North Carolina got a career-high 21 points on seven threes from Jae’lyn Withers as the Tar Heels led start to finish in a 76-56 rout of Notre Dame in the second round of the ACC Tournament in Charlotte. (3/12)

“JWit is the most comfortable and settled he’s been, and his shot selection is great,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Not only that but his defensive has been elite – rebounding, blocking shots and running the floor.”

The impressive victory helps Carolina’s argument for an NCAA Tournament bid but it’s going to take another nice win over Wake Forest Thursday afternoon and then perhaps another win or two in the ACC Tournament to ensure a bid.

“We’re taking a one-game-at-a-time approach,” said UNC’s RJ Davis, who finished with 13 points. “We can’t look too far ahead. We’ve stayed in the moment even though we hear the bubble team noise.” He said the team playing together and being in the present has helped the Tar Heels move forward.

Something else that’s helped – besides the team’s 13 three pointers – is the inside play of Ven-Allen Lubin, who accomplished a double-double for the Heels with 17 points (all in the paint) and 10 rebounds.

A spinning layin by Lubin gave Carolina its first 20-point lead of the game at 37-17 with 4:36 left in the first half.

The Tar Heels went cold late in the first half, missing seven of their last eight shots of the half, as the Irish outscored Carolina 9-2 over the last three minutes to cut the margin to 14, 43-29 at the break.

After Notre Dame cut it to 12, the Tar Heels didn’t let it get any closer. After a Davis three and another spin move layin by Lubin, the Heels worked the margin back up to 20 at 60-40 midway through the second half.

A Withers three late – his seventh of the game – gave the Heels their biggest margin of the game at 74-50. Withers hit five of his threes in the first half.

Carolina shot 48 percent from the floor – including 13 of 28 from three – while holding Notre Dame to 32 percent – including six of 20 from three.

The Heels held Markus Burton, who averages 31 points a game, to just 11 points.

Carolina, now 21-12, is playing its best defense and offense of the season at the right time despite giving out of gas against Duke in the regular season finale. While taking it one game at a time, the Tar Heels could get another date with Duke if they can defeat Wake Forest and Duke can get by Georgia Tech Thursday.

Notre Dame finishes its season with a 15-18 record.

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North Carolina, using a season-high 15 three pointers, broke open a close game late in the first half and continued the onslaught in the second half, beating Virginia Tech 91-59 on the road. (3/4)

The impressive performance, which included a 36-point lead at one point, included a 19-1 run and a 15-0 run for Carolina. The Tar Heels actually trailed 23-21 with 12 minutes gone in the first half before hitting the accelerator thanks to their defense.

“Defensively we started pressing the basketball and getting steals – Our ball pressure really bothered them,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Offensively, we started taking care of the basketball and getting out in transition.”

Up just 31-28 with under four minutes to go in the first half, RJ Davis and Ian Jackson hit back-to-back threes to start a late run that ended with an old-fashioned three-point play for Seth Trimble and Trimble dunk at the buzzer.

Carolina extended the 46-29 halftime lead with the first four points of the second half. The Tar Heels ended any thoughts of a Hokie comeback when they hit four straight three-point shots over just two minutes of playing time.

Up 54-35, Jalen Washington drained a three from the right corner to start the run before Jackson hit back-to-back threes from the right wing and Jae’lyn Withers finished off the three-point run during what would become a 15-0 run.

The team win was so complete that Davis, who played in his ACC record-tying 169th game, did not play the final 13 minutes of the game. Still, he was one of five Tar Heels in double figures with 15 points.

Jackson, who sank a game-high five threes, led the Heels with 19 points followed by Trimble with 17. Drake Powell added 13 while Ven Allen-Lubin had his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“We are playing our best basketball right now,” Coach Davis said, referring to the six-game win streak. “Something has changed in us – mainly we are more consistently doing the little things.” He said his squad has developed good habits.

“It’s about unity. We are just a bunch of brothers having the most fun we can have,” Trimble said. “But we still have a lot of do.”

Carolina, now 20-11 and 13-6 in the ACC, has a regular season finale with Duke Saturday at 6:30 pm.

Virginia Tech falls to 13-17 and 8-11 in the conference.

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The University of North Carolina football program under new head coach Bill Belichick will no longer be the focus on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” this offseason, according to a report from NFL insider Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports. Following weeks of discussion between UNC, Belichick and NFL Films, the agreement fell through after all parties were close to a deal, the report said. Please click here for more.

An avalanche of NFL draft discourse always follows the scouting combine, and some of the headlines, like this year’s event having the most sub 4.4 40-yard dash times ever, are turning heads among fans. One player who left the combine with improved draft stock was North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton, according to NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. Please click here for more.

North Carolina improved its NCAA Tournament hopes by not only avoiding a bad loss but by winning big, 92-73 at home against Miami for the fifth straight victory in a row. (3/1)

A 12-2 Carolina run late in the first half gave the Heels a comfortable 46-31 halftime lead. Then, Ven-Allen Lubin opened it up for good by scoring 10 of the team’s first 12 points of the second half to give the Heels a commanding 58-37 advantage five minutes into the second half.

For the second game in a row, six Tar Heels scored in double figures with Lubin leading the way with a season-high 19 points. Drake Powell, who was in the startin lineup, was next with 16 points while RJ Davis added 13. Jae’lyn Withers, who manned the most minutes for Carolina with 33, scored 11 points and hauled in 10 rebounds. Freshman Ian Jackson managed 11 points in just 13 minutes while Seth Trimble added 10.

During the game-changing run at the end of the first half, Trimble tossed back-to-back threes while Davis drained one. The Tar Heels ended up hitting 10 of 18 threes for better than 55 percent from beyond the arc.

“We shot the ball really well today,” Coach Hubert Davis said admitting that it doesn’t always work out that way. “It was an efficient win but defensively I felt we could have done better.”

Behind 25 points from Matt Cleveland and 20 from Brandon Johnson, Miami cut the margin to 14 on several occasions but could get no closer as the Hurricanes fell to 6-23 overall and 2-16 in the ACC.

Carolina outrebounded Miami 38-26 and outscored the Hurricanes in the paint 46-28.

“There’s a week left (in the regular season) and I feel like we’re improving,” Coach Davis said. “To sustain that we have to play with energy, effort and attention to detail. We can’t have four or five minute lapses.”

There may have been a couple of lapses that lasted a couple of minutes but, at least offensively, the Tar Heels are playing the best they have all season, which could help their at-large NCAA selection chances.

The Tar Heels, who play Virginia Tech Tuesday, improve to 19-11 and 12-6 in the ACC.

Box score

RJ Davis led six Tar Heels in double figures with 20 points and lesser-used players came up big in a full team effort as North Carolina tripped up Florida State In Tallahassee 96-85l. (2/24)

“Everyone contributed today,” Davis said. “That was the kind of team win we need.” It was the six straight Carolina win over Florida State and it was the fourth straight Carolina win since Coach Hubert Davis went to a larger lineup.

“We’ve cut down on mistakes on both sides of the basketball court,” Coach Davis said of the recent streak. “We’ve cut down on turnovers and gotten better shot selection. With the bigger lineup we’ve been scoring more in the paint and rebounding the basketball better.”

He said he would be even happier if his team could play defense without fouling. Big men Ven-Allen Lubin and Jalen Washington each got in foul trouble and Florida State was 21 of 28 from the free throw line.

In the first half, it looked as if it would be a closer game as there were seven ties and Florida State was hot from the field, hitting 62.5 percent from the floor with star Jamir Watkins scoring 18 of his game-high 26 points.

But an 8-0 Carolina run late in the half, highlighted by back-to-back buckets from Cade Tyson, helped the Tar Heels get up by eight and settle for a 49-43 haltime edge.

The Tar Heels extended the lead to 14 in the first three minutes at 61-47 following threes by Davis and Eliott Cadeau.

Florida State briefly cut the margin to six as the Seminoles got to the line often and drained six second half threes (10 for the game) despite being next to last in the ACC in three-point shooting.

But Carolina pushed the lead back to double figures after seven straight points by Davis, Seth Trimble and Cadeau as the lead eventually ballooned to 16 points at 87-71.

Joining Davis in double figures were Trimble (17), Jae’lyn Withers (11), Cadeau (10), Lubin (10) and Washington (10).

The Tar Heels outrebounded the taller Seminoles and the aggressive Carolina players came up with 24 second-chance points compared to just six for Florida State.

The Seminoles fall to 16-12 and 7-10 in the conference. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels, who host Miami Saturday, improve to 18-11 and 11-6 in the ACC.

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