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Instant Rewind: UNC 88, Notre Dame 74

PHILADELPHIA — The Irish’s magical postseason run has come to an end.

Top-seeded North Carolina shot 58.1 percent (32 of 52) from the field and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds to hand the Irish an 88-74 loss in the Elite Eight on Sunday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Below is an instant recap of the game in chronological order.

Brice Johnson finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds in UNC’s 14-point victory over the Irish.
Brice Johnson finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds in UNC’s 14-point victory over the Irish. (Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports)

8:08 p.m. ET: Starting lineups are in. Matt Farrell will get his fourth consecutive start tonight, alongside Demetrius Jackson, Steve Vasturia, V.J. Beachem and Zach Auguste.

It will be interesting to see how long Farrell stays in to begin. He’s played very solid this tournament, but one has to think Notre Dame needs a lot of Bonzie Colson and Zach Auguste side by side tonight.

8:14 p.m. ET: No. 10-seeded Syracuse defeats top-seeded Virginia 68-62. The winner of Notre Dame and North Carolina will draw the Orange.

8:50 p.m. ET: We are underway here in Philly.

14:38 1H | Notre Dame 10, North Carolina 10. Fun opening few minutes here with some great basketball. Both teams are 4 of 7 from the field.

Early numbers to note: Tar Heels with three offensive rebounds already. Irish have committed four personal fouls, and two of those are on senior big man Zach Auguste.

He checks out for Bonzie Colson.

13:30 1H | Notre Dame 15, North Carolina 15. Beachem knocks away a UNC pass, but Farrell (who’s playing very well early) didn’t see the loose ball coming.

UNC’s Paige picks it up and drains a three.

11:38 1H | Notre Dame 19, North Carolina 18. Paige is 2 of 2 from long range for the Tar Heels. Not good.

Yet, the Irish are 7 of 10 from the field, including 3 of 5 from three-point range. Very good.

7:02 1H | Notre Dame 29, North Carolina 27. Beachem just threw down a ridiculous one-handed slam on a drive. You’ll see that on the highlight shows tonight.

What a well-executed first half for both teams so far. Some fun basketball tonight here in Philly.

6:06 1H | North Carolina 32, Notre Dame 29. Tar Heels with a little bit of momentum after a three from Justin Jackson.

3:52 1H | North Carolina 39, Notre Dame 34. UNC is firing on all cylinders, making seven straight shots. A couple of really nice makes from Brice Johnson.

Irish keep answering, for now. They are bleeding the clock out on every possession, then still finding a way to score.

2:11 1H | North Carolina 39, Notre Dame 36. Smart adjustment by Roy Williams, the Tar Heels just used a halfcourt trap as the Irish continue trying to let the clock tick down each possession by dribbling around.

Could make it tough for the Irish to try to get going offensively late in the clock, if they stick with it.

0:31.1 1H | North Carolina 43, Notre Dame 38. With 23 seconds on the shot clock, Brey calls a timeout, trying to draw up a play to end the half.

HALFTIME | North Carolina 43, Notre Dame 38. Neither teams score to end the half.

Tar Heels finish the first period 16 of 25 (64.0 percent) from the field and 4 of 6 (66.7 percent) from beyond the arc. They also made all seven of their free throw attempts.

But the Irish are still in it behind hot shooting of their own (14 of 24 from the field, 6 of 10 from three-point range) and only three turnovers.

Jackson and Beachem lead the Irish with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Also must note, the first half ended with just 28 possessions for each team. That pace is heavily in favor of Notre Dame.

The Irish just must find a way to cool off UNC.

Brey’s team also gets Auguste back in the second half. Just five minutes played in the first half after his two early fouls.

16:32 2H | North Carolina 49, Notre Dame 40. Brey calls a timeout after the Tar Heels open the half on a 6-2 spurt. Probably needed, as it felt like this one was close to start slipping away.

The very pro-UNC crowd is loud and confident.

15:47 2H | North Carolina 51, Notre Dame 40. Timeout on the floor as Jackson limps off on his own power.

He does remain in the lineup out of the timeout.

14:23 2H | North Carolina 51, Notre Dame 45. Irish cut it to six on back-to-back baskets by Jackson, including a three-pointer.

13:47 2H | North Carolina 51, Notre Dame 48. Here we go. Deficit now down to three, after a bucket and free throw from Auguste.

13:16 2H | North Carolina 51, Notre Dame 50. UNC’s Johnson is called for a foul and he throws the ball in the air in response, adding a technical to the personal.

Vasturia shoots both free throws and makes them.

12:57 2H | Notre Dame 52, North Carolina 51. Irish grab the lead after a bucket from Colson. That was a 12-0 run to retake the lead.

10:57 2H | North Carolina 59, Notre Dame 52. Just like that, UNC responds with a 8-0 run to retake a seven-point lead. Tough.

9:58 2H | North Carolina 61, Notre Dame 52. Make that a 10-0 run. Brey calls a timeout.

8:05 2H | North Carolina 65, Notre Dame 56. Still plenty of time in this one, but Tar Heels have almost all the momentum.

Brey calls a timeout after a Beachem bucket. That was his final timeout.

4:12 2H | North Carolina 77, Notre Dame 65. The Irish are scoring; they just can’t get any stops. UNC is on a mission.

3:01 2H | North Carolina 77, Notre Dame 67. Roy Williams calls a timeout. Tar Heels have made six of their last eight shots.

1:39 2H | North Carolina 81, Notre Dame 69. The Irish are going to bow out here tonight. No shame, very well played contest and magical tournament run — just ran into a UNC buzzsaw tonight.

FINAL | North Carolina 88, Notre Dame 74.

Box Score: LINK.

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