Courtesy GoHeels.com
By: Matt Bowers
NOTRE DAME, IND.—Elliot Cadeau’s four-point play with 4.8 seconds remaining gave North Carolina a 74-73 win over Notre Dame in a wild, back-and-forth game on Saturday at Purcell Pavilion.
The game was Notre Dame’s first sellout of the season and featured a UNC season-high 17 lead changes, seven more than any previous game to date.
After the Fighting Irish’s Matt Allocco hit a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left for a 73-70 lead, Cadeau hit a three-pointer from the right wing with just under five seconds to go while also drawing a foul by Allocco.
Cadeau connected on the subsequent free throw to complete the four-point play and make the score 74-73 Carolina.
The Irish raced down the court but missed their final shot, preserving a one-point UNC win.
Cadeau’s spectacular play was the first four-point play by a Tar Heel since Kerwin Walton in 2021. He finished with 10 points and six assists in a clutch performance.
The Tar Heels led by 11 points at 47-36 with 16:00 to go in the second half, only to see Notre Dame claw back gradually until Cadeau scored the final six points of the game to ice the victory.
Carolina rebounded from its loss at Louisville and won for the third time in its last four outings, improving to 9-6 overall this season, 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Fighting Irish fell to 7-7, 1-2.
“We needed this one,” Hubert Davis told the Tar Heel Sports Network afterward. “It wasn’t a need game, but we needed it for our confidence. We needed to play well, and we did that. Today I felt like we played Carolina basketball, and we were a team. Even when things didn’t go right, we joined together and solved problems together and won a game on the road, which is very hard to do in the ACC.”
Ian Jackson had a career day, leading all scorers with a season-high 27 points. He hit 11 of 18 shots and seemed to score at will at times. The freshman added six rebounds in his best game as a Tar Heel to date. Jackson is the first Tar Heel freshman since Tyler Hansbrough in 2005-06 to have four consecutive games with at least 20 points.
Notre Dame’s Markus Burton, the 2024 ACC Rookie of the Year and 2024-25 preseason first-team All-ACC pick who hadn’t played since November 26 due to a knee injury, saw his first action since that point, coming off the bench at the 12:19 mark of the first half. He led the Irish with 23 points, hitting 7 of 14 shots and getting to the free throw line effectively for a 9 of 10 effort at the stripe.
RJ Davis scored in single digits for the first time all season but posted a season-high seven assists in a gritty, 36 minutes. He passed former teammate Armando Bacot for second in UNC history and 10th in ACC annals in scoring with 2,353 career points.
Drake Powell and Jalen Washington each also scored eight points, with Washington grabbing six rebounds and adding a career-high five blocked shots. He led the way as Carolina blocked a season-high eight shots as a team.
Carolina shot 52.9 percent from the floor in the game and improved to 6-1 this season and 29-1 under Hubert Davis when it shoots 50 percent or better.
The Tar Heels shot 58.3 percent (14 of 24) in a blistering second-half offensive performance, the sixth consecutive game they shot at least 50 percent in the second half.
How It Happened
First Half
• Carolina led, 39-32, at halftime after shooting 48.1 percent as a team while holding Notre Dame to 40.6 percent.
• Jackson hit 6 of 10 shots from the floor, including 2 of 5 three-pointers and led all scorers with 17 first-half point.
• The rest of the UNC team combined to shoot 7 for 17 and score 22 points in the first 20 minutes.
• Carolina’s defense limited the Fighting Irish to 40.6 percent shooting in the opening half.
• The Tar Heels missed four of their first five three-pointers and finished 3 for 13 (23.1 percent) from behind the arc in the first half.
• UNC went on a 14-2 run over a span of 3:49 while hitting 6 of 7 shots to take a 26-14 lead. The Tar Heels led for the remainder of the first half.
• Carolina was 10 for 11 at the free throw line in the first half while ND was 2 for 3.
Second Half
• UNC shot 58.3 percent from the floor as a team in the second half.
• Notre Dame also played well offensively after the break, shooting 48 percent and hitting 3 of 7 three-point tries collectively.
• UNC led by seven at the half. The Tar Heels are 7-0 this season when they lead at the break.
Up Next
The Tar Heels will return home to host new ACC foe SMU on Tuesday at 9 p.m. in the Smith Center.
