North Carolina sinks Notre Dame

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina beat its two biggest rivals and then pulled away late to beat Notre Dame to cap a demanding stretch.

The 14th-ranked Tar Heels are tired. They also might have found a groove.

Theo Pinson scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime to go with 10 rebounds, helping UNC pull away late to beat Notre Dame 83-66 on Monday for its third win in five days.

Things look different from 10 days ago for the Tar Heels (20-7, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who were coming off their first three-game skid in four years and a win against a winless-inthe-acc Pittsburgh team before the stretch.

But they beat Duke at home Thursday and then won Saturday at North Carolina State in emotional rivalry games.

This time, UNC needed a 13-0 burst in the final 5 1/2 minutes to finally get separation against the Fighting Irish (15-11, 5-8).

“You could tell we were out there and had a rhythm,” Pinson said. “But, at the same time, it’s still tough recovering so fast, going from game to game. You want to celebrate one win and be like, ‘Dang, that was a good win for us,’ but you’ve got to get ready for the next game.”

Martinas Geben and John Mooney each scored 18 points for Notre Dame, with Mooney making 6 of 6 3-pointers.

At Morgantown, W.VA., Teddy Allen

No. 20 West Virginia 82, Texas Christian 66 —

scored 16 points and James Bolden 14 off the bench for the Mountaineers (19-7, 8-5 Big 12), who got their most points from reserves — 38 — in a league game this season. Desmond Bane scored 16 for the Horned Frogs (17-9, 5-8), who twice closed within five in the second half but were outscored 15-7 over the final three minutes.