North Carolina was due for a letdown after emotional wins over Duke and N.C. State.
Theo Pinson made sure the Tar Heels had enough juice to handle Notre Dame on Monday night. The do-everything senior led the 14th-ranked Heels to a 83-66 win over the Fighting Irish for their third win in five days.
UNC (20-7, 9-5 ACC) was understandably sluggish in spurts. Even the late-arriving crowd took some time to get cranked back up after it had emotionally maxed out in Thursday’s 82-78 home over Duke.
But Pinson scored nine of his 16 points after Notre Dame (15-11, 5-8) had cut UNC’s lead to 58-57 with 9:38 left in the second half.