CHAPEL HILL, NC — The Leaky Black basket and the team’s defensive stoppage enabled North Carolina to avoid sadness on Saturday afternoon and find its first ACC win of the season, 66-65, over Notre Dame.
With 9.1 seconds on the clock, Black drove to his right and took the Notre Dame defender on his head. The ball rose, bounced off the glass and found the bottom of the net to give North Carolina (6-4, 1-2 ACC) the lead. Ryan Cormac dropped the ball on the court, finding an open Juwan Durham along the baseline, but he could not hit the shot. The ball bounced off the bounds when the buzzer sounded.
Notre Dame (3-6, 0-3 ACC) led 57-50 with 7:39 left in the game. First-years Caleb Love then hit the second basket of the game, a three-point, to start the Tar Heel return. Day’Ron Sharpe scored the next six points to spark a 9-0 UNC run.
The last 4 minutes and 19 seconds were a back-and-forth show. After an emphatic Sharpe dunk trailed his team 1:35 behind, UNC broke down defensively and gave Prentiss Hubb an easy set-up. All signs point to a final defeat at the last second, something the Heels have suffered all too often this past season, including by the Irish.
The Tar Heels played a relatively clean game and committed eight turnovers, including two in the second half. It scored five times in the first five minutes and three in the last 35 minutes.
Two freshmen led the show for the Tar Heels offensively. Sharpe led the Tar Heels by 25 points and added nine rebounds, of which seven were attacking boards. Kerwin Walton caught fire again from deep. The first-year guard was the only other Tar Heel in double figures with 12 points on 4-for-8 three-point shooting. Nate Laszewski shot the Irish with 25 points on 7-for-11 on three points.
UNC outscored Notre Dame 48-27 and outscored the Irish 18-5 in the second chance.
Sharpe takes over
The Greenville, NC native, kept his team single-handed in the game in the second half. After six points and two rebounds in the first half, the first 6-footer dropped 11 yards. If UNC needed a bucket, the Tar Heels got the ball in their hands.
He had 19 of UNC’s 37 total points in the second half. With 4:19 left in the game, Sharpe collected the attacking setback and leveled the offense. He drained both free throws to give his team a 59-57 lead. It was a perfect example of the way he fought the entire game under the edge to collect a match-high 7 attacking setbacks.
His 25 points were the most by a tarmac this season and is the only 20-point performance in ten games this season.
A first half of runs
After the first three three-point attempts and shot-for-shoot with Notre Dame in the first eight minutes, the Tar Heels got cold. They missed seven straight shots over five minutes and 12 seconds.
The Fighting Irish ran 9-0 to lead 23-17.
The roles then turned around when UNC caught fire to run 10-0 thanks to a Brooks three-pointer, a Leaky Black trophy and one, a Bacot dunk and two threw for free. The Tar Heels used ball movement, successful passes and protected basketball – things Roy Williams has been asking for all season.
Following
UNC will take the road when it travels to Miami on January 5th. The Hurricanes are 4-4 (0-3 ACC) after losing 66-65 to Clemson on Saturday. They dropped two consecutive points and have not won since defeating Jacksonville, 73-64, on December 19th.