Notre Dame vs. UNC: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

A missed shot at the buzzer ruined a furious North Carolina comeback as Notre Dame earned an impressive 71-70 win on the road.

The Tar Heels were down as many as 11 points in the second half but fought back to earn the lead with two minutes remaining. However, a Zach Auguste layup with a minute remaining ended up being the difference in a battle of ranked ACC teams. 

Auguste had a big game for the Fighting Irish, leading the way with 18 points for a game high. 

Player of the Year candidate Jerian Grant struggled immensely in the game, going just 1-of-8 from the floor and fouling out with over two minutes left. While he managed to score eight points with eight assists, he was fortunate his teammates—Auguste, Pat Connaughton (16 points) and Demetrius Jackson (15 points)—were able to pick up the slack.

Marcus Paige had a solid effort for North Carolina with 15 points, but he could not make the heavily guarded final shot as his team fell to 11-4 on the year.

Notre Dame came into the game with one of the best offenses in the nation thanks to a fluid four-guard lineup. However, head coach Mike Brey was concerned about how it would hold up against a quality frontcourt like North Carolina's.

According to LaMond Pope of the Post-Tribune, before the game, Brey considered adjusting his lineup depending on the circumstances:

"

One of the things we looked at is do we have to play bigger sometimes? But I don’t want to give up the ship just yet. We can get our guards down there to help us. We did it against Florida State’s size better than we did it against (Georgia Tech) and Michigan State. ...We have to think about that on Monday.

"

North Carolina certainly dominated the boards with a 43-26 rebounding advantage, but the Irish still got the win thanks to 10-of-23 shooting from three-point range.

This hot shooting started right off the bat, as the Irish went up 25-15 in the first nine minutes. ESPN's Myron Medcalf noted some big plays by the team:

However, this didn't last too long, as the shooting started to go cold, via Aaron Beard of the Associated Press:

The extended drought allowed North Carolina to go on a run of its own to cut the lead down to one point in the closing moments of the first half. ESPN's Jeff Borzello explained the difference:

A few made shots down the stretch helped Notre Dame stay on top going into halftime with a score of 38-34 behind 12 points by Jackson.

The second half started similarly to the first half, as the Irish seemingly couldn't miss from anywhere on the floor. Powell Latimer of the News and Record noted a lot of the damage was coming from the supporting cast:

After going 7-of-9 from the field to start the second half, Notre Dame once again built up a double-digit lead at 55-44.

Former player Sean May gave his strategy for how to get back into contention in the game:

Theo Pinson was one man who responded with some big plays to lift up his teammates as well as the home crowd:

This seemed to be the start of a turnaround for the home team. A smaller lineup helped North Carolina do a better job defending the perimeter, and the players were able to score on the other end by attacking the lane and aggressively crashing the boards.

A 9-0 run eventually gave the Tar Heels the lead at 70-69 at the same time Grant picked up his fifth foul. Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports believed the call was soft:

Notre Dame regained the lead on an Auguste layup with just over one minute remaining, but some missed free throws gave UNC a chance. However, the final shot went long, and the Irish were able to hold on for the win.

Borzello noted the victory didn't come easy:

Regardless of how it happened, this will certainly be a noteworthy mark on the resume to show the NCAA tournament committee in March.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

North Carolina honored SportsCenter anchor and alumnus Stuart Scott, who passed away Sunday, with patches on the players' jerseys.

The students also did their part:

As for the team itself, things only get more difficult this week with a home game against No. 5 Louisville Saturday. Meanwhile, Notre Dame will also be home Saturday while hosting No. 3 Virginia.

Neither of these games will be easy, but a win for either team could go a long way toward contending in the top-heavy ACC.

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