IU dreams of nights like this one. UNC presents a test, but also an opportunity.

BLOOMINGTON – The biggest cheer to rise from the crowd of 13,135 inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall last Friday, other than the ovation for Tamar Bates’ career-high 22 points, was a reminder from public-address announcer Jeremy Gray.

Late in the second half of a 90-51 win against Jackson State, Gray’s voice piped over the loudspeakers with one last advertisement for IU’s planned “white out” Wednesday night. As Gray encouraged fans to wear white for the No. 8 Hoosiers’ visit from North Carolina, Assembly Hall erupted.

Because Assembly Hall knows what’s next.

The only shine off Wednesday night’s visit from national runner-up North Carolina, in what we now know is the last-ever ACC/Big Ten Challenge, is the Tar Heels’ ranking. A rough weekend in Portland, Ore., saw the Heels fall from No. 1 in the country down into the teens in both national polls. But as brands go — and for Mike Woodson, as challenges go — Carolina remains Carolina.

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“They're battle-tested,” Woodson said Tuesday. “They were in the championship game last season. They know what it's like to have their backs against the wall. I'm not taking this team lightly. They’ve got a great team. They're well-coached. We going to have to come out and commit ourselves for 40 minutes to beat them.”

Wednesday night stands as perhaps the most-anticipated nonconference game inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall since the last time North Carolina came to town, in 2016.

There have been other noteworthy visitors in the intervening years — Marquette, Duke, Florida State. But this game’s preseason hype, with UNC No. 1 and IU picked to win the Big Ten and Armando Bacot back and Trayce Jackson-Davis back and ESPN handing its heaviest-hitting ACC/Big Ten matchup primetime billing, surpasses them all.

Several years ago, when a reporter asked De’Ron Davis what happens to Assembly Hall when the first serious nonconference opponent of the season shows up, Davis responded simply, “This place explodes.”

Those moments have come too rarely for a program of this stature in the years since No. 15 North Carolina last strode onto the Hoosiers’ home court. There have been big wins inside Assembly Hall in conference play, but nights like the one on the immediate horizon stand apart for two reasons.

First, there will always be an extent to which this program cannot feel a truly legitimized player on the national stage until it tests itself against the programs — North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke — it strives to consider peers once again. Marquee Big Ten games will always be appealing, but stepping out of the conference to prove themselves always holds special meaning for the Hoosiers.

And second is the question of this season specifically. Of a team that wants to see itself as among the best in the country. To compete for and win a Big Ten title, and then use that as a springboard for a deep run in March that doesn’t end until April. Indiana is hardly the only team with those dreams, but stages like this one, top billing on ESPN in a collision of two of America’s most-successful programs, feel like the proving grounds the Hoosiers need.

“It’s huge,” Jackson-Davis said. “To be considered one of the best teams, you’ve got to beat the best teams. They were in the national championship last year. They’ve dropped two games but at the same time I know they’re gonna be hungry and we have to bring it.”

Jackson-Davis’ status will be a key talking point heading into Wednesday’s game, as will that of the player he could spend the night battling.

Even before this game was announced, Jackson-Davis and UNC forward Armando Bacot — two All-Americans last season who turned down the NBA draft for one more year of legacy building banner pursuit in college — wanted it on the schedule. As far back as the spring, playful social media interaction between the two set the stage for what eventually became one of the premium pairings of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Will they get the faceoff they so desired months ago? Jackson-Davis has been dealing with a thumb sprain and other unspecified injuries. He sat out last week’s win over Little Rock before playing just 19 minutes against Jackson State, though Woodson said he practiced Monday.

“You go through bumps and bruises when you play this game,” Woodson said. “I don't know if he took a fall or what, but I noticed it a few games right before the Little Rock game, him over there sitting uncomfortably. I don't know if it was his tailbone or something that was going on.”

Jackson-Davis admitted Tuesday he isn’t fully healthy heading into Wednesday’s game. But he remained adamant he will be on the floor against the Tar Heels.

“I’m playing tomorrow,” he said. “You’d have to take me out on a stretcher (to not play).”

Bacot, meanwhile, described sharp pains in his right ankle (the same ankle that affected him during last season’s NCAA tournament) following North Carolina’s four-overtime loss to Alabama on Sunday in Portland. UNC coach Hubert Davis said Tuesday he expects Bacot to be ready for Indiana, but the bigtime big-man matchup we all thought might define this game could come down to bills of health on game day.

It could also come down to freshness. The Tar Heels have been on the road for a week. They played three demanding games over the weekend in Oregon, and by all accounts headed straight for Bloomington from there. Time changes, flight plans and four-overtime games should have left a team that’s not very deep to begin with road weary.

Here, Indiana greets the newfound pressure of Wednesday’s game. The Hoosiers aren’t playing No. 1 anymore. They aren’t facing last year’s ACC champion-turned-Final Four runner-up. They might have been a slight favorite to begin with, but they’re likely a firm one now.

Carolina might be beat up ahead of this game, low on energy and confidence. But the Tar Heels can also play relatively free. If they lose Wednesday night, it will be in front of a raucous crowd in an intimidating road venue at the tail end of a difficult week in November. What could they do? But if they win …

On the other hand, an IU win would more or less complete the challenge of this nonconference season. There’s no shame in losing to Arizona or Kansas next month if you’ve already beaten Xavier and North Carolina in this one. The bare-minimum optimist’s scenario — assuming no missteps around Christmas — would be realized.

Indiana wants its venerable old arena painted white Wednesday night. It wants one of those nights. It wants to explode.

It might just get that chance.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU basketball vs. UNC: Carolina visits Indiana for ACC/Big 10 Challenge