Notre Dame rallies to beat No. 2 North Carolina 80-76
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Demetrius Jackson scored 19 points, Bonzie Colson had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Notre Dame rallied to beat No. 2 North Carolina 80-76 on Saturday night.
It was the second straight loss for the Tar Heels (19-4, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), and Fighting Irish fans celebrated by gathering on the court.
It wasn’t quite as dramatic as when the Irish used a 26-3 run to erase a nine-point deficit and beat North Carolina in the ACC tournament final last March, but it was close.
After trailing by 15 late in the first half, the Irish used an 11-2 run to tie it at 48 on a basket by Jackson with 12:23 left, and it was close the rest of the way.
The Tar Heels closed to 77-76 on a pair of free throws by Marcus Paige with 32 seconds left. But Jackson made a pair of free throws and Steve Vasturia added another to help the Irish hold on.
Zach Auguste added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Irish (16-7, 7-4). Vasturia had 13 points, and V.J. Beachem finished with 10.
Paige broke out of a six-game shooting slump, finishing with 21 points. Brice Johnson had 14 points and 14 rebounds for North Carolina. It was the fourth straight double-double for Johnson and his 13th overall this season.
No. 1 Oklahoma also lost, falling 80-69 to Kansas State. According to STATS, it was the first time the top two teams in the country lost to unranked schools on the same day since Jan. 21, 2006, when No. 1 Duke lost to Georgetown and No. 2 Florida was defeated by Tennessee.
The Irish shot 35 percent from the field, including a 3-for-16 performance from 3-point range, but they enjoyed a 19-0 advantage in points off turnovers. Notre Dame turned it over twice, compared to 13 times for North Carolina.
A layup by Colson and a jumper for Jackson helped Notre Dame to a 67-64 lead with 5:31 left. The Irish eventually extended their advantage to 75-70 on a basket by Auguste.
The Tar Heels pulled within one on Paige’s foul shots, but couldn’t get past the Irish.
Paige had a season-high 12 points in the first half. He was 7 for 12 from the field for the game and 5 of 8 from 3-point range.
TIP-INS
North Carolina: The Tar Heels have lost their first two games of a three-game road swing. … North Carolina is 3-4 in road games this season. … UNC entered the game making 30.2 percent of its 3-pointers, on pace to be the worst in school history, but was 6 of 12 against the Irish. The record is 32.8 percent, set in 2010-11.
Notre Dame: The Irish have won three straight over North Carolina. Until winning two straight last season, the Irish had never won consecutive games against the Tar Heels. … Notre Dame has beaten a top-10 team at home for eight straight seasons. … Notre Dame entered the game fourth in the nation in turnovers at 9.5 a game. … Jackson now has 1,006 career points, becoming the 58th Notre Dame player to score at least 1,000. … A.J. Burgett, who started the previous two games, sat out after injuring his ankle in practice Friday.
UP NEXT
North Carolina visits Boston College on Tuesday.
Notre Dame plays at Clemson on Monday.