Nate Laszewski leads Notre Dame over North Carolina.
The Notre Dame basketball team has struggled in the non-conference portion of its season and entered its second game in ACC play desperately needing a win over North Carolina to right the ship. Led by Nate Laszewski’s 20 points and eight rebounds, the Fighting Irish avoided a late collapse and won its fourth game in a row in its 78-73 win. The Irish improved to 8-5 and 2-1 in ACC play heading into a weekend game at Georgia Tech on Saturday.
If last night’s game was past your bedtime, never fear.
We’ve got you covered 👇 pic.twitter.com/5nQTIhcKF5
— Notre Dame Basketball (@NDmbb) January 6, 2022
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Takeaway #1: Irish showed clutch moments
Nate Laszewski went off from the three 🔥
▫️20 points
▫️6-7 three-point FG
▫️8 rebounds@natelaszewski @ndmbb | #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/1s3Qd7Dahk— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) January 6, 2022
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Laszewski to the rescue. The senior calmly drilled back-to-back three-pointers after Notre Dame had surrendered the lead following an 8-0 North Carolina run that gave the Tar Heels a 67-66 lead with 3:02 left. His back-to-back personal six-point scoring spree on the Irish’s next two possessions gave Notre Dame a 72-67 lead it would never relinquish. For the game, Laszewski made six of seven shots from behind the arc and was 7-11 from the game. All of those totals, along with his 35 minutes of playing time, were season highs for Laszewski.
Takeaway #2: Irish are hot
A season-high 20 points for @natelaszewski helped us secure a win to start the 2022 year 🔥#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/HBU8iFSDz3
— Notre Dame Basketball (@NDmbb) January 6, 2022
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The Irish have now won four straight games, including back-to-back ACC wins having defeated Pitt in their last outing. They did avoid a game at Duke on New Year’s Day with the Devils in a Covid-pause. After losing three straight games and four of five overall to Texas A&M, Illinois, Boston College, and Indiana, Mike Brey’s squad was in need of a resume-enhancing win. The ACC is down this year so a win over UNC will come in handy as they try to climb to the top of the ACC standings and make the NCAA Tournament.
Takeaway #3: North Carolina needs to fix communication problems
Armando Bacot tonight.
First half double-double ☑️
10th double-double of the season ☑️ pic.twitter.com/ppo6PHXQgm— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 6, 2022
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North Carolina was on the verge of a momentum-building road win in come-from-behind fashion against Notre Dame. An Armando Bacot layup capped off an 8-0 Tar Heel run and gave UNC a 67-66 lead. However, a pair of defensive lapses on switching through screens allowed Nate Laszewski to drain two three-pointers that proved to be too much for North Carolina to overcome. Bacot did lead the Tar Heels with 21 points and 17 rebounds (15 defensive).