RJ Davis, Armando Bacot honored during senior night, fans chant 'one more year'
The North Carolina Tar Heels Tuesday night match-up against Notre Dame will be the final home game for the program for the 2023-24 regular season. It is also the program’s senior night game, where the seniors and some players leaving the program are honored. Two of North Carolinas most notable honorees of the night were stars, Armando Bacot and RJ Davis.
Barring an unforeseen circumstance, Bacot’s entering his home swan song. But the same can’t be said for Davis, who still has a year of eligibility remaining courtesy of the 2020 COVID-shortened season. And the North Carolina faithful are fully aware of that, which led to a unique chant from the Tar Heels faithful.
When honoring the senior players before the game, Bacot and Davis received standing ovations. However, Davis also had a ‘one more year’ chant accompanying the cheers for him. You can check out North Carolina honoring their senior players in the video below with the ‘one more year’ chant for their star guard.
Odds for Notre Dame vs. North Carolina
The Tar Heels are heavy 15.5-point home favorites against Notre Dame on Tuesday according to FanDuel Sportsbook. With North Carolina also sitting at -2000 odds on the moneyline with the Fighting Irish at +980, representing a sizable payout if Notre Dame is able to take win the game outright versus the conference’s top seed.
The point total for the game also sits at an over-under of 137.5, with Vegas expecting a low-scoring matchup as North Carolina boasts the ACC’s highest scoring offense and Norte Dame the second lowest. But the Fighting Irish do have the league’s second best scoring defense holding opponents to just 65.4 points per game.
Final score predictions for Fighting Irish vs. Tar Heels
BPI Predicted winner: North Carolina
BPI Predicted point differential: 20.9
BPI Win probability (for North Carolina): 96.3 percent
BPI Matchup Quality: 66.0
ESPN’s BPI (Basketball Power Index) is even more confident in North Carolina compared to FanDuel’s prediction for Tuesday night’s game. Forecasting a steep 20.9-point differential in favor of the Tar Heels while also giving them a 96.3% chance of protecting their home floor in the Smith Center.
The BPI is a model designed to provide a statistical comparison between two teams and predict future success, also giving the ACC showdown a matchup quality score of 66.0. Making Tuesday’s game between Notre Dame and North Carolina the 14th best matchup across college basketball’s slate of games.
KenPom Predicted final score: North Carolina 75, Notre Dame 59
KenPom Win probability (for North Carolina): 93 percent