Notre Dame Suffers Heartbreaking 69-68 Loss To No. 20 North Carolina
Notre Dame (13-5, 3-2 ACC) led 66-60 with less than six minutes to go before missing nine straight shots to allow North Carolina (14-4, 3-2) to steal a victory 69-68 in South Bend.
Sophomore guard T.J. Gibbs had two chances in the final seconds to win the game for the Irish, but couldn't connect on what would have been the 25th lead change.
Here is a half-by-half recap of the back-and-forth contest. Full box score can be FOUND HERE.
FIRST HALF
It took both teams a couple minutes of game action to get into the scoring column but North Carolina’s Luke Maye got the first basket on the baseline to give the Tar Heels an early advantage.
Irish sophomore forward John Mooney, who earned his first career start, rewarded Mike Brey’s decision by connecting on an early three-pointer. Maye responded on the other end with his own three to give North Carolina a 5-3 lead with 17:26 remaining.
After a loose ball went off the Tar Heels, senior big man Martinas Geben found himself open in the corner and knocked down a three-pointer to regain the lead for the Irish at 6-5. Kenny Williams got a layup on the Tar Heels’ next possession.
Freshman wing D.J. Harvey connected on his first shot on a mid-range jumper to put Notre Dame up 8-7 heading into the under-16 media timeout (15:47).
Notre Dame’s next three points would come via the three-point line, with the Irish missing its next seven shots while the Tar Heels built a 14-11 lead with 11:50 left in the half. Maye continued his good start by making two jumpers while star point guard Joel Berry got into the action with a three-pointer.
North Carolina joined the missed shots party, going 1 of 9 from the field after Maye hit a jumper at the 12:33 mark. That allowed the Irish to chip away and eventually regain the lead at 17-16 with 7:18 left.
The Irish still had problems getting buckets with a stretch of 2-of-14 shooting, but Notre Dame entered the bonus at the 7:18 mark. Sophomore guard Nik Djogo took advantage by connecting on 1 of 2 out of the timeout to give the Irish an 18-16 advantage.
Scoring picked up over the next three and a half minutes, with the Irish connecting on 4 of 7 while the Tar Heels hit 3 of 5. The Irish got three-pointers from Gibbs, junior guard Rex Pflueger and Djogo, which came off a nifty rebound and pass from Geben.
Maye continued to be a problem for the Irish, hitting two more shots to bring his point total up to 13 at the 3:44 mark with Notre Dame leading 29-27 at the media timeout.
The Tar Heels would score 10 of the next 14 points, led by a pair of threes from Berry. The Irish got a jumper by Harvey and tip in from Djogo during that stretch. North Carolina led 37-35 with 1:32 remaining after Gibbs connected on a pair of free throws.
Geben hit two free throws with 40 seconds remaining to tie it up, but an offensive rebound led to a three-pointer by forward Cam Johnson to give North Carolina a 40-37 lead heading into halftime.
Gibbs led the scoring for the Irish at nine points, while Geben added eight points and four rebounds. Djogo notched six points, Pflueger put up five and Harvey added four.
The Irish shot 35.5 percent (11 of 31) from the floor and 41.7 percent (5 of 12) behind the arc. Notre Dame held a 22-21 rebounding advantage against the nation’s best team in that department.
Maye had 13 points and nine boards to lead all scorers in the half. Berry added nine, while Johnson put up seven to round out the top three scorers for head coach Roy Williams’ team.
In the first half, North Carolina shot 40.0 percent (14 of 35) and hit 35.7 percent (5 of 14 ) from three-point territory.
SECOND HALF
Notre Dame got off to a quick start, getting baskets from Geben and Harvey in the first minute of action to take a 41-40 lead.
After a 3-0 personal run by Williams for North Carolina, the Irish responded with a 4-0 run via layups from Geben and Gibbs to regain the lead at 45-43 at the 16:50 mark.
Maye tied it at 45, but Harvey hit another big three that ignited Purcell Pavilion with the Irish leading 48-45. A layup from freshman big man Sterling Manley made the score 48-47 Notre Dame at the under-16 media timeout (14:40).
North Carolina went on a 6-2 run over the next three and a half minutes to reclaim a 51-50 lead at the under-12 media timeout (11:02). The Irish hit just 1 of 6 attempts during the span between media timeouts.
The run was pushed to 12-2 (including a 7-0 spurt) to put North Carolina up 56-50, forcing a timeout by the Irish with 9:48 left. Back-to-back baskets by wing Theo Pinson — including a three-pointer when the Irish went zone — fueled the run.
Notre Dame’s timeout helped the Irish regain composure, which led to a 10-4 run to tie the game at 60 piece after Gibbs nailed back-to-back three-pointers. Gibbs’ threes followed two big shots by North Carolina (Berry and Pinson) that answered Irish baskets.
Djogo sent Purcell Pavilion into a frenzy after drilling two three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give the Irish their largest lead at 66-60 with 5:58 left.
North Carolina answered, though, with a 4-0 run with layups from Berry and big man Garrison Brooks to cut the lead to 66-64 at the under-four media timeout (3:56).
Maye would score the next three points to increase the run to 7-0 while again reclaiming the lead from the Irish 67-66 with 1:32 left. Gibbs followed with a pair of free throws with 37.2 seconds left to put the pressure on North Carolina.
Pflueger forced a tie up on the Tar Heels’ final possession, but the ball went back to North Carolina with four seconds left on the shot clock. Manley had to throw up a shot quickly and missed, but Gibbs was called for a foul on Berry sending the senior to the line.
Berry didn’t let a raucous Purcell Pavilion impact his focus drilling both to put his team up 69-68 with 7.1 seconds left.
Gibbs forced up a jumper on the other end, but found a way to get his own rebound for one more chance. The sophomore put up another shot, but it hung on the rim and fell out giving North Carolina a thrilling win in South Bend.
It was a heartbreaking loss for Notre Dame after having all the momentum with less than six minutes to go before the offense went cold. Djogo’s three-pointer with 5:58 left to put the team up 66-60, but it was the last field goal the team made in the contest.
Overall, Notre Dame shot 34.8 percent (23 of 66) from the floor and 41.7 percent (10 of 24) from three-point territory. Gibbs led all scorers with 19 points, while adding five rebounds and six assists.
Geben put together another strong performance of 14 points and nine rebounds. Harvey played a career-high 37 minutes, scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds. Djogo’s 12 points were a career high.
North Carolina finished the game at 42.6 percent (26 of 61) overall and just 28.6 percent (6 of 21) behind the arc. Maye had 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Berry finished with 15 points and Pinson notched 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
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