UNC men's basketball shuts down Notre Dame, cruises to ACC Tournament final

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With six minutes and change to go in the first half, Notre Dame’s Bonzie Colson made a layup. At that point, the North Carolina men’s basketball team led by one, 23-22.

And then UNC scored 18 straight points.

It was actually 24, if you count the three baskets after halftime. The Fighting Irish went the rest of the first half, and three minutes into the second, without a basket.

The Tar Heels owe their eventual 78-47 win in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament to that run. Defense, offense — they were virtually unstoppable.

“We could make our travel plans at halftime,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “Let me put it that way. That’s how tough it was.

“We really had nowhere to go.”

The stats speak for themselves. It was the fewest points UNC has allowed in a half all season. The worst shooting percentage by any opponent this year. The Tar Heels forced 17 turnovers, 10 of them in the first half alone. Put that all together, and it’s good for the largest margin of victory ever in an ACC Tournament semifinal.

The way UNC did all that, though, is what makes this win especially notable. UNC scores the 10th most points per game in the country. But this win wasn’t about offense, or outscoring the Fighting Irish.

It was about defense.

“When we lock up and play defense the way we did today, I don’t think anybody can beat us,” Marcus Paige said.

Yes, it helped Notre Dame was coming off an overtime game late Thursday night, and yes, it helped they play a short rotation. But North Carolina’s defensive prowess Friday — especially in the last six minutes of the first half — was something else entirely.

With 5:52 before halftime, Isaiah Hicks dunked. UNC was up 25-22. Nothing too extreme yet.

The next time down the court, Paige got fouled shooting. He made both free throws. 27-22. That’s not 18 points, though.

Then came the defense. Paige stole it on the next Notre Dame possession, and Theo Pinson eventually turned that into a layup. 29-22. It’s becoming a run.

And it keeps going. Hicks steals the ball, Notre Dame turns it over again. Paige hit one of his four 3-pointers to push the lead to 10. But still, they kept going.

Paige would hit another 3-pointer minutes later. Then Pinson stole the ball and took it all the way to the rim himself. 37-22, and there’s still two minutes to go until halftime.

Hicks had a block and then forced a foul. Joel Berry blocked a shot, too. And then, just for good measure, Berry drained a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the half.

There it is: 41-22.

“We picked up the intensity and they were just shook,” Berry said. “They didn’t know what to do.”

Notre Dame never recovered. The Fighting Irish struggled with fouls and bad shots and just about everything a basketball team hopes never happens.

But it did happen. UNC forced it to. Blocks, steals, rebounds — for six minutes, North Carolina was seemingly unstoppable.

The tough part, though, is doing that for more than six minutes.

@BrendanRMarks

sports@dailytarheel.com