Third-seeded North Carolina led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but a late Maryland rally ended on a missed potential game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds, and the Tar Heels held on for a 79-76 win in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Saturday.
UNC (24-9) advances to Sunday’s ACC Tournament Championship against top-seeded Miami (26-6). The tip-off is at 1 p.m.
The Heels led from the 18:49 mark of the first half, but despite building double-digit leads in both halves could not shake the Terrapins, who were fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives this weekend after entering the ACC Tournament as the #7 seed.
North Carolina led 37-31 at the break and was up 58-45 at the 11:16 mark of the second half on the second of two free throws by Leslie McDonald before a 12-2 Maryland run cut the lead to 60-57 on a pair of free throws by Alex Len with 8:46 left.
An 8-1 UNC run pushed the lead back to 10 at 68-58 after a pair of free throws by McDonald with 7:40 left, but Maryland was not done, getting as close as one at 71-70 on a layup by Len at 3:20.
A Marcus Paige jumper and two free throws by James Michael McAdoo pushed the lead back to five at 75-70, but the Terps were able to get back within two at 78-76 on a Logan Aronhart layup with 17 seconds left.
P.J. Hairston made one of two free throws a second later to make it 79-76 Carolina, and Maryland coach Mark Turgeon called timeout to set up a play. Aronhart missed a wild three with nine seconds left, and Reggie Bullock rebounded the ball and UNC was able to run out the clock from there.
Bullock and Dexter Strickland each scored 15 points to lead the Heels.
Len scored 20 to pace Maryland.
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