North Carolina cruised into the ACC Tournament quarterfinals with a dominant 76-56 victory over Notre Dame in the second round on Wednesday. The Tar Heels were fueled by a red-hot shooting performance from Jae’Lyn Withers, who scored 21 points — all coming from beyond the arc — as North Carolina overwhelmed the Fighting Irish early and never looked back.
North Carolina (21-12) wasted no time seizing control, making nine of their 17 first-half 3-point attempts. Withers was the catalyst, connecting on five of his six 3-point shots in the first half. His opening three triples, all in a row, sparked a 17-5 lead for the Tar Heels in the first five minutes. Later in the half, he drained two more during a 12-0 run that extended the lead to 37-17.
Notre Dame (15-18) struggled to keep pace, and despite a late push before halftime, North Carolina still carried a commanding 43-29 lead into the break.
The Tar Heels continued their dominance in the second half, with five different players scoring in the first 7 1/2 minutes to extend the lead to 58-38. Their largest advantage of the game came at 24 points, with Withers delivering the final blow—his career-high seventh 3-pointer in 10 attempts.
Alongside Withers’ impressive shooting display, Ven-Allen Lubin provided a strong presence inside, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds. ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis added 13 points, while freshman Elliot Cadeau controlled the tempo with 10 assists. The Tar Heels shot 48% from the field and knocked down 13 of 28 3-pointers.
Notre Dame’s Markus Burton, who had been the Irish’s leading scorer all season, was limited to just 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting. He managed five free throws but found little room against North Carolina’s defense.
North Carolina’s victory secured a quarterfinal matchup with No. 4 seed Wake Forest on Thursday. The Tar Heels, who finished in a tie for fourth in the ACC regular season standings but were seeded fifth, have won six of their last seven games and hit the 20-win mark for the 55th time in 72 ACC seasons.
Meanwhile, No. 6 seed SMU, which also tied for fourth in the standings, was set to face Syracuse in the late game on Wednesday.
With their offense clicking and momentum on their side, the Tar Heels will look to continue their ACC Tournament run against a Wake Forest team they split the regular-season series with.
