CHAPEL HILL – Junior guard Leaky Black scored a go-ahead jumper with nine seconds remaining to give North Carolina a 66-65 win over Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon at the Smith Center.

Freshman forward Day’Ron Sharpe led the Tar Heels with a career-high 25 points while fellow freshman Kerwin Walton pitched in 12. Black added eight and Armando Bacot finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Tar Heels improve to 6-4 on the season and 1-2 in ACC play and have a quick turnaround as they travel down to Coral Gables to face Miami on Tuesday night at 8 pm. The Irish dropped to 3-6 and 0-3 in conference play.

Here are 5 Takeaways from UNC’s victory over Notre Dame:

UNC coach Roy Williams wasn’t afraid to shake up his starting lineup this week.

Freshman guard Kerwin Walton replaced fellow freshman RJ Davis in the starting lineup against the Irish while Day’Ron Sharpe replaced ACC Preseason Player of the Year Garrison Brooks.

It’s the second straight game Brooks did not start for the Heels after Sharpe replaced him in the starting five in the loss at Georgia Tech on Wednesday. It was Walton’s second career start as well after getting the nod over freshman Caleb Love against the Yellow Jackets.

The decision by Williams to start Sharpe and Walton paid off, too, as the pair combined for 12 of Carolina’s first 15 points before both were replaced at the 12:32 mark.

“What I like to say is, when you're given opportunities, take advantage of those opportunities,” Williams said. “Kerwin is playing about 12-14 minutes a game until the last three games and he's played more because we do need somebody else that can put the ball in the basket and they're loading up on him. We can help him out more by recognizing that we got him getting more shots.”

One quick note, Williams added that Davis did not start because he was “about 35 seconds late” to the arena before the game.

Not only did the freshman big get his second consecutive start, he also played the best game of his young Carolina career against Notre Dame.

Finishing with 25 points, Sharpe became the Tar Heels’ first 20-point scorer this season, 19 of his 25 points and seven of his nine rebounds came in the second half, showing just how dominant the big man was down the stretch, even scoring six straight points from the 5:43 to 4:19 mark in the second half to put the Heels up 59-57.

“He played very well,” Williams said. “He's very active. He's a load around the basket and I'm stunned that I look and he only had nine rebounds. I thought he had 15.

“But, I did tell him I don't need him to be 9-for-19. I think he's good enough to be efficient and go 9-for-12 or 9-for-13. But, he was a man in there.”

Black was full of praise for Sharpe’s motor in particular.

“He just plays hard 24/7,” Black said. “Some days, he comes in beat up. You see how hard he plays, there’s no way he’s not beat up. It’s just every single day his motor is on another level and I feel like that’s what’s gonna take him over the top. He’s a big-time player for us.”

His 25 points are the most by a UNC freshman post player since Tyler Hansbrough scored 27 at Duke on 3/4/2006.

Entering Saturday’s matchup, UNC ranked No. 284 nationally in turnovers per game, averaging 16.2 through its first nine games of the season.

It appeared it would be the same old story for the Tar Heels against the Irish as they turned the ball over four times before the under-16 timeout in the first half, but things changed soon after.

Carolina went on to turn the ball over just four more times the entire game, finishing with a season-low eight. So, what changed for UNC after the sloppy start?

“I guess I just threatened them how much we were going to run if we kept turning the ball over,” Williams said. “So, it's pretty easy to figure out. They’ll tell you I’m not joking, it’s the truth.”

Williams has said numerous times this season that Walton is the best three-point shooter on the team and the Hopkins, MN, native continues to show why after another impressive shooting display from beyond the arc.

In his last four games, Walton is 11-for-16 from three-point land and is averaging 9.2 points in 19.2 minutes per game. Not bad for a player that, before UNC’s win over Kentucky, was only averaging 1.0 points in 10.3 minutes.

Walton continued his impressive shooting display against the Irish, going 4-for-8 from three and hitting a big three to give the Tar Heels a 62-61 lead with 2:22 remaining.

“He's getting a little bit better and a little bit better defensively, he doesn't take bad shots,” Williams said. “And I've told him this, I recruited him because of his shooting ability, I'd like him to shoot a little bit more. But, he's doing a great job of not taking bad shots.”

Black said Walton’s impressive shooting as of late is no surprise to him or his teammates.

“We see the reps he puts in day in, day out since the summertime” he said. “I remember one day he probably made like 75 straight from one spot, so he can shoot the ball. We all know he can shoot the ball.”

Despite the win, putting the ball in the basket remains a consistent problem for this Carolina team.

UNC scored just 29 points in the first half against Notre Dame, shooting 31.3 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from three through the first 20 minutes of play. Things didn’t improve much in the second half either, with the Heels shooting just 34.8 percent for the entire game, their lowest shooting percentage of the season.

Credit to this team for still finding a way to win, which this program has struggled mightily to do over the past year or so, but shooting is going to have to improve sooner rather than later if this team wants to reach its full potential.