Did Notre Dame think it had a chance against No. 22 Duke without having to face Jalen Johnson? Probably, because anyone who goes into a game with a losing attitude shouldn’t be playing college basketball. But there are reasons the Blue Devils are ranked, and the Irish are not. The latest is a 75-65 win by the more talented Blue Devils at Purcell Pavilion.
The Irish (2-3, 0-1) never led this game, but they didn’t let it get out of hand either. They never let the deficit get bigger than 11 in the first half, and they got within five near the halfway point of the second. But the Blue Devils (3-2, 1-0) responded to that by scoring nine unanswered points and leading by double digits the rest of the way. Given that they did more with more opportunities (31 of 60 from the field vs. 23 of 49 for the Irish), that should have been the result.
Matthew Hurt led the Blue Devils with 18 points, three assists and two blocks. D.J. Steward scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had a game-high two steals. Jeremy Roach had 14 points, and Jaemyn Brakefield scored 10 in 24 minutes off the bench.
Dane Goodwin was scorching with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Prentiss Hubb scored 12 and tied with Cormac Ryan with three assists. Trey Wertz made his Irish debut with nine points in 21 minutes as a substitute.
