North Carolina @ Notre Dame preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 6, 2019 ) Notre Dame 65, North Carolina 76

Notre Dame hopes to recover from two straight tough losses - one in overtime and the other by rout - as it continues the quest for an NCAA Tournament bid Monday night when last-place North Carolina visits for an ACC battle. The Fighting Irish boast 15 wins and have six games left in the regular season, five against teams tied or below them in the league standings, after getting pounded 94-60 at seventh-ranked Duke on Saturday.

“For us, the whole last 10 minutes in timeouts I was talking about Monday night because we’ve got to kind of turn around mentally here and get ready for North Carolina, and see if we get out of this stretch that started at Clemson 2-2,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey told reporters after the loss. “If we can do that, I’ll take it. That’s about as good as it gets.” The Fighting Irish, who are tied for eighth in the ACC, had won four in a row before suffering a 50-49 overtime loss at Virginia on Tuesday and will try to avenge a 76-65 loss at North Carolina in the season opener on Nov. 6 - their seventh straight setback against the Tar Heels. Plenty has changed since that victory sparked a 5-0 start to the season for North Carolina, which is just 5-15 in its past 20 contests after dropping a 64-62 decision against Virginia on Saturday - the third defeat by two points or fewer during the Tar Heels’ current five-game losing streak. “This is insane,” North Carolina freshman guard Cole Anthony told reporters. “I’ve never had a season like this of basketball, but at the end of the day our season is not over, we’re going to keep our heads high. We have a game Monday, we’re going to come out with some fire and we’re going to lock in.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA (10-15, 3-11 ACC): Anthony is averaging 19.6 points in five games since returning from a knee injury and tops the team overall (19.3) while junior forward Garrison Brooks scores 14.9 per contest and leads the way in rebounds (8.6). Senior guard Christian Keeling, a graduate transfer from Charleston Southern who has struggled much of the season, is averaging 13.3 points over the last four games and drained 3-for-3 from the free-throw line with 10.3 seconds left Saturday to give the Tar Heels the lead. Freshman forward Armando Bacot (10.4) points hauled in a season-best 16 rebounds Saturday.

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (15-10, 6-8): Senior forward John Mooney came up one rebound shy of his sixth straight double-double Saturday and is second in the nation in boards per game (12.8) while averaging a team-high 16.4 points. Senior guard TJ Gibbs is second on the team in scoring (13.2) and drains 41.8 percent from 3-point range overall, but did not score against Duke and is just 2-for-18 from the field the last two contests. Sophomore point guard Prentiss Hubb (11.6 points, team-high 4.6 assists), who scored 22 at North Carolina in November, is shooting just 26 percent from the field over his past six games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Notre Dame senior C Juwan Durham, who is third in the ACC in blocks (2.2), scored a career-high 21 points Saturday at Duke.

2. North Carolina senior G Brandon Robinson (ankle), who averages 13.1 points, missed the last four games but went through warmups Saturday.

3. The Tar Heels lead the ACC in rebounds per game (42.9), but are last in 3-point shooting accuracy (28.7 percent).

PREDICTION: North Carolina 74, Notre Dame 70