CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Hometown kid Jae’Lyn Withers exploded for a career-high 21 points and set a school record with seven three-pointers as North Carolina pulled away early and dominated Notre Dame, 76-56, in the ACC Tournament second round on Wednesday at the Spectrum Center. With the win, the fifth-seeded Tar Heels advanced to face fourth-seeded Wake Forest in Thursday’s first ACC quarterfinal at 2:30 p.m. Playing in front of friends and family in his hometown of Charlotte, Withers poured in 15 points in the first half as Carolina built its big lead. He eventually set a new UNC record for most three-pointers in an ACC Tournament game with seven (on 10 attempts). He also grabbed nine rebounds in a career-best overall performance. 

Ven-Allen Lubin was almost as good, posting his second double-double as a Tar Heel with 17 points on 8 of 13 shooting with 10 rebounds. Elliot Cadeau had 10 assists, six rebounds and just two turnovers, while RJ Davis contributed 13 points and six assists.

As a team, Carolina hit 13 of 28 three-pointers and shot 48,3 percent overall from the floor.

“Initially I thought we had really good spacing, a combination of ball and player movement, and one of the things that us as a group, as a team we’ve talked about is generating good threes and coming off of dribble drive, attacking the paint through post penetration, even offensive rebounding,” Tar Heel head coach Hubert Davis said. “That’s really helped our three-point shooting over the last month, month and a half, and especially today.

“I felt like not just J-Wit’s threes, everyone’s threes. They were good threes generated by good offense, unselfishness, and as a result I thought we shot a really good percentage.”

The Tar Heel defense might’ve been the day’s deciding factor. After edging Pitt, 55-54, on Tuesday, Notre Dame shot only 29.4 percent in the first half and 32.3 percent in the game. Carolina limited the Fighting Irish to 56 points and has won 26 consecutive games when holding opponents under 60. UNC has won 14 in a row when holding opponents under 40 percent from the floor. The Tar Heels improved to 21-12 with the victory, their fifth in a row over the Fighting Irish, while Notre Dame fell to 15-18. UNC is playing its best basketball of the season and has won seven of its last eight games. Carolina built a big, first-half lead by hitting 9 of 17 three-pointers (52.9 percent) in the opening 20 minutes, dishing out 10 assists on 14 baskets. Its defense limited the Fighting Irish to 35.7 percent shooting after halftime, never allowing Notre Dame to threaten in what became a blowout win. UNC is now 109-52 in its ACC Tournament history, including 3-1 against Notre Dame, 5-1 in the second round and 23-8 in Charlotte. Overall, the Tar Heels are 168-28 all-time in the city of Charlotte, including 19-3 in the Spectrum Center. 

How It Happened

First Half

• Carolina returned to its late-season starting lineup of Cadeau, Davis, Drake Powell, Lubin and Withers. That lineup is now 6-0 this season. • Withers hit three three-pointers in the first five minutes as the Tar Heels started 6 for 9 from the field in building a 17-5 lead after five minutes. • Carolina hit 6 of its first 9 three-point tries in building a 21-8 lead at the second media timeout with 10:46 to go before halftime. UNC led by as many as 21 (at 41-20) before the break. • The Tar Heels finished 9 for 17 from three-point range while holding the Irish to 29.4 percent shooting (10 of 34) in the opening 20 minutes. 

Second Half

• UNC improved to 19-3 this season when leading at halftime. • The Tar Heels are 169-28 all-time in the city of Charlotte, including 19-3 in the Spectrum Center.  

Up Next

Carolina will face fourth-seeded Wake Forest on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in Charlotte in the ACC quarterfinals.