Three Tar Heels to key in on for Indiana basketball vs. North Carolina

Indiana basketball has risen each week in the AP Top 25 and after a 6-0 start to the season, it’s time to battle No. 18 North Carolina in what will be the final ACC/Big Ten Challenge game ever.

The Hoosiers play host to the Tar Heels, who lost two games last week to Iowa State and Alabama in the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland. Just last week North Carolina was ranked No. 1 overall in the country and it didn’t seem like anyone was taking that spot from them until they at least traveled to Bloomington to take on Indiana.

What a twist it has been.

Coming into the season, Hoosier Nation had one big game on the calendar and was hoping to face off against the No. 1 team in the country on November 30th, and now it’s the Hoosiers that are the higher-ranked team than UNC at the end of November.

One thing to focus on in this game is the players that play a somewhat smaller role on the Tar Heels, but they are just as big of a deal to key in on as the top three guys. Pete Nance, a transfer from Northwestern that we should all be familiar with, and Leaky Black, are the two other starters for Hubert Davis that can make a huge impact for the Tar Heels and could ultimately win them the game.

A big key to this game is depth. North Carolina ranks fourth lowest among major conference teams in bench scoring, averaging just 9.6 points per game. Indiana, on the other hand, ranks highest among major conference teams in bench scoring, averaging 36.3 points per game. It’s a tale of two teams, and depth could be the difference-maker for the Hoosiers.

Here are three of the many Tar Heels that can hurt the Hoosiers in Wednesday’s showdown between two Top 25 teams in Bloomington:

Three Tar Heels to key in on for No. 10 Indiana basketball

3. R.J. Davis – Junior Guard – #4

2022-23 stats: 7 GP, 36.4 MIN, 15.7 PPG, 3.1 AST, 1.1 STL, 1.9 TOV, 29.2 FG%, 27.8 3P%

If it weren’t for R.J. Davis’ career night against 1-seeded Baylor in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, where Davis went off for 30 points on 5-for-10 shooting from three-point range, North Carolina would not have gotten to the NCAA Championship game.

In 2021-22, Davis finished the season fourth on the team in scoring, but first on the team in both assists and steals overall. Since last season, UNC is 17-6 (.739) overall when Davis records at least 15 points in a game, while they are 15-1 (.938) overall when he dishes out at least five assists.

In his last game against Alabama, Davis was 8-for-24 (33.3 percent) shooting and registered 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals in 51 minutes of game action. If Xavier Johnson and the Hoosiers can limit Davis as a playmaker, Indiana has a strong chance to win this game.