CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team has made tremendous strides down the final stretch of the regular season, but their wave of momentum was halted inside the house of the No. 7 team in the country, North Carolina. The Fighting Irish (12-18, 7-12) hung early by starting 7-of-15 from the field, but then suffered from a 4-for-22 shooting stretch that spanned from the end of the first half to well into the second, all resulting in an 84-51 Tar Heels (24-6, 16-3) victory on Tuesday night.
“Congrats to North Carolina,” Glenn & Stacey Murphy Notre Dame Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “They kicked our butt from start to finish. It was grown men versus boys out there. We have to get better if we want to get to that level.”
Tae Davis was the lone Irish in double figures tonight with 11 points to go with his six rebounds. It marked his fourth consecutive game with double-digit points.
Markus Burton’s 22-game double-digit scoring streak ended with a nine-point showing on Tuesday. It was just his third game in single digits all season. Burton earned three rebounds, four assists and two steals. Braeden Shrewsberry also finished with nine points to go with his four rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame and North Carolina were going back and forth early. The Irish connected on three-in-a-row from the field and it was a one-possession game, down 16-18, at the 9:41 mark. That’s when UNC captured all the momentum.
Notre Dame was 7-of-15 from the field at that point, but shot 4-of-16 over the last 9.5 minutes. RJ Davis scored seven points during a 12-2 UNC run, forcing a Coach Shrewsberry timeout now down 18-30 with 5:57 left.
The Tar Heels shot 51.6 percent in the half (16-31 FG) to roll into halftime with a 41-25 advantage. RJ Davis had 11 points, followed by nine from both Cormac Ryan and Harrison Ingram. The Irish were led by Markus Burton’s seven points, followed by six from Tae Davis and Braeden Shrewsberry.
North Carolina didn’t let up, starting the second half on a 16-0 run, shooting 6-of-8 from the field compared to Notre Dame’s 0-for-8 start. The Irish kept fighting and recorded a 6-for-8 offensive spurt from the field to cut a 32-point deficit to 20 (44-66) with 7:56 remaining. Konieczny and Davis combined for 12 points during this span.
Unfortunately, the Tar Heels came back and churned out an 18-0 run and cruised to the 84-51 final. RJ Davis led the way with a team-high 22 points.
UP NEXT
The Irish conclude the regular season at Virginia Tech on Saturday, March 9, with a 2:30 p.m. ET tip on ESPNU. Notre Dame will then bus straight to Washington D.C. to begin prep for the 2024 ACC Tournament.
— ND –