North Carolina shrugged off 18.5 percent shooting in the first half to rally for a 63-59 victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday night in South Bend, Ind.
Armando Bacot posted 12 of his 16 points in the second half for the Tar Heels (17-11, 9-8 Atlantic Coast Conference). He also grabbed 11 rebounds for his 67th career double-double, extending his school record.
Pete Nance notched 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while Caleb Love sank four late free throws to contribute 16 points for North Carolina, which earned just its second win in seven games. RJ Davis contributed 12 points and eight boards.
Cormac Ryan paced Notre Dame (10-18, 2-15) with 14 points, but he canned just 6 of 18 shots. Trey Wertz added 13 points and JJ Starling had 10 for the Irish, who were outrebounded 52-33 en route to their sixth consecutive loss.
Both teams were cold from the start. The Fighting Irish didn’t get on the board until Wertz cashed a 3-pointer at the 14:09 mark, but it wasn’t an irreparable problem because the Tar Heels owned just four points at that juncture.
The Tar Heels held a 15-10 lead with 8:05 left in the first half after a pair of Davis free throws, but everything went right for Notre Dame and wrong for North Carolina for the rest of the half. Marcus Hammond and Dane Goodwin triggered an 11-0 Fighting Irish run with back-to-back 3-pointers.
Meanwhile, North Carolina posted one basket and six turnovers the rest of the half as Notre Dame took a 27-19 lead at the break. The Tar Heels made just 5 of 27 shots in the first half while missing all 11 of their 3-point tries and handing out no assists.
The Tar Heels turned up the heat at the outset of the second half. They pounded the ball inside to Bacot for a layup on the first possession, then Davis swiped the ball from Hammond twice in 13 seconds to set up his own layup and a Love 3-pointer.
When Leaky Black sank a putback and Bacot turned another post pass into a layup, North Carolina pulled within 31-30 and forced Notre Dame coach Mike Brey to call a timeout with 16:49 to play. It didn’t break the momentum as Bacot fed Davis for a back-door layup, then Davis hit a 12-foot pullup to cap a 13-2 run that gave the Tar Heels a 34-31 lead.
The teams traded the lead eight more times during the heart of the second half before North Carolina took the lead for good on Love’s reverse layup with 3:22 to play. Bacot added two putbacks shortly thereafter to keep the Tar Heels one step ahead.
–Field Level Media
