UNC Basketball is preparing for a rapid turnaround following its away win against Virginia.
Following a crucial road victory in Charlottesville, the UNC Basketball team will return home little over 48 hours later for a 16-day rematch.
Sometimes you giggle when you look at the current college basketball schedule.
The UNC Basketball programme did not face Miami for about 15 months, from December 2022 to February 2024. And now we have the Tar Heels and Hurricanes going up for the second time in the last 16 days.
North Carolina will complete their final two-day turnaround of the 2023-2024 regular season when the Hurricanes visit on Monday night. The Tar Heels first experienced this scheduling situation in mid-January, when they travelled to Boston College on Saturday afternoon and came home on Monday night to face Wake Forest.
North Carolina will attempt to build on a grind-it-out road victory against Virginia as they begin the last four games of the ACC regular season with a one-game lead over first place. The Hurricanes will be attempting to snap a six-game losing run, with their most recent defeat coming on Saturday against Georgia Tech.
Key to Victory for North Carolina
The UNC Basketball team beat Miami 75-72 in the first matchup. Despite the Tar Heels attempting 11 more free throws and making 5 more three-pointers than Miami, it was still a game that went down to the final buzzer.
One key area that North Carolina got beat in that needs to improve in the rematch is points in the paint. The Hurricanes won that battle 38-24. The Tar Heels led 68-56 with 7:33 remaining in the game and then were outscored 16-7 throughout the remainder of the game, holding on for the three-point victory.
Not only do the Tar Heels need to win the battle in the paint, they need to be able to build a lead and put the Hurricanes away when they do so, not allowing them to claw back into the game. Several times against Virginia, North Carolina built a double-digit lead to see the Cavaliers claw back into the game. Putting teams away is crucial, especially as we inch closer to March.
One last aspect that will be key in this game will be limiting turnovers. One large reason the Hurricanes were able to claw their way back in the first matchup was North Carolina turnovers. The Tar Heels had 16 turnovers, leading to 22 Miami points. Taking care of the basketball and keeping the Hurricanes from getting easy baskets in the paint will go a long way on Monday night.
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