North Carolina trailed at the half at home to Notre Dame but clamped down defensively, took a lead with just over six minutes left and never trailed again in beating the Irish 75-69. (1/15)

Coming off an ugly loss at home to Louisville, Carolina got an ugly win. “Well, I got my wish,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “I wanted to win one ugly.”

The Tar Heels trailed at the half after committing nine turnovers and going nearly six minutes without a basket. Notre Dame scored the last eight points of the first half to take a 36-33 lead.

After yielding a three to Notre Dame which gave the visitors their largest lead at 39-33, North Carolina turned it around. The Irish had a hard time getting a good look at the basket with the shot clock becoming a factor on several occasions. Meanwhile Carolina started taking care of the ball better on offense, committing only two turnovers over the last 20 minutes.

The Heels caught up on a three by Kenny Williams, who was trailing on the play, to tie it at 45-all. The lead changed hands nine times over the next 10 minutes.

After Coby White drained a three at the end of the shock clock to give UNC a 60-58 lead with 6:19 left, the Heels never trailed again. That shot started a 12-1 run that put the Heels in command at 69-59 with 1:24 left.

Nassir Little, off the bench, gave the Heels an offensive spark with 11 second half points, during a nine-minute span. Brandon Robinson came off the bench in the first half to keep Carolina in the game with three three-pointers.

“We did a terrible job of defending the ball screens in the first half,” Robinson said. “But in the second half, we locked in and did what we had to do to get stops.”

Coach Williams said the Heels played defense “without a brain” in the first half but did much better in the second half. The offense came alive late as well.

“We made some big shots down the stretch,” he said.

White, who fouled out late, led Carolina’s scoring with 17 points. Luke Maye, who didn’t shoot well, nevertheless had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Little and Cam Johnson closed out the double-figure scoring with 11 points each.

John Mooney was Notre Dame’s big man with 16 points and 19 rebounds. However, Carolina outrebounded the Irish 47-36.

North Carolina advances to 13-4 and 3-1 in the ACC while Notre Dame falls to 11-6 overall and 1-3 in the league.

The Tar Heels host Miami Saturday at noon.

For more on the game, including a box score, please click here.