Nate Laszewski hit a couple of late 3-pointers on his way to 20 points as Notre Dame held off visiting North Carolina for a 78-73 victory Wednesday night in South Bend, Ind.
Blake Wesley added 18 points, Dane Goodwin had 17 and Cormac Ryan finished with 11 points for the Fighting Irish (8-5, 2-1 ACC).
Armando Bacot’s 21 points and 17 rebounds, and RJ Davis’ 19 points were crucial for North Carolina (10-4, 2-1), which committed twice as many turnovers (14 to 7) as Notre Dame. Caleb Love notched 13 of his 15 points in the second half.
North Carolina held its only second-half lead at 67-66 on Bacot’s basket. Twenty seconds later, Laszewski answered with a 3-pointer. Laszewski drained another 3 before Davis connected on a 3 for North Carolina.
Love missed a potential tying jumper. Then Prentiss Hubb drained two free throws with 44 seconds left and Ryan made two more foul shots with 26 seconds to go to seal it for the Irish.
North Carolina was playing its third ACC road game. It hadn’t opened with three straight conference road games since the 1983-84 season, though this came about because of a postponed home game last week vs. Virginia Tech.
Notre Dame went up 56-43 at the 14-minute mark. The Tar Heels responded with the next eight points in a 57-second span.
The Irish rebuilt the margin to 61-51 as North Carolina was in a field-goal drought of almost three minutes.
Yet by making five of their first seven attempts on 3s in the second half, North Carolina pulled within 66-63 before the finishing stretch.
Notre Dame shot 7-for-19 on first-half 3-pointers for a 39-35 lead despite not scoring for the final 3 1/2 minutes of the half. Wesley had 13 points.
The Tar Heels were 1-for-9 on 3s in the opening half. Bacot had 16 points and 11 rebounds by halftime.
North Carolina was without reserves Justin McKoy and Kerwin Walton due to COVID protocols. Starting forward Dawson Garcia missed the game because of a concussion he suffered Sunday at Boston College.
–Field Level Media
