March 14--GREENSBORO, N.C. -- For years Notre Dame's mantra in conference tournaments was: "Get to Saturday night."
Since the Irish finally made it there Saturday after defeating Duke in the ACC tournament semifinals, the mantra quickly switched to: "Let's cut down some nets."
The Irish had a chance to do that Saturday night against North Carolina, who entered Saturday after defeating No. 1 seed Virginia.
Notre Dame defeated the Tar Heels in their previous meeting, a 71-70 victory in Chapel Hill on Jan. 5.
The Irish won despite allowing North Carolina to grab 21 offensive rebounds. But Notre Dame didn't have freshman Bonzie Colson as a regular in the rotation at that time. Since then Colson has provided a big boost off the bench, including a 17-point performance Friday night against the Blue Devils.
