SHARPE’S BIG DAY LEADS TAR HEELS PAST IRISH, 66-65

CHAPEL HILL—Freshman Day’Ron Sharpe had a season-high 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Leaky Black hit the go-ahead jumper in the closing seconds, and North Carolina beat Notre Dame 66-65 on Saturday.

Kerwin Walton made a career-high four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points for UNC (6-4, 1-2 ACC). The freshman is 12 of 24 from behind the arc this season.

Caleb Love hit a 3 before before Sharpe scored the final six points in a 9-0 run that gave North Carolina a two-point lead with 4:19 left in the game.

There were six lead changes, including a layup by Prentiss Hubb that gave the Fighting Irish a 65-64 lead with 36 seconds left. With the shot clock dwindling, Black slipped around a screen by Garrison Brooks and dropped in a running bank shot to cap the scoring with 9.1 seconds remaining.

Notre Dame (3-6, 0-3) led for nearly 28 minutes and Nate Laszewski’s 3-pointer — capping his streak of 11 consecutive points for the Fighting Irish in less than three minutes — made it 57-50 with 7:39 to play.

Laszewski led the Fighting Irish with 25 points and nine rebounds and Hubb scored 14 points. Laszewski, who went into the game shooting 57.1% from behind the arc, made a career-high seven 3s on 11 attempts.

The Tar Heels shot a season-low 35% (24 of 69) from the field but outrebounded Notre Dame 48-27, including 21-3 on the offensive glass. The Fighting Irish, who shot 47% (25 of 55), were outscored 21-3 in second-chance points.

The game was announced on New Year’s Eve after UNC and Notre Dame had games originally scheduled for Saturday against Syracuse and Pittsburgh, respectively, postponed due to circumstances surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.