Notre Dame stages major comeback, beats North Carolina 77-76
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Nate Laszewski swished a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds to go as Notre Dame stormed back from a 15-point second-half deficit for a 77-76 victory over beleaguered North Carolina on Monday night.
Laszewski took a kick-out pass to the left wing off of Rex Pflueger’s offensive rebound for the game-winner.
Prentiss Hubb scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half and dealt eight assists for the Fighting Irish (16-10, 7-8 Atlantic Coast Conference), who trailed 64-49 with 8:37 remaining.
T.J. Gibbs added 14 points, John Mooney picked up his nation-leading 21st double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Laszewski scored 11 points.
Freshman Cole Anthony scored 23 points and dished six assists for the Tar Heels (10-16, 3-12), but air-balled a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left and his team leading 76-74.
Garrison Brooks added 22 points and seven rebounds for Carolina, which lost a season-high sixth straight game. Five of those six losses have come by a combined 12 points.
BIG PICTURE
North Carolina: The ACC cellar-dwelling Heels continued to careen toward potentially their first losing record since 2001-02, when they were 8-20 during the middle season of ex-ND coach Matt Doherty’s three-year tenure. With five regular-season games left, they’ll have to win all of those and win at least twice in the ACC Tourney to avoid a sub-.500 fate.
Notre Dame: The Irish are in a bona fide position to win at least four of their remaining five regular-season games, which would give them a 20-victory season heading into the ACC Tourney and a fighting shot at an NCAA Tournament bid. Four of those five will be against teams that are below .500 in the league and the fifth is a home contest against No. 8 Florida State.
UP NEXT
North Carolina: The Heels visit No. 11 Louisville on Saturday in the lone regular-season meeting between the teams.
Notre Dame: After playing four games in nine days, the Irish are now off until hosting Miami Sunday.
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