By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — With a chef’s kiss — several, actually — No. 5-seed North Carolina easily moved into the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.
Graduate forward Jae’Lyn Withers’ signature celebration after 3-pointers spelled doom for No. 12-seed Notre Dame as he scored 21 points and seven 3-pointers, both career-highs, and the Tar Heels rolled to a 76–56 second-round victory Wednesday at the Spectrum Center.
UNC (21–12) continues its tough pursuit of an NCAA tournament bid at 2:30 Thursday, facing No. 5-seed Wake Forest. The Tar Heels, who have won seven of their last eight games, likely need to win that game, then beat No. 1 Duke in Friday’s semifinals to secure a berth.
“To be honest with you, I’m running out of celebrations,” said Withers after setting the program record for 3-pointers in an ACC tournament game, becoming the first Tar Heel with seven 3-pointers in a game since RJ Davis (who had 13 points and 6 assists) did it against Miami on Feb. 26, 2024.
The chef’s kiss celebration started in the victory at Florida State.
“It was a really, really good make,” Withers remembered. “It didn’t touch anything but net. It was just a chef’s kiss.”
From the first shot, Withers could tell it would be his day in his hometown with lots of family, friends and coaches watching.
“I definitely liked the first shot I shot,” Wither said. “It was strong, over the rim a little bit. Confident in rolling off the previous games. It’s just a mindset of don’t let the previous one affect the next one.”
Carolina, which led a season-high 39 minutes, 36 seconds, was 13 of 28 from 3-point range, getting 3-pointers from five players. The Tar Heels have double-digit 3-pointers in four of the last five games after doing it only six times in the first 26 games and five times in the first 15.
“I felt like not just J-Wit’s 3s, [it was] everyone’s threes,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “They were good 3s generated by good offense, unselfishness, and as a result I thought we shot a really good percentage.”
RJ Davis and Elliot Cadeau (3 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds) combined for 17 assists and only three turnovers as 22 of UNC’s 28 field goals were assisted.
“It was a huge component in today’s win,” said RJ Davis, who has made at least three 3-pointers in five consecutive games. “We did a good job of, just like Coach Davis said, penetrating and finding open guys and that’s how we were able to shoot a good percentage from three.
“When you have that type of basketball, especially like in the first half, as an example, there was a close-out drive, hit J-Wit, J-Wit hits Seth [Trimble], Seth hits me, and I hit [Ven-Allen Lubin],” RJ Davis said. “That type of ball movement is winning basketball. At the same time, we’re having fun with it.”
Cadeau did an excellent job of creating opportunities for his teammates.
“It’s huge,” Coach Davis said. “When he’s making the simple easy play, for him — for everyone else — it’s elite. And I thought he did that for the most part, so I thought there were a couple lobs that he threw up. But when he keeps it simple, I think he’s one of the best distributors in the country.”
— Joe Lunardi offers a grim view of UNC’s chances to make the NCAA tournament. Read what he said in this story.
— Get a complete transcript of Carolina’s postgame press conference here.
Carolina’s inside-out game continues to flourish, thanks to the continued production of Lubin. He had no double-doubles in the first 30 games but has done it in two of the last three games, collecting 17 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks against the Irish.
Against a bigger Demon Deacons team, Lubin knows that kind of success will be tougher.
“I think it’ll be very challenging for me to get some shots around the rim,” said Lubin, who has scored in double figures for a career-high seven consecutive games. “I know my teammates are going to continue to find me and just trust me in those areas of our offense and just to continue to build confidence in just knowing I can score around the rim.”
Defensively, UNC kept the ball in front of them and mostly denied star Markus Burton the ball. Burton, shadowed by multiple defenders, mainly Drake Powell, was the only Notre Dame player scoring in double figures, finishing with 11 points on 3 of 11 shooting.
“I think one of the things that is most difficult against a scorer, and especially Markus, who leads the ACC in scoring, is going up against length,” Coach Davis said. “So, we just felt like starting the game off with Drake would make it even more difficult for him to be able to score. I thought Drake’s length bothered him and made him work a little bit harder than usual.”
UNC scored five 3-pointers — three from Withers — and a dunk to jump out to a 17–5 lead in the first five minutes.
After Carolina’s lead reached 14, Notre Dame sliced it to seven with a 7–0 run. Two more Withers 3-pointers in a 21–8 UNC run shoved the lead to 21 on a Lubin bucket with 2:58 left. However, the Irish (15–18) scored the last six points of the first half to trim UNC’s halftime lead to 43–29.
Withers’ sixth 3-pointer capped a 10–3 run to expand UNC’s lead to 19 3½ minutes into the second half. The lead peaked at 24 points when Ian Jackson capped a 9–2 run on a jumper with 3:57 left.
NOTES — Withers, who has 3-pointers in nine consecutive games, is the first Tar Heel with five 3-pointers in a half (doing that in the first half) since Cormac Ryan in the first half at Virginia on Feb. 24, 2024. … The previous 3-pointers high in an ACC game was six by Jason Capel (Clemson in 2001), Harrison Barnes (Clemson in 2011) and P.J. Hairston (Miami in 2013). … The 13 UNC 3-pointers equaled the second-most in an ACC Tournament game (14 vs. Clemson in 1983 with the experimental short three-point line) and 13 vs. Miami in the 2013 championship game. … Carolina scored 43 first-half points, the eighth straight game UNC has scored 42 or more points in the first half. … UNC has won by at least 20 points in each of the last six ACC tournaments. … Cadeau became the first Tar Heel to log double-digit assists in an ACC tournament game since Marcus Paige in the 2013 quarterfinals. … UNC is 32–9 against Notre Dame, including 15–4 in neutral-site games and 3–1 in the ACC tournament. … Notre Dame shot 32.3%, marking the 14th consecutive game a UNC opponent has shot less than 40%. … Carolina has won 26 consecutive games when holding opponents to fewer than 60 points. … Carolina is 169–28 in Charlotte, including 19–3 in the arena now called the Spectrum Center. … The Tar Heels are 165–70 against Wake Forest, including 13–8 in the ACC tournament. It will be the schools’ first meeting in the event since Wake Forest’s 58–52 win in 2000 at the old Charlotte Coliseum on Woodlawn. … Wake Forest won the only regular-season meeting 67–66 in Winston-Salem on Jan. 21.
No. 5 UNC 76, No. 12 Notre Dame 56
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday’s first round
No. 12 Notre Dame 55, No. 13 Pittsburgh 54
No. 15 California 82, No. 10 Virginia Tech 73, 2 OTs
No. 14 Syracuse 66, No. 11 Florida State 62
Wednesday’s second round
No. 8 Georgia Tech 66, No. 9 Virginia 60
No. 5 North Carolina 76, Notre Dame 56
No. 7 Stanford 78, California 73
No. 6 SMU 73, Syracuse 53
Thursday’s quarterfinals
No. 1 (and No. 1-ranked) Duke 78, Georgia Tech 70
North Carolina 68, No. 4 Wake Forest 59
No. 2 (and No. 13-ranked) Louisville 75, Stanford 73
No. 3 (and No. 10-ranked) Clemson 57, SMU 54
Friday’s semifinals
Duke 72, North Carolina 71
Louisville 76, Clemson 73
Saturday’s championship
Duke 73, Louisville 62
UNC season statistics
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 10 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 17 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 9 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | 8 p.m. | vs. East Tennessee State | ACCN |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | 3 p.m. | vs. Ohio State | CBS |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | 8 p.m. | vs. East Carolina | ACCN |
| 30 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Florida State | ESPN2 |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | 2:15 | at SMU | The CW |
| 10 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 14 | Wednesday | 9 p.m. | at Stanford | ACCN |
| 17 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at California | ACCN |
| 21 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame | ESPN2 |
| 24 | Saturday | 2 or 2:30 | at No. 23 Virginia | ESPN or ESPNU |
| 31 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 3 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 11 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 3 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
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