CHARLOTTE – One down and three more to go, perhaps, for North Carolina to work its way into the NCAA Tournament.

That question began Wednesday in the second round of the ACC Tournament at Spectrum Center, as the Tar Heels shot past Notre Dame, 76-56, in advancing to the quarterfinals when UNC will meet Wake Forest on Thursday afternoon.

But first things first. The Heels took on a Fighting Irish team that escaped Pittsburgh on Tuesday, so a good start was paramount, and Carolina started the game leading 17-5 and weren’t threatened much the rest of the way.

UNC was paced by its frontcourt players, as Jae’Lyn Withers notched a career-high 21 points to go with 9 rebounds, and Ven-Allen Lubin totaled 17 points and 10 rebounds. That makes two double-doubles for Withers in UNC’s last three contests.