WITHERS' WHITE HOT DAY SENDS HEELS THROUGH ROUND 2 OF ACC TOURNEY

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a tournament that hasn’t seen much success from downtown thus far, No. 5 seed North Carolina (21-12) surged through No. 12 seed Notre Dame (15-18) thanks to the long ball. 

Senior forward Jae’Lyn Withers shot an incredible 7-of-10 from downtown Wednesday—scoring 21 points for the Tar Heels in a 76-56 victory to advance to the ACC quarterfinals. 

“Initially I thought we had really good spacing, a combination of ball and player movement,” Carolina head coach Hubert Davis said. …

“I felt like not just J-Wit's threes, everyone's threes—they were good threes generated by good offense, unselfishness, and as a result I thought we shot a really good percentage.” 

The game was almost over before it even started. The Heels got out to a 17-5 lead less than five minutes into the match, after Withers had drained his third consecutive three that sent Spectrum Arena to a frenzy. 

Once Carolina got going, they didn’t let up. The Tar Heels led the Fighting Irish 43-29 at halftime. 

At the break, Withers had 15 points, hitting 5-of-6 from distance in the first half. Ven-Allen Lubin also had a strong half—with eight points going 4-of-6 from the floor alongside five boards. 

Lubin finished the game with a double-double—scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 boards. 

“I know J-Wit hit seven threes, but [Lubin] was dominating points in the paint,” Coach Davis said. “Notre Dame went to a switch attack where they were switching everything, so we were able to take advantage of smaller guys guarding our big guys down low in the post.” 

Carolina went on to dominate the rest of the game, holding the Irish to just a 30% shooting percentage (20-of-62). 

Compared to Carolina’s 13-of-28 day from deep Wednesday, Notre Dame only managed to shoot 6-of-20 from long range. 

Flipping back to the Heels’ offense—they had 19 assists on 28 made shots—an assist recorded on 67% of their field goals. 

“[Ball movement] was a huge component in today's win,” Tar Heels guard R.J. Davis said. “We did a good job of kind like Coach Davis said—penetrating and finding open guys, and that's how we were able to shoot a good percentage from three. … 

“At the same time, we're having fun with it. When you have 19 assists as a team, that's huge. We're going to continue to share the ball and move forward into tomorrow.” 

Davis’ afternoon concluded with 13 points and six assists. 

Sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau was the biggest factor of the ball movement success, posting 10 assists in just 25 minutes. 

“Elliot is gifted in regards to being able to find open teammates,” Coach Davis said. “He's our best penetrator where he can break down a defense anytime he wants to, not only create for himself but create for his teammates. 

“When he's making the simple easy play, for him—for everyone else it's elite. And I thought he did that for the most part. I thought there were a couple lobs that he threw up, but when he keeps it simple, I think he's one of the best distributors in the country.” 

The Tar Heels, listed as a “first four out” team in Joe Lunardi’s recent brackatology update, will most likely need to win another game or two in order to receive a March Madness bid. 

Carolina will take on No. 4 seed Wake Forest on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET. 

“We were very fortunate to be successful against a really good Notre Dame team that was a one-point game earlier in the year in South Bend,” Coach Davis said. 

“Our eyes and our preparation is on what is real, and what is real is our preparation in regards to our play tomorrow against a very good Wake Forest team.”