Irish Fight Off Tar Heels For Fourth Straight Win

Notre Dame vs. North Carolina Box Score

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (8-5, 2-1) rode the hot shooting of senior Nate Laszewski to a 78-73 victory over North Carolina (10-4, 2-1) for the first home Atlantic Coast Conference win of the year and the fourth straight overall victory. 

Laszewski shot seven-for-11 in the game and six-for-seven from behind the three point arc to lead the Irish with 20 points. His back-to-back clutch three pointers with under three minutes proved to be the key shots in the victory. 

Senior Dane Goodwin scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half while Blake Wesley ended the contest with 18 points and four steals. North Carolina was led by Armando Bacot’s 21 points and 17 rebounds, but the Irish defense did hold the Tar Heel big man to five points in the second half. 

After both teams worked through a slow shooting start to the game, the shots started to fall after the first media timeout. Wesley propelled a 12-2 run for the Irish with a steal and break away dunk to put his team up 29-19 with 9:21 remaining. 

Laszewski keyed Notre Dame’s first half offense as well. The Jupiter, Florida, native connected on three of four three point field goals and pulled down five rebounds in the game’s first 20 minutes. 

North Carolina kept pace with the Irish by feeding the 6-10, 240-pound Bacot. The Tar Heel forward finished the first half seven-of-nine from the field with 16 points while adding 11 rebounds. 

The Irish had three good looks at the basket late in the first half from behind the arc that rimmed out, but were still able to enter halftime with a 39-35 lead. Goodwin kept the Irish ahead 48-40 at the first media timeout of the second half, connecting on two of his three early attempts. 

The Irish defense was challenged, however, when Paul Atkinson Jr. picked up his third foul attempting to defend Bacot with 15:55 left. The team responded with another run, 8-0 this time, to put the Irish up 56-43 with 13:54 left. 

Cormac Ryan hit a corner three pointer in run, Laszewski dunked off a baseline out of bounds play and Wesley connected on a three – at just about the same spot where Ryan hit his just minutes before to force a North Carolina timeout. 

The Tar Heels quickly responded with their own 8-0 run, getting two three point field goals and a lay up in transition. A big step back three pointer in front of the Irish bench by senior Prentiss Hubb with 10:46 ended the run.

It wasn’t the last run that either team would have in the final 11 minutes. The visitors were able to put together an 8-0 run to erase the Irish lead and go up 67-66 with three minutes remaining.  

Laszewski quickly answered the run with a three pointer, then connected on another contested three to suddenly put the Irish up five. North Carolina wasn’t done yet, as RJ Davis hit a three at the top of the key to cut the lead back to 72-70 with 1:43 left. 

A long Notre Dame possession ended in the hands of senior point guard Prentiss Hubb, who ran the pick and roll, forced Bacot to switch out on him then attempted a fall back three pointer that only hit the rim – but drew a three-shot foul as he was tackled after attempting the shot. 

Hubb connected on the first two free throws to put the Irish up two possessions. North Carolina then hit a three pointer with seven seconds remaining to make the score 76-73 in favor of the Irish. 

Notre Dame calmly executed their out of bounds play and put the ball in the hands of their best free throw shooter – Dane Goodwin – who converted both to finish off the game’s scoring. 

Next up for the Irish will be an ACC road contest at Georgia Tech on Saturday, January 8, 2022, at 6 p.m. ET (ACC Network).