Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Heels, Irish’s results put in past
PHILADELPHIA — The day before North Carolina and Notre Dame were to meet for a berth in the Final Four, the talk around the Wells Fargo Center was about a game played two weeks ago.
That would have been the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, a 78-47 victory for North Carolina over the Fighting Irish. A 31-point blowout just 15 days earlier.
“I misplaced it,” Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey said about the tape of that game. “Those are the ones that you burn, you don’t go back to. But certainly you have to learn from it, and we’ve talked about it a little bit in practice.”
Since that loss, Notre Dame has become the comeback kids of the NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Irish have trailed in the second half of all three of their games. Two have come down to the final seconds.
“They’re playing at a really high level right now. But I think we are as well,” Notre Dame forward Steve Vasturia said. “So especially with one day to get ready for them, we’re so familiar with what they do and they know what we do. So I think mainly for us just going out there and focusing on what we do best and playing with nothing to lose and that should be good enough for us.”
The matchup between No. 1 seed North Carolina (31-6) and No. 6 seed Notre Dame (24-11) in the East Region is one of two all-ACC regional finals. In the Midwest Region, No. 1 seed Virginia meets No. 10 seed Syracuse, guaranteeing the ACC a team in the national championship game.
North Carolina players look to another matchup the Tar Heels had with Notre Dame that turned the season around. On Feb. 6, the Fighting Irish won at home, 80-76, and the Tar Heels say that game turned their season around. They have gone 12-2 since that loss.
“First thing we’ve learned is that defense wins championships. We’ve really played well defensively, especially at the end of the first half and beginning of the second. And that’s basically what we learned mostly out of that game,” said Brice Johnson, North Carolina’s leading scorer (16.8) and rebounder (10.5). “We can’t let up on them because they’re a very good team, and they will make runs during the game. And that’s pretty much it.”
North Carolina’s Marcus Paige, who got the Tar Heels’ Sweet 16 victory over Indiana off to great start with four three-pointers, brought it all back to what tonight’s game really means.
“Revenge can’t be the only motivating factor in a game that gets you to the Final Four. That’s the biggest thing. This game is to go to the Final Four,” he said. “I don’t care what happened in the past. And I’m sure they don’t, either. This is a one-game opportunity to change your season.”
This will be the fourth NCAA Tournament meeting between the schools, and North Carolina has yet to lose. They met in 1977, 1985 and 1997.
This will be the second time North Carolina has faced another ACC team in the NCAA Tournament. In 1981, the Tar Heels beat Virginia in the national semifinals in Philadelphia.