NOTRE DAME (0-0) VS. NO. 9 NORTH CAROLINA (0-0)

2018-19 Records: Notre Dame (14-19, 3-15 ACC); North Carolina (29-7, 16-2 ACC)

Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.

TV/Time: 7 p.m. EST, ACC Network

Series Facts: North Carolina leads the series 22-7 and has won four straight over the Irish. Remarkably, before this Tar Heals winning streak, Notre Dame had won three straight in the series, including a victory in the 2015 ACC Tournament championship game.

Last Meeting (Jan. 15, 2019): In the only meeting between these two teams last season, unranked Notre Dame made 10 three-pointers and stood toe-to-toe with North Carolina before eventually falling at the Dean Smith Center to the No. 13 Tar Heals, 75-69.

Irish forward John Mooney kept up his torrid season pace in the game, scoring 16 points and grabbing a career-high 19 rebounds for his ACC-leading ninth double-double.

Freshman Irish point guard Prentiss Hubb played arguably his best game of the season, pouring in a career-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds and a team-best six assists.

Other than the emergence last season of Mooney, the Irish had very little else to celebrate in 2018-19.

Mooney led the ACC last season in double-doubles overall (20) and in conference games (13).

The Irish return essentially the entire team from last year, and their talented 2018 recruiting class is one-year older.

If the two exhibition games taught us anything about the identity of this team, expect it to be improved defensively with Mooney and 6-11 center Juwan Durham patrolling the post, but expect it to struggle scoring and shooting through stretches.

Notre Dame made only 12 of its 40 three-point attempts (24 percent) in its two exhibition games.

The Tar Heals lost their top-five scorers and six key players from their rotation after last season. Junior forward Garrison Brooks (23.0 ppg) is the only returning player that averaged more than 3.5 points per game last season, meaning North Carolina is made up of unproven talent.

But with the way Tar Heals head coach Roy Williams recruits and reloads every year, North Carolina is still predicted to finish second in the ACC this season.

Williams will call on a couple of five-star freshmen to fill the scoring void: 6-10 forward Armondo Bacot and 6-3 guard Cole Anthony.

Anothony, a consensus top-five recruit, will step into the lead guard spot and become the Tar Heals No. 1 scoring option.

If there is a good time to catch the new-look Tar Heals, it would probably be in the season opener.

What the Irish will give up in raw talent, it might make up for in team chemistry and familiarity.

The Irish actually won at the Dean Smith Center in 2015, 71-70, but that seems like a long time ago now.

If Notre Dame can dramatically improve its three-point shooting from the two exhibition games, it can keep things interesting. If it can’t, it won’t.

North Carolina 75, Notre Dame 63

*The implementation of the new 20-game ACC schedule makes this the first season-opening league game in Notre Dame program history.

*Notre Dame is 19-0 all-time in season openers under head coach Mike Brey.

*A Preseason NIT win over No. 4 Ohio State marked the last time the Irish opened a season against a ranked team on the road.

QUOTEABLE: “If you over-coach it, then you’re thinking too much. If you have a great shot, you better let it fly. If you have an open look and turn it down (against North Carolina), I’m taking you out of the game. Let it rip.”

— Mike Brey on recovering from his team’s poor exhibition shooting.

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