Notre Dame rallies to beat No. 2 North Carolina
SOUTH BEND, Ind. Demetrius Jackson scored 19 points, Bonzie Colson had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Notre Dame rallied to beat No. 2 North Carolina 80-76 on Saturday night.
It was the second straight loss for the Tar Heels (19-4, 8-2 ACC).
The Irish used an 11-2 run to tie it at 48 on a basket by Jackson with 12:23 left, and the game was close the rest of the way. The Tar Heels closed to 77-76 on a pair of free throws by Marcus Paige with 32 seconds left. But Jackson made a pair of free throws and Steve Vasturia added another to help the Irish hold on.
Zach Auguste added 15 points for the Irish (16-7, 7-4).
Paige broke out of a six-game shooting slump, finishing with 21 points. Brice Johnson had 14 points and 14 rebounds for North Carolina.
No. 1 Oklahoma also lost, falling 80-69 to Kansas State. According to STATS, it was the first time the top two teams in the country lost to unranked schools on the same day since Jan. 21, 2006, when No. 1 Duke lost to Georgetown and No. 2 Florida was defeated by Tennessee.
The Irish shot 35 percent from the field, including a 3-for-16 performance from 3-point range, but they enjoyed a 19-0 advantage in points off turnovers. Notre Dame turned it over twice, compared to 13 times for North Carolina.
A layup by Colson and a jumper for Jackson helped Notre Dame to a 67-64 lead with 5:31 left. The Irish eventually extended their advantage to 75-70 on a basket by Auguste.
The Tar Heels pulled within one on Paige's foul shots, but couldn't get past the Irish.
Paige had a season-high 12 points in the first half. He was 7 for 12 from the field for the game and 5 of 8 from 3-point range.