Here’s who UNC men’s basketball plays in second round of the ACC Tournament in Charlotte

Notre Dame will face North Carolina in the Tar Heels’ first ACC Tournament game Wednesday afternoon.

UNC’s second-round matchup at Spectrum Center will be against the Fighting Irish, who defeated Pitt in a 55-54 game that kicked off the week-long conference tournament.

While Notre Dame opened a double-digit lead during the first half of Tuesday’s win, Pitt battled and led during the final minutes.

Irish star Markus Burton attempted a game-winner with the game tied at 54 as the clock wound down, and a foul was called against the Panthers’ Zack Austin — a Winston-Salem native — and sent Tae Davis to the free-throw line. Davis made the first and missed the second, securing the narrow victory for Notre Dame.

“We just take it one game at a time,” Irish graduate student forward Nikita Konstantynovskyi, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, said in the postgame news conference. “We prepare the best. We have the best coaches. And we’ll be ready for North Carolina.”

Sir Mohammed helps Notre Dame ‘in a lot of different ways’

The recent Myers Park star scored a couple of buckets in his homecoming.

Sir Mohammed — whose father, Nazr, is an NBA champion and now the general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s G League affiliate — totaled four points on 2 of 3 shots and grabbed a rebound in Notre Dame’s victory.

He’s made eight starts this season as a true freshman for the Fighting Irish after missing time early in the year with a lower-body injury. While his contributions Tuesday didn’t necessarily fill up the stat sheet, the young Charlottean is making an impact on Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry.

“(Mohammed) is going to be a really good player for us,” Shrewsberry said. “He got hurt early in the season, and the times when you can grow as a player is in those non-conference games as a freshman. And he missed those opportunities, he didn’t come back until conference play. He’s learning on the fly versus grown men in our league. His ability to pass the ball, his ability to make plays on the dribble. He’s an unbelievable teammate.

“He had another offensive rebound, some timely buckets. He’s going to be a really good player for us in pick-and-rolls, being a passer, but right now, he’s doing other things with Markus (Burton) and (Matt Allocco), cutting and getting layups. He’s finding his way to help us in a lot of different ways. You need that unselfishness. I’m looking forward to him getting more games under his belt, but he can really, really good for us.”

‘Sometimes you need a little luck of the Irish’

Led by sophomore guard Jaland Lowe, who finished with 17 points to lead all scorers, Pitt put up points throughout the afternoon and led for much of the second half. The Panthers limited the Irish on offense and scored 12 points off Notre Dame turnovers.

The sides traded leads throughout the final minutes of regulation.

Following free throws on both ends, Pitt freshman guard Brandin Cummings knocked down a huge 3-pointer to put the Panthers ahead by two points. Notre Dame responded to tie it at 54, and neither side could hit on their final possessions.

Davis grabbed the offensive rebound following Burton’s try for the win, and Austin was called for a foul down low. That sent Davis to the line, and he got the one point the Fighting Irish needed to advance to a matchup with Carolina at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“Hats off to Pitt for just a hard-fought game,” Shrewsberry said. “Jeff Capel, like I said after we played him a couple weeks ago, he’s a really good coach but a great person too, he’s been unbelievable with me this year. We’re competitors, but there’s a brotherhood amongst coaches as well, and it’s a tough way to lose there at the end in a hard-fought game.

“It’s hard for either team to accept defeat in those moments. I completely understand what he’s going through, but credit to them for playing really hard. And sometimes, you need a little luck of the Irish.”

This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Here’s who UNC men’s basketball plays in second round of the ACC Tournament in Charlotte."

Shane Connuck

The Charlotte Observer

Shane Connuck is a former journalist for The Charlotte Observer