• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Auguste, No. 13 Irish edge No. 18 UNC

Jan 6, 2015 - 3:57 AM Chapel Hill, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - The top shooting team in the country missed eight shots in a row.

The ninth one fell, giving No. 13 Notre Dame its biggest win of the season.

Zach Auguste's bucket with 1:07 remaining lifted the Fighting Irish to a 71-70 win over No. 18 North Carolina on Monday, the program's first victory over the Tar Heels in almost 23 years.

Auguste's shot ended a field goal drought of 9:05 for the Irish and came after North Carolina took its first lead since early in the first half on two Kennedy Meeks foul shots, capping a 16-6 surge with about two minutes left.

The last minute was sloppy, with misses at both ends. Steve Vasturia missed two foul shots for Notre Dame with five seconds left and North Carolina called a timeout. The Tar Heels called time again with 1.4 ticks remaining after dribbling the ball over midcourt.

But Marcus Paige, who led North Carolina with 15 points, missed an off-balance 3-point try from the left sideline as time expired, giving Notre Dame its first win in the series since Jan. 11, 1992 at Madison Square Garden.

"We held off a lot of runs and did what we needed to do to escape, but [it was] a tough situation," said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. "I thought we were really poised. Every time they made a run we came out and executed and gave us a little bit of a cushion, and we needed all that cushion down the stretch."

Auguste led Notre Dame (15-1, 3-0 ACC) with 18 points, Pat Connaughton scored 16 and Demetrius Jackson had 15, including 12 in the first half when the Irish led by as many as 10.

Jerian Grant had eight points and eight assists for the Irish before fouling out late in the game.

Meeks and J.P. Tokoto scored 12 points each for the Tar Heels (11-4, 1-1), who trailed by as much as 11 in the second half.

They had chances to re-take the lead after Auguste's go-ahead shot for Notre Dame. The best came after Tokoto rebounded Paige's missed 3-point try and the Tar Heels called timeout with 19 seconds remaining. But Paige hit the rim on a driving layup after play resumed.

North Carolina, coming off a 24-point victory over Clemson on Saturday, had a five-game winning streak snapped.

The Irish snapped a five-game losing streak in the series, which included their first two games against the Tar Heels since joining the ACC. They have won 11 in a row for their longest winning streak since taking 12 straight from Nov. 17, 2012-Jan. 7, 2013.

The 15-1 record is Notre Dame's best start since opening 24-1 in the 1973-74 season.

Notre Dame led the country by shooting 55.3 percent from the field coming in and made five 3-pointers in the first half, including three in a row to take a 25-15 lead nine minutes in.

"They didn't make any mistakes early, and it seemed like to me almost every shot went in," said North Carolina coach Roy Williams. "It was just an uphill battle. We kept fighting."

Seven North Carolina players scored during an extended 17-8 run that got the Tar Heels within 33-32 on Paige's jumper with 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the first half.

Jackson's 12 points led all players in the half and Notre Dame carried a 38-34 advantage into the break.

Game Notes

North Carolina players wore a patch reading "Stu" in honor of ESPN broadcaster Stuart Scott, who died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. Scott graduated from North Carolina in 1987 and served as commencement speaker at the school in 2001 ... The Tar Heels are 3-2 against ranked opponents this season ... North Carolina leads the all-time series with Notre Dame 18-5 ... Both teams are back in action with big games on Saturday, when North Carolina hosts No. 5 Louisville and Notre Dame hosts No. 3 Virginia.