Irish Emerge 80-76 over No. 2 North Carolina
The "bounce back" Irish are forreal.
After not losing back-to-back games since the end of the 2013-14 season, and coming off a 79-70 loss at Miami on Feb. 3, Notre Dame pulled out an 80-76 win over No. 2 North Carolina on Saturday night in front of a sold out crowd at Purcell Pavilion.
Notre Dame opened the game starting sophomore forward Bonzie Colson over senior forward A.J. Burgett, who had to sit out with an minor ankle injury per a Notre Dame spokesperson. That lineup returned them to the starting group the Irish began the season with.
The teams got up and down the floor early to an 8-8 tie at the first media timeout, with the Irish's effort spearheaded from an early six points and four rebounds from senior forward Zach Auguste. Notre Dame, though, went through a stretch of only 2-for-11 shooting midway through the first half, and that one cold streak enabled the Tar Heels to build a double-digit lead at 26-14 with 8:08 left in the period.
UNC shot fairly well early - including a couple of made three's in transition by point guard Marcus Paige - and the shots they did miss, they cleaned up the glass. The Tar Heels made 11 of their first 19 shots, and snagged five offensive rebounds on the eight misses.
It simply looked like the Irish would never be able to slow down the massive frontcourt of North Carolina on the night. They led by as much as 15 with 2:08 left in the first half.
At halftime though - after the Irish trimmed that double-digit deficit to 39-30 at the break - something changed.
"We didn't get down on ourselves," Colson said. "We stayed together. Our leadership from everyone, we all talked to each other in the locker room at halftime and that's what you need. It made us come together and say we're going to be confident, get some stops and get this win."
Notre Dame opened the second half trimming the lead to six at 45-39 before the first media timeout. Then the Irish eventually cut the deficit to just one score after a three-pointer from junior guard Steve Vasturia and a putback from junior guard Demetrius Jackson, pulling Notre Dame within 47-44 with 13:42 to play.
A big part of the comeback was as Colson suggested, leadership in the locker room at the break. Jackson noted he had a talk specifically with Colson to fire the sophomore forward up, and head coach Mike Brey said he explained to the team prior to the game that they have been down big against teams like UNC plenty of times before, but found a way to win.
"Demetrius, Zach and Steve set an unbelievable tone for us," Brey said. "Those three guys are really calm and collected.
"We were lucky to be down nine, quite frankly, as bad as we were and as good as Carolina was. I was feeling like 'okay, nine ain't bad. I think we're gonna find an offensive rhythm.'
"It's one of the things I said before the game that I thought was an advantage for us. We beat em' twice last year. We were able to come back and dig it out both times in Chapel Hill and in Greensboro in the championship game.
"There's a big nucleus in our locker room. I said 'I think we're going to be in the same position again fellas, let's just keep the heat on em.'"
Maintain effort the Irish did. Finally, two free throws from junior forward V.J. Beachem tied it at 48-48. Then Notre Dame eventually took its first lead of the second half at 57-55 with 9:25 to play.
Neither squad created separation beyond that point, but the Irish kept plugging. Entering the game's home stretch, freshman Rex Pflueger nailed two free throws to put the Irish ahead 71-67 following the game's final media timeout.
A huge factor in Notre Dame preventing the Tar Heels from going on a run at all the second half was cleaning up on the glass. The Irish grabbed 20 offensive rebounds in 46 opportunities (UNC snagged 26 defensive rebounds) for a 43 percent offensive rebounding rate - which is a tremendous effort against one of the best rebounding teams in the country.
Auguste and Colson both finished with 10 rebounds a piece, and Jackson pitched in four on the offensive glass to finish with six total.
"I thought Bonzie and Zach were men tonight," Brey said. "They were pounding against four big bodies that kept coming at them all the time.
"I think a lot of that is heart and effort. When you're playing in front of a great crowd like that, it makes you believe a little more. Our crowd was fabulous. That was one of the great nights in our building. And they just were never tired and they believed, because they had the crowd behind them."
The victory improved Notre Dame to 6-1 in their last seven games against Duke and North Carolina, a stretch that dates back to the beginning of last season.
"We've went on a pretty good run against them," Brey said. "That is extremely powerful to be in this league - early in this league, finding an identity in this league - and to be 6-1 against them is really powerful.
"You're always excited to play those programs for obvious reasons, but we've burned every one of them. And I think we've been really tough in all of them."
The Irish face a quick 48-hour turnaround for their next game, traveling to Clemson for a Monday night contest. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.
Brey said the team will aim to get some rest to try and alleviate the short time between games, noting the team will likely just shoot and stretch tomorrow and Monday.
"You hope to ride a little momentum off of it [tonight], but we're going to have to be ready," he said. "They're really good and they're really physical.
"I told our guys I'm getting greedy again. I used that phrase when we got on that four-game win streak back in January. I said we need to think about being greedy here again. We put ourselves in a good position after tonight, let's not waste it."
Box Score: LINK.
Game Notes:
• The Irish improved to 7-18 all-time against the Tar Heels.
• Head coach Mike Brey evened his record at 3-3 all-time against UNC in his career at Notre Dame.
• At home, the Irish now are 2-4 all-time vs. North Carolina.