WASHINGTON -- North Carolina guard Marcus Paige might be rediscovering his offensive touch at just the right time.

After a shooting slump lingered off and on for weeks, Paige broke out and had plenty of company Friday night.

No. 7 North Carolina scored 24 points in a row during a midgame stretch on the way to routing Notre Dame 78-47 in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals at the Verizon Center.

Paige led the way with 16 points, helping the Tar Heels to the largest margin of victory in the semifinal round in the tournament's history.

"Hopefully it translates to the rest of the year," said Paige, who made five of nine shots from the field, including four 3-pointers. "It felt good. I had confidence coming into the ACC tournament that I was going to be able to knock down some shots. To finally do that is a big weight off my back."

Top-seeded North Carolina (27-6) advanced to the tournament final for the fifth time in six years. The Tar Heels will meet Virginia in Saturday night's championship game.

North Carolina guard Joel Berry and forward Brice Johnson both scored 12 points, while Isaiah Hicks and Justin Jackson each tallied 11 points.

It was a rematch of the 2015 championship game won by Notre Dame, but this one got away from the Irish early. And unlike last month's regular-season matchup, the Irish didn't produce a big comeback this time.

"We felt like we owed them one from earlier in the year and from the championship game last year." Paige said.

Friday night's outcome marked the most-lopsided loss of the season for the Irish.

"We could make our travel plans at halftime," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "Let's put it that way. That's how tough it was."

Bonzie Colson's 15 points and V.J. Beachem's 11 points paced fourth-seeded Notre Dame (21-11).

North Carolina's 24-0 run spread from the end of the first half to the early part of the second half.

"A run like that really kills a team," North Carolina guard Theo Pinson said.

Paige finished with seven assists without a turnover.

Notre Dame forward Zach Auguste, who the Irish counted on to contend with North Carolina's post players, picked up his fourth foul with 12:21 to play. Notre Dame trailed 55-32 at the time.

Less than a minute later, Johnson, the Tar Heels' leading scorer this season, also was called for his fourth foul.

"I think we caught Notre Dame (when) their legs were a little heavy," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.

Notre Dame shot 30 percent (15-for-50) from the field.

"I thought we really had to force stuff and we hurried stuff," Brey said. "I thought that was really their defense, from what I saw, was at a different than I've seen all season. ... Then frustration builds."

Before scoring the first six points of the second half, North Carolina scored the last 18 points of the first half to take a 41-22 lead at the break. The first-half run was capped by Berry's 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

"That's the kind of defense we've been trying to play all year," Hicks said.

North Carolina dominated in the lane in early minutes, scoring more than half its points from close range.

Still, the Tar Heels led by just 23-22 until they took charge, including Paige connecting on a pair of 3-point baskets to extend the advantage to 35-22.

Notre Dame, which was coming off a big comeback and overtime victory against Duke a day earlier, was hurt by 10 first-half turnovers.

That was just one of the troubling developments for the Irish, who have a reputation as one of the best ball-handling teams in the country.

"We have to get back to that if we want to survive and advance in the next tournament," Brey said.

The Irish were scoreless for six minutes to end the half. The 22 points for Notre Dame marked the fewest allowed in a half by North Carolina all season.

"Defensively, that's probably as close to our potential as we can get," Johnson said.

In a regular-season meeting at Notre Dame, North Carolina led by nine at halftime before Notre Dame rallied to win.

NOTES: North Carolina played in the semifinals for the 48th time out of 63 ACC tournaments. The Tar Heels haven't won a title since 2008. ... North Carolina entered the game have held 22 consecutive opponents to less than 45 percent shooting from the field. ... On the flip side, North Carolina had shot 50 percent or better in both halves of games nine times this season before Friday. The Tar Heels shot 43.5 percent on Friday. ... Notre Dame senior F Zach Auguste entered the matchup with 19 of his career 22 double-doubles coming this season. His 22 rebounds in the quarterfinal against Duke tied for the second-most boards in an ACC tournament game, one shy of North Carolina State's Jim Ritcher's mark in a 1959 overtime game vs. former member South Carolina. ... Before Friday, Notre Dame won the last three meetings with North Carolina, including an 80-76 home decision Feb. 6. However, North Carolina has now won 19 of 26 previous all-time meetings.