It was a long shot at best entering Saturday afternoon that Notre Dame would hear their name called in a few weeks on Selection Sunday, but after an 84-73 loss at lowly Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon the Fighting Irish can start preparing for the possibility of an NIT berth.
Notre Dame had problems all afternoon in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as the now 13-15 Wake Forest Demon Deacons scored over 40 points in both halves. Despite a fine effort from John Mooney who totaled yet another double-double with 24 points and 17 rebounds, the Irish simply couldn’t slow down Wake Forest big man Olivier Sarr who put up 30 points in 32 minutes of action.
The Fighting Irish had been shooting better from beyond the arc but that hit the skids Saturday as they went just six of 22 (27.3%) from three. Conversely the Deacons made more (seven) while attempting far fewer (15) from three.
Notre Dame had won seven of nine in conference play and gotten from just 2-6 in ACC play to 9-8 in conference play before this setback sent them back to .500 in league play at 9-9. In an incredibly disappointing ACC top to bottom, Saturday’s loss against 14th place Wake Forest will certainly end their NCAA Tournament hopes with anything short of an unlikely ACC Tournament title.
Notre Dame returns to action Wednesday night as they will host Florida State, who is currently tied with Louisville atop the ACC standings with a 14-4 record.