Notre Dame slayed another giant Saturday at Purcell Pavilion, this time in the form of No. 2/1 North Carolina. Evan J. Thomas/The Pit
[dropcap]D[/dropcap]espite poor shooting and lackluster offense, Notre Dame persevered over No. 2/1 North Carolina Saturday evening in large part due to mental and physical toughness.
After taking the lead just once in the first half, Notre Dame battled back to steal an 80-76 victory from the Tar Heels at Purcell Pavilion. The student section stormed the court following the final buzzer.
FINAL: #NotreDame upsets #NorthCarolina 80-76. Fans storm the court after the game. pic.twitter.com/vpNhnBso8Q
— The Pit: S&E (@ThePit_SE) February 7, 2016
“I thought our toughness really showed in the second half in some of our defensive possessions, an area where we have been weak,” Irish Head Coach Mike Brey said following his team’s win. “Defensively, I thought we really dug in and made some great stands. We were a flat out mess the first half and I thought most of that was that Carolina was playing great defense.”
Bonzie Colson – who returned to the starting lineup for the game after an Austin Burgett injury – led the charge for the Irish, knocking back 19 points and grabbing 10 boards for his third career double-double.
Colson received help from the rest of the starting lineup. Demetrius Jackson also had 19 points with 6 rebounds of his own. Zach Auguste had a double-double as well, scoring 15 points and 10 rebounds. Steve Vasturia finished with 13 points while VJ Beachem had 10 points.
“I thought Bonzie and Zach were men tonight,” Brey said. “They were pounding against four big bodies that kept coming at them all the time.”
The Irish only had 4 points off the bench, coming from Rex Pflueger.
Notre Dame was helped by 27 fouls by North Carolina, granting the Irish 38 trips to the line, of which 31 were successful. The 31 points at the free throw line are the most for the program since joining the ACC and three shy of tying the free throw record under Mike Brey.
Jackson took nine trips to the free throw line and was successful on all shots. Colson (5-for-5), Beachem (4-for-4) and Pflueger were also perfect from the line.
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams said that intensity was his team’s problem all night.
“Nineteen points off turnovers, 23 points off second chance shots. You get fouled because you work. They had 38, and we had 21,” he said.
Williams said Notre Dame dominated much of the game, whether it looked like it or not.
“Well, the only difference was the first seven or eight to ten minutes of the first half,” Coach Williams said. “The last ten minutes of the first half they dominated the effort column too, and I think that’s what happened. They didn’t make but two or three threes, but they made two of them in a really big place. We go to zone one play, and a guy doesn’t get out to cover the shooter in the corner. That’s the only place he has to cover.”
Colson and Auguste had a few key blocks late in the game that also helped the Irish take the lead. The Irish held the advantage for the final 7:03 of the game.
“We knew we had to make some stops or we were going to lose,” Auguste said. “If we didn’t step up and be aggressive with blocking defensively, they were probably going to beat us by about 20. But that didn’t happen. We came out and we executed down the stretch.”
Notre Dame only had two turnovers, compared to the Tar Heels’ 13. The Irish scored 19 points off turnovers, and held North Carolina to none.
“Well we weren’t going to turn it over in the first half because we were just taking bad shots. We didn’t even pass it enough to turn it over,” Brey said of the low turnover rate. “We just put our head down and took bad shots. So we basically had 2 turnovers in a half which is pretty good.”
The Irish shot just 35-percent through the game and made 3-of-16 shots from beyond the arc. Beachem, who was slow to start, picked up in the second half and sunk those threes.
“It shows how special of a group we can be. It makes us believe in ourselves even more. Even though we’vehad some tough games and tough losses, a game like this really brings everything back together,” Beachem said.
Brey’s team was aided by the ability to pull down 20 offensive rebounds.
“That’s big time. We really battled in the paint, and Zach and Bonzie came out with some huge rebounds. Making big plays was key, and those guys did it,” Brey said.
Notre Dame was down by as much as 15 in the first half. With over four minutes left in the first, Notre Dame cut the Tar Heel lead down to 6 but back-to-back three’s from Marcus Paige helped extend it back to 12. The Irish bttled back before the half, sending it into the break, 39-30.
Brey credited Jackson, Auguste and Vasturia with the composure of the team entering the second half.
“Those three guys are really calm and collected. Halftime was fabulous, they were talking, they were poised,” he said. “We were lucky to be down 9 quite frankly as bad as we were and as good as Carolina was. I think we were going to find an offensive rhythm and we did.”
Jackson added: “In my time here, we’ve been through it all: down nine, down eighteen, down twenty. So, it’s never too high, and we keep fighting.”
North Carolina’s Marcus Paige led all scorers with 21 points, but got into foul trouble in the latter part of the game that didn’t help the Tar Heels cause any.
Since joining the ACC, Notre Dame is now 7-1 against the giants of Duke and North Carolina.
“I love a challenge. I love hearing talk about how good these other ‘bigs’ are, and I want them to talk about me as well,” Auguste said. “I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates. It was a great team win.”
“It’s great. I think we are playing with a lot of confidence no matter who we play,” Vasturia added. “It doesn’t matter what name is on the front of the jersey or who comes in here. We have confidence that we are going to give them a good game. I think we just have to keep playing the way we’ve been playing.”
Notre Dame will hope to continue to build momentum as the ACC Tournament nears when the Irish travel to Clemson on Monday. The Irish return to Purcell Pavilion next Saturday against No. 19 Louisville.
“Our program, when we have been on the big stage and under the bright lights, has flat out delivered,” Brey said. “I’m really proud of our program and I’m proud of this group. We have played in some big ones and we have found a way to win.”
