cameron in Mike Krzyzewski’s ultimate dwelling sport and ended Coach Okay’s tenure within the Last 4.

North Carolina returned 4 of its 5 starters from final season’s nationwide runner-up group and added Northwestern switch Pete Nance to switch the graduating Brady Manek.

What’s lacking proper now for the Tar Heels is depth. Davis doesn’t belief his bench and is enjoying his starters heavy minutes by way of seven video games. The numbers are a bit skewed due to the four-overtime sport, however all of UNC’s starters are averaging at the least 30.9 minutes per sport and 4 of them are averaging 34.4 minutes per sport or extra.

The UNC assault is spearheaded by the guard duo of Caleb Love and RJ Davis. Each gamers had IU presents out of excessive colleges and had been recruiting targets for the Hoosiers below Archie Miller.

The 6-foot-4 Love already has 4 video games with 20 or extra factors this season and scored 34 in UNC’s double-overtime loss to Alabama. His 20 factors per sport lead the group, however Love is capturing poorly from the perimeter by way of seven video games. After connecting on 36 p.c of his 3s final season, Love is capturing solely 24.5 p.c from distance this season. He’s a wonderful free throw shooter – 83.7 p.c for his profession – and can be making greater than 53 p.c of his 2s this season.

The 6-foot Davis can be struggling from the perimeter by way of seven video games. He shot 36.7 p.c from distance final season, however is capturing simply 27.8 p.c this season. Davis is third on the group in scoring at 15.7 factors per sport and has 22 assists in comparison with 13 turnovers, which isn’t an ideal ratio. Neither Davis or Love are pure level guards and each are able to going off from the perimeter in the event that they make a few photographs early.

Freshman Seth Trimble was a high 40 recruit from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, however is on the perimeter of the rotation proper now. The 6-foot-3 Trimble is averaging simply 11.3 minutes per sport. Within the restricted run he’s obtained, Trimble is capturing 46.2 p.c from the sphere on 13 makes an attempt. Determining a technique to get Trimble extra built-in into the rotation could possibly be helpful long-term for North Carolina to keep away from carrying down Love and Davis because the season progresses.

The beginning frontcourt for UNC options Armando Bacot, Nance and Leaky Black.

Bacot is likely one of the nation’s premier massive males, however his ankle isn’t presently one hundred pc. The 6-foot-11, 235-pound ahead mentioned he felt “sharp pains” in his ankle in the course of the Alabama sport. By way of seven video games, Bacot is averaging 16.7 factors and 11.3 rebounds per sport. He’s one of many nation’s greatest rebounders. Final season, Bacot led the ACC in each offensive and defensive rebounding share. He’s capturing 57.6 p.c on 2s and 67.2 p.c from the free throw line.

Black is likely one of the nation’s high wing defenders who can guard a number of positions. He additionally appeared a bit hobbled within the Alabama sport as he went to the bench with a turned ankle, however got here again in. Black is capturing 41.2 p.c on 3s on restricted makes an attempt and is capturing 61.5 p.c on 2s. He’s fifth on the group in scoring at 8.7 factors per sport and second in rebounding at 7.1 per sport.

The 6-foot-11 Nance is conversant in Indiana and the Huge Ten from the 4 seasons he spent at Northwestern. Nance is capturing 41.7 p.c on 3s, 64 p.c on 2s and 80.8 p.c from the free throw line. At 6-foot-11, he may guard a number of positions and provides the Heels versatility up entrance.

Puff Johnson is the one bench participant moreover Trimble averaging in double-figure minutes. The 6-foot-8, 200-pound ahead is averaging 5.5 factors and a couple of.5 rebounds, however has solely performed within the final 4 video games after beginning the season with tightness in his knee. Johnson performed 48 minutes towards Alabama.

TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW AND THOUGHTS ON THE MATCHUP

All nationwide rankings on this chart are legitimate by way of Monday’s video games.

North Carolina is an elite offensive group that can check Indiana’s protection. The Hoosiers had been shaky defensively in an 81-79 win at Xavier as they surrendered 1.11 factors per possession to the Musketeers.

The Tar Heels are a gifted, battle-tested group that gained’t be intimidated by the setting in Meeting Corridor. That mentioned, it’s honest to surprise what North Carolina can have left within the tank after its journey to Portland together with potential damage points. Bacot was hurting sufficient that he was on the bench late within the Alabama loss. Well being and fatigue may actually be an element for the Tar Heels.

The keys for the Hoosiers are maintaining Bacot off the offensive glass and containing the duo of Love and Davis. Neither guard has shot it significantly properly by way of seven video games, nevertheless it’s solely a matter of time earlier than that adjustments.

WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO

The KenPom projection is Indiana by six with a 70 p.c probability of victory for the Hoosiers. The Sagarin rankings favor Indiana by 7.5.

On the numerous sportsbooks, Indiana is a 4.5-point favourite at FanDuel, 5.5-point favourite at Caesars, 5.5-point favourite at BetMGM and a 5-point favourite at DraftKings.

This can be a crucial sport for Indiana to win. The Hoosiers have already got a sure-fire Quad 1 win at Xavier on the ledger and a win over the Tar Heels would have endurance on the NCAA match resume.

Apart from the Xavier sport, Indiana’s non-conference schedule has been comfortable and issues are about to warmth up with a neutral-court sport towards Arizona and a highway journey to Kansas. Indiana has the benefit of enjoying at dwelling with 4 full days of relaxation between video games and this is a chance the Hoosiers must seize to shut out the month of November.

(Picture credit score: North Carolina Athletics)

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