Leading most of the way, North Carolina held on at the end against a charging Maryland team to earn its way into the ACC Tournament Finals with a 79-76 win.
The Tar Heels worked a five-point halftime lead into a 13-point cushion with 11:28 to play. During the stretch, James Michael McAdoo converted a three-point play on a drive to the hoop and Reggie Bullock lofted an alley-oop assist to Brice Johnson.
But the Terrapins got a couple of three-point shots and numerous second-chance points, mostly from Alex Len, to get back in the game.
With under nine minutes to go, Maryland trailed by just three at 60-57. A Leslie McDonald three, followed by a Bullock three helped the Tar Heels stretch the lead back up to 10 at 68-58 with 7:40 to go.
A 7-0 Maryland run cut Carolina’s lead to just 71-70 with three minutes left.
UNC’s Marcus Paige, who was saddled with foul trouble more than in any game this season, hit a pair of big shots to keep the Terps at bay. First, he hit a baseline jumper to put the Heels up 73-70 and, perhaps more importantly, he tossed in a short runner from the baseline with 37 seconds left to make it a two-possession game at 77-72.
Still, after the Heels missed two of four free throws, the Terps had a chance to send the game into overtime but with just under 10 seconds left Logan Aronhalt clanked a long three and the Heels ran out the clock.
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