Before the Tar Heels could score again, they had allowed 12 straight points. But before the Irish could score again, they, too, allowed 12 straight points.

This is how North Carolina operates. It weathers poor stretches and then crushes souls and dreams. The Tar Heels outrebounded Notre Dame by 32-15 and scored 12 more points — 42 to 30 — in the lane.

Asked why he did not have his players foul when North Carolina possessed the ball for nearly a minute late, Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey all but shrugged.

“Because it was over,” Brey said. “It was over. Our guys were exhausted, too.”

They were exhausted by Sunday’s events, but also the last 10 days collectively. By all good sense, the Fighting Irish should have been back in South Bend a week ago, monitoring the school’s burgeoning quarterback controversy, eliminated in the first round after trailing Michigan by 12 at halftime; or in the second round, after trailing Stephen F. Austin by 6 with 95 seconds remaining; or in the regional semifinal Friday, after trailing Wisconsin by 3 with 25 seconds left. In the final minute of each of those last two victories, Notre Dame outscored opponents by 14-3.

The mission for the Irish on Sunday was to remain that close, that long. They made nine of their first 12 shots, and 14 of 24 over all, and still trailed, 43-38, after a first half that asserted their resilience. Not even three weeks ago, the Irish lost to North Carolina by 31 in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

“Those are ones that you burn, you don’t go back to,” Brey said of the game tape. “But you certainly have to learn from it.”

The Irish responded by elevating another skilled ballhandler, Matt Farrell, to the starting lineup.

They refined their ability to compartmentalize. What they could not do is consistently crack a North Carolina defense that has morphed into a strength.