As we get deeper into the season, it becomes more obvious that Notre Dame is not intimidated by anything. When Duke played and won before the Irish played their game at Clemson, the Blue Devils moved into first place outright in the ACC. The Irish had to beat the Tigers on their court to regain that first-place tie. They did just that to the tune of 76-61.
After facing a 3-2 deficit, the Irish (18-7, 11-3) never trailed again. They led by as much as 17 and had an answer every time the Tigers (12-13, 4-10) got any sort of momentum going. The Irish never let their lead shrink to less than seven points in the second half, although it never felt like they were ready to put the Tigers away until only a few minutes remained. If this is who the Irish are, they might want to work on going for the throat a little sooner before the regular season ends.
Blake Wesley was hot out of the gate, scoring 18 of his game-high 21 points in the first half. In the second half, Dane Goodwin picked up where Wesley left off with 16 of his 20 points. Together, the two shot 8 of 11 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Cormac Ryan played a solid supporting role with 13 points.
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