Wednesday night pitted two ACC basketball rivals against each other. The North Carolina Tar Heels traveled to South Bend to take on Notre Dame. The Tar Heels came into this game with a 10-3 record and a 2-0 record in the conference. Notre Dame sported a 7-5 record with a 1-1 conference record.
Notre Dame always gives other ACC teams trouble, as South Bend is a far trip. Three-point shooting opened up the college basketball game for Notre Dame.
Notre Dame Outlasts North Carolina in the Second Half
The Fighting Irish finished the first half with a four-point lead. The lead eventually grew to 13 points. North Carolina stormed back in the second half, led by Caleb Love. All but two of Love’s points were scored in the second half. North Carolina cut the lead to three with just under six minutes left, thanks to three-point makes from Love and Brady Manek. Love scooped a contested layup to cut the lead to one with just over four minutes left. Carolina’s last lead in the game was when they were up 15-14.
After missing their last four field goals, Notre Dame basketball came out of a timeout with a missed three. Carolina took the lead on the next possession with a post layup from Armando Bacot. Notre Dame’s Nate Laszewski hit a three to go up two with just under three minutes left. After a missed layup and a turnover from the Tar Heels, the Fighting Irish hit a three to go up five.
North Carolina instantly responded with an RJ Davis three-point make and called a timeout with 1:43 remaining. The Fighting Irish missed a three and North Carolina could not take advantage, with Love missing a fade-away jumper. The Irish’s Prentiss Hubb drew a foul on a three-point shot with 44 seconds left. He made two out of three to give Notre Dame a four-point lead. A Leaky Black missed layup allowed for Cormac Ryan to go to the line and give Notre Dame a six-point lead.
Notre Dame Basketball Closes Out the Last Minute
After a couple of missed threes, North Carolina retook possession with 10 seconds left. North Carolina’s RJ Davis hit a deep three to keep the Tar Heels within the arc with seven seconds left. After a quick foul, Dane Goodwin went to the line for the Irish. He made both free throws to clinch the game for the Irish.
A North Carolina loss gives them limited opportunities to hit the top 25 this coming week. This wins gives the Irish a four-game win streak as they look to climb the ACC basketball standings.
