UNC men's basketball beats Notre Dame, wins fifth straight

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Roy Williams doesn’t like to talk about streaks. He doesn’t like to talk about rhythm or momentum or karma or whatever supernatural force one might subscribe to.

He shied away from questions about the 56-0 home winning streak against Clemson, which UNC extended a couple of weeks ago. He was agitated when asked about a similar 10-0 streak against N.C. State a game later — which UNC also extended.

And when UNC (16-7, 6-4 ACC) brushed aside new ACC foe Notre Dame, 73-62, for its fifth straight win Saturday, he predictably didn’t give that streak any sort of credence.

“I feel like every day we got to play the best we can possibly play or the world’s going to end, so I’m never going to be satisfied,” Williams said. “Armageddon’s coming around the corner if we don’t play great is the way I look at it.”

But Williams also couldn’t deny that his team is in a far better place than it was at the start of the season — when nearly every big win was paired with an equally devastating loss.

It seemed, for a moment, like UNC was teetering back in that direction Saturday. After J.P. Tokoto scored a quick two points in UNC’s opening possession, the Tar Heels went five minutes without scoring as the Fighting Irish put up 10 unanswered points.

Twelve minutes in, Notre Dame had made four 3-pointers and led 19-10 as the Tar Heels missed 11 of their first 16 field-goal attempts.

Maybe that kind of start would’ve spelled the end for the UNC team of earlier this season, but a 9-0 run to end the first half — all nine points from team captains James Michael McAdoo and Marcus Paige — gave UNC a 27-23 halftime lead.

It was a lead the Tar Heels would never relinquish.

“I thought our team the last few minutes of the first half really grew some today,” Williams said. “We played with some poise, had a couple of things going wrong, and yet five guys got it together and got it straightened out.”

It started with defense.

The Tar Heels showed a marked increase in intensity as the second half began, forcing Notre Dame turnovers and fueling their own fast-break offense.

The first play of the half was a steal by McAdoo, who threw an outlet to Leslie McDonald for an easy layup.

One minute later, Tokoto forced another steal, with McAdoo drawing a shooting foul on the other end.

Rinse, repeat.

The Tar Heels finished the contest with a season-high 13 steals. They scored 23 points off of turnovers and outscored Notre Dame 8-0 in the fast break and 44-26 in the paint.

For McAdoo that defensive prowess had everything to do with being “sound” as a unit.

“Coach uses that word a lot,” he said. “And I think that really just has to do with (players) 1-5 playing together and realizing that, though we strive to play perfect defense, someone is eventually going to mess up, but there’s four other guys on the court that can help cover up for that.”

McAdoo finished the game with a team-high 18 points and eight rebounds, and he tied with Tokoto with a team-high four steals.

After an inauspicious beginning, the Tar Heels breezed through the second half, shooting 50 percent and adding another win onto their current streak.

Is it possible UNC has built some momentum?

“I do believe in a little bit of rhythm — unlike him,” said Paige, playfully gesturing toward Williams at his right. “I think we’ve had some success, and we’ve been able to build off of it, and it’s given us some confidence.

“We know what we’re capable of doing now. We’re not struggling as much. We’re still not perfect by any means, but we understand that our defense can get us through our tough stretches on offense, and guys are figuring out their roles and what works well, and I think as long as we stick to that and build off that, we’ll keep this run going.”

Despite Paige’s resistance, Williams didn’t back down from his stance on streaks, rhythm, whatever you want to call it.

“I’m not saying I don’t like this, but I’m sure as dickens not going to say we’re going to win the next 26 because we’ve won five games in a row,” Williams said. “But I like the way we’re doing some things … I think we’re much more consistent now, and I think the kids are much more confident in believing what we’re doing, but we’ve got some big-time games left.

“I can’t remember who it is we have next.”

It’s Duke.

sports@dailytarheel.com