Notre Dame replaces Syracuse as the next game for UNC basketball
North Carolina had its game against Syracuse postponed a week ago because of the coronavirus protocols. Notre Dame had its game postponed against Pittsburgh on Thursday for the same reason. So the ACC announced the Tar Heels will instead play the Irish Saturday at 4 p.m., in the Dean E. Smith Center.
It will be the third short-notice re-scheduling of an opponent that the Tar Heels (5-4, 0-2 ACC) have had, but so far the team has managed them well.
N.C. Central was a game put together to replace Elon on the schedule just three days before Carolina’s 73-67 victory. The CBS Classic switched the Heels’ opponent from Ohio State to Kentucky just two days before their 75-63 win.
Syracuse had players put into contact tracing quarantine after a recent opponent had a player test positive for COVID-19. Pitt had to undergo a similar quarantine because of a positive test within its program. Head coach Jeff Capel sat out the Panthers’ loss to Louisville on Dec. 22 after nearly being hospitalized for COVID-19.
Both the Heels and Irish (3-5, 0-2) will be looking for their first win in conference play. Notre Dame’s league losses were both at home to Duke and Virginia. Carolina shook up its starting lineup, but fell short in the second half of Wednesday’s 72-67 road loss at Georgia Tech.
This story was originally published January 1, 2021 at 10:56 AM with the headline "Notre Dame replaces Syracuse as the next game for UNC basketball."