Game Day Preview: SMU at UNC – Tues Jan 7th 2025

SMU travels to Chapel Hill to take on the UNC Tar Heels Tuesday night. Both teams had different experiences in Saturday’s matchups.

The Tar Heels (9-6, 2-1 ACC) reversed the luck of the Irish as Elliot Cadeau drained the game tying 3 pointer- and 1 with 4 seconds left against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Cadeau buried the free throw to give the Tar Heels the 74-73 victory in Chapel Hill. Notre Dame’s Matt Allocco made two free throws to give the Irish a 73-70 lead with 14 seconds left in the 2nd half. On the next possession Allacco committed the ultimate sin by a team up three with under 10 seconds left: fouling a three point shooter. The Tar Heels took advantage and won the game. The Heel’s 5th year senior, RJ Davis scored 8 points and passed former teammate Armondo Bacot for second on North Carolina’s scoring list behind Tyler Hansborough. 

SMU (11-3, 2-1 ACC) hosted the Duke Blue Devils at home in Dallas on Saturday. Duke got off to a hot start and did not give up. Cooper Flagg, Tyrese Proctor, and Kon Knueppel led the Blue Devils to a 89-62 victory in Dallas. Former Wake Forest point guard Boopie Miller poured in 21 points and 5 rebounds, the lone bright spot for the Mustangs. SMU shot only 34% from the field, went 5-21 from 3, and left 14 points at the free throw line going 11-25.

Key Points

North Carolina

• Let Ian Jackson cook. Jackson has scored over 20 points in the last 4 games, with a season high 27 against the Irish 
• Louisville Transfer Jae’Lyn Withers must establish himself in the post. UNC’s frontcourt has been non-existent and needs to get going as ACC play ramps up. UNC is on pace to have a center not average 10 ppg for the first time in nearly 60 years.
• A patented RJ Davis game. Davis is the heartbeat of the Tar Heels and how he plays, so does the Heels. Look for Davis to outduel Boopie in points and assists

SMU

• Find their shooting form. Going into the Duke game, SMU was averaging almost 90 points per game and were held to 62 Saturday.
• Dominate the post. 7 ‘2 ” Samet Yigitoglu is averaging 9 points and 6 rebounds a game shooting over 50% from the field. UNC has almost no post presence 
• Don’t let Jackson kill you. Limit his scoring and the Tar Heels will struggle

Both these teams come into Tuesday night’s game in search of a key victory. Despite the Tar Heels lackluster start to the season, the recent win against #18 UCLA have UNC solidly in the NCAA tournament being one of the last 4 teams in with a bye out of the play-in round according to ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi. SMU on the other hand is on the outside looking in sitting on the next four out tier. A win for SMU gives the Mustangs a Quad 1 win which should help build their tournament resume after a lopsided loss to Duke. Carolina is looking to build a foundation to launch their ACC season and righting the ship back to the UNC standard.