Love & Bacot lift UNC over Notre Dame at home

Chapel Hill, NC- On Saturday, January 7th, in the Dean Smith Center, the UNC Tar Heels defeated Notre Dame 81-64.

The sixth victory in seven games for the Tar Heels. With 10 victories in the last 12 games against the Fighting Irish, Carolina has improved to 11-5 overall, 3-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Notre Dame dropped to 8-8, 0-5.

North Carolina (11-5, 3-2 ACC) opened a 13-point lead in the first half as it advanced to its sixth victory in seven games thanks to a combined 25 points from Love and Bacot. Notre Dame (8-8, 0-5) suffered their third consecutive defeat and kept their conference losing streak alive.

Off the bench, Puff Johnson tied his career high with six rebounds while scoring a season-high 11 points. RJ Davis finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Throughout the second half, Notre Dame was down by double digits until Cormac Ryan sank a 3-pointer with 8:25 remaining to reduce the gap to seven. However, Johnson regained the double-digit advantage a minute later by scoring on a transition dunk while being fouled by Ryan, resulting in both of them falling to the floor.

Ryan, who landed on Johnson, punched Johnson in the face with his foot, drawing a flagrant 2-foul call that resulted in Ryan’s ejection. Following the performance, tempers boiled, as Love and Dom Campbell of Notre Dame both received technical fouls.

With only eight turnovers as a team, the Tar Heels recorded 19 assists. In his last two games, Bacot has nine assists and four aces. Against the Irish, UNC outrebounded them 45-32 and made 8 of 19 three-point attempts (42.1 percent). The UNC bench scored 22 points, outscoring Notre Dame’s bench 22-12.

The Tar Heels will return to action on Tuesday, January 10th, at Virginia at 9 p.m.