Sweet Sixteen hero Demetrious Jackson did all he could to propel his Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the Final Four, but the Tar Heels of North Carolina proved to be too much to handle.  These two teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference had already played twice against each other this season, so the two were very familiar with each other.  The Fighting Irish stunned the Tar Heels in the first contest 80-76 but got destroyed 78-47 the second time.  The third meeting of the teams was for all the marbles as the winner would play in the Final Four.

All five North Carolina starters wound up scoring in double digits in a very balanced scoring attack.  North Carolina proves to be a very tough matchup because any starter can carry the team on any given night.  Seniors Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson are no strangers to big games as they performed spectacularly in this Elite Eight matchup.  Johnson scored a game high 25 points and hauled in 12 rebounds while Paige added 13 points to go along with two assists and two rebounds.  Sophomores Justin Jackson and Joel Berry II each notched 11 points in the victory, and junior Kennedy Meeks had 10 points of his own.

Notre Dame was led in scoring by Demetrious Jackson with a game high 26 points.  V.J. Beachum added 18 for the Irish, and Steve Vasturia put up 11 in the losing effort.

The game was back and forth early on as both teams took turns holding the lead in the first half.  North Carolina held a slim 43-38 lead at the break but really turned it on in the second half as they ended up beating the Irish by fourteen points.

UNC moves on to the Final Four in Houston where they will take on yet another ACC opponent in the Syracuse Orange.