ACC Tournament Live Blog: UNC vs. Notre Dame
North Carolina starts its postseason run with a second-round game against Notre Dame on Wednesday night in Greensboro.
The Tar Heels enter as the No. 6 seed, after finishing 16-9, 10-6 in the league. Carolina split its last four regular season games, including a puzzling home loss to Marquette and a dominant 18-point win over Duke on Senior Night. Then there was a win over Florida State that combined both—a dismal first half, followed by an inspired second-half rally.
Roy Williams has said that he can’t predict what type of performance he’ll get from his team from night-to-night.
Most bracket projections have the Heels safely in the NCAA field. The analytics at TeamRankings.com have the Heels as 99.9 percent likely to be in the field.
Carolina will face 11-seed Notre Dame, who advanced with a 17-2 run to close its first-round game against Wake Forest, wiping out a 12-point deficit in the final 7:17 and winning on a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
The win was the second straight for the Irish, who closed the regular season with a 10-point win over second place Florida State. That followed a four-game losing streak that included a loss to last-place Boston College.
Notre Dame took 30 three-pointers and just 27 twos in the first game. The Irish will be tempted to go with that strategy again. They have the No. 38 best three-point shooting percentage in the country, while Carolina’s perimeter defense is No. 219. They hit 12-of-26 from three against Wake on Tuesday night and have topped 25 three-point attempts in five of the last six games (taking 23 in the one where they fell short of 25.
Garrison Brooks is not participating in pregame layup line. He walked out with coaches when everyone ran onto court and is now standing under the basket with Puff Johnson, watching.
Sharpe replaces Brooks in the lineup, joined by Black, Walton, Love and Bacot
TV Teddy time! Your officials: Ted Valentine, A.J. Desai, Justin Porterfield
Over & back on Notre Dame takes us to the under 16 with UNC up 11-7.
Sharpe has been very mobile early and has six points.
Carolina absolutely dominating inside. Rebounding is 16-4, points in paint: also 16-4 second chance points: 10-0. At the under 12, it's 19-14 Heels.
Irish with an airball from three, fight for the offensive rebound and kick it out for ... another airball from three. UNC leads 22-14 with 9:45 to go in the half. RJ Davis going to the line.
Heels have hit their last four shots and push the lead to 31-18 at the under 8.
Four quick points for UNC and Notre Dame calls time. 35-20 Heels, 5:36 left in the half.
Carolina heads to the locker room up 50-36 at the half.
Referees go to the video monitor to check a potential shot clock violation. The crowd boos, but he's not called "fans in the arena Teddy"
Notre Dame is 2-2 from three this half but 0-for-6 from two. At the under 16, Heels lead 59-46
9-0 run puts the lead over 20, 68-47.
The post battle hasn't gotten any prettier. UNC leads in rebounding 41-21, points in the paint, 42-16, second chance points, 25-10.
Sharpe, Bacot and Kessler have 43 points. Notre Dame has 47. The three Tar Heels are leading in rebounding, though--29-21.
7-0 run, and the lead is over 30. Carolina is on a 21-2 run to bust this game open
And Carolina dribbles out a 101-59 win.
