Tag: dane goodwin

Notre Dame breaks skid against Louisville

The Irish are back in the win column.

SOUTH BEND – Finally, Notre Dame faced an ACC opponent that not even it could mess up against. Sure, Louisville is at the bottom of the conference and remains winless in league play, but the Irish needed any good vibes they could get. That’s indeed what they got as they took down the Cardinals, 76-62, to snap a four-game losing streak.

The Irish (10-12, 2-9) scored 13 unanswered points in the first half and went up by as much as 30 early in the second. Even with the Cardinals (2-19, 0-10) upping the nerves of everyone at Purcell Pavilion by cutting that 30-point lead to 13, the Irish had built enough of a cushion that they were able to withstand the threat. Their biggest blown lead this season is 12 in their road game at Syracuse, so it was critical that this team especially gave itself a lot of room for error.

[autotag]JJ Starling[/autotag] led the way with 22 points, one shy of his high during his first collegiate season. [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] scored 17 points, including a game-high three 3-pointers. [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] had 11 points to go with a career-high eight assists, and [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] scored 10 despite missing all six of his 3-point attempts.

With [autotag]Ven-Allen Lubin[/autotag] out after tweaking his previously injured ankle in practice Friday, [autotag]Dom Campbell[/autotag] took his spot in the rotation and made a single field goal in four minutes.

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Notre Dame battles NC State hard but still winless on road

Still nothing to show for a good effort.

To Notre Dame’s credit, it was about as good an effort as it’s shown on the road this season. But like every other game away from Purcell Pavilion, a victory just wasn’t meant to be. This time, it was NC State reaping the benefits, and the Irish will head home after an 85-82 loss.

During the first half, the Irish (9-12, 1-9) turned an 11-point deficit into a seven-point lead. The Wolfpack (16-5, 6-4) cut that lead to three before halftime, then went in front themselves early in the second half, which was a dogfight. While there wasn’t really any one moment that doomed the Irish, they couldn’t convert on a number of good looks or open shots to make a close game even closer or, in some cases, to tie it up. It also did not help that they were crushed in the turnover battle, 15-2.

Jarkel Joiner was the Wolfpack’s big player with 28 points and six rebounds. Terquavion Smith, the ACC’s scoring leader who fresh off a serious injury scare Saturday at North Carolina, had 17 points to go with six assists. D.J. Burns Jr. scored 14, and Casey Morsell added 11.

[autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] and [autotag]JJ Starling[/autotag] paced the Irish with 19 and 18 points, respectively. [autotag]Marcus Hammond[/autotag] had a nice stats line of 11 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] also scored 11, and [autotag]Ven Allen-Lubin[/autotag] added 10 off the bench.

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ACC men’s basketball leaders as of Jan. 22

One Notre Dame player is on the list.

As we enter the final full week of January, we continue to be impressed by those leading the bunch in the ACC. While we don’t know where their teams will be at the end of February, they should at least factor into their respective teams’ seeding in the ACC Tournament. Here are the statistical leaders at this point in the season:

Notre Dame unable to get revenge against Boston College

Even if Mike Brey’s future clear now, it still can’t stop the losses.

SOUTH BEND – Blowing the Jan. 3 game against Boston College after leading most of it couldn’t have sat well with Notre Dame. Less than three weeks later, the programs met again at Purcell Pavilion against the fresh backdrop of [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag]’s impending retirement. This was a game of runs in which both teams took turns taking control. In the end, it was the Eagles who had enough to get across the finish line, 84-72, for their second win in as many meetings this season.

The Irish (9-11, 1-8) led by as much as nine in the first half, but the Eagles (9-11, 3-6) went on a 15-5 run to take a one-point lead in the locker room. Then, the Eagles scored 13 unanswered points to begin the second half while the Irish missed their first nine shots from the field, seven of which came from 3-point range. Somehow, the Irish battled back to go up by one.

Once the Eagles took a 60-59 lead with less than eight minutes to go, they never trailed again. While the Irish did their best to hang with their guests at first, they slowly started to fall further behind. The game ended on a 14-4 Eagles run that made the game seem like less of a contest than it was. Alas, chalk this up as another disappointing loss.

Quinten Post led the way for the Eagles with a double-double of 29 points and 14 rebounds. Makai Ashton-Langford scored 20 points and dished out a game-high seven assists. DeMarr Langford Jr., Makai’s brother, had 10 points.

[autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] tied Post’s scoring mark with 29 points and also had seven rebounds. Seven of his eight field goals came on 3-pointers. [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] and [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] both scored 13.

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ACC men’s basketball leaders as of Jan. 15

One Notre Dame player on the list.

With the ACC having reached the midway point of January, we’re at somewhat of a benchmark for the season. While there is plenty of time for new faces to emerge atop the main statistical leaderboards, it would help if those new faces made their move sooner rather than later. For now though, here’s who stands out:

Syracuse youngsters lead comeback win over Notre Dame veterans

Those young whippersnappers in Central New York done beat those old guys.

Once again, Notre Dame’s mantra of getting and staying old didn’t pay off. In fact, it might have served as a detriment this time. The Irish had Syracuse on the ropes, but Jim Boeheim switched things up, and it changed the game’s momentum. Now, the Irish are left to wonder what could have been after a 78-73 loss.

Thanks largely to a season-high 15 3-pointers, the Irish (9-9, 1-6) led by as much as 12 in the second half. It was then that the Orange (12-6, 5-2) went to a full-court press, and that took the Irish out of their rhythm. In a stretch paced by a four-freshman lineup, the Orange made one timely shot after another while the Irish saw their hot shooting go cold and weren’t able to shake off the Orange’s defense. That big lead shrank until it finally disappeared.

[autotag]Marcus Hammond[/autotag] answered freshman Chris Bell’s go-ahead 3 with one of his own, but that was the last good thing to happen to the Irish. Judah Mintz tied the game at 71 on the Orange’s next possession, which was followed by the last media timeout. When action resumed, the Irish couldn’t inbound the ball cleanly, and the Orange made enough free throws from there to seal the victory. The Irish had opportunities to counter those free throws, but they couldn’t recapture their earlier good shooting from beyond the arc.

Bell set a career-high with 17 points, including 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. Maliq Brown, another freshman, came off the bench and also hit a career scoring high with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Mintz scored 14, including eight free throws, and dished out a game-high eight assists. Jesse Edwards had a typical game of 13 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.

Hammond was the game’s leading scorer with 18 points. [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] was well-rounded with 15 points, six assists and two steals. [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, and [autotag]Trey Wertz[/autotag]’s line included 12 points, seven boards and four dimes.

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Notre Dame survives Georgia Tech in overtime for first ACC win

Ugly, tense game, but the Irish are on the board in the ACC.

Getting your first ACC victory shouldn’t be this hard, but that’s been the story of Notre Dame’s season. It only was fitting that the Irish would struggle once more when it played Georgia Tech at Purcell Pavilion. This time however, the ending was a happy one. While it won’t inspire any outsider’s confidence in them, the Irish will take their 73-72 overtime win over the Yellow Jackets.

The Irish (9-8, 1-5) saw a nine-point second-half lead turn into a seven-point deficit with two-and-a-half minutes to go. But four straight points from [autotag]JJ Starling[/autotag] were followed by a [autotag]Trey Wertz[/autotag] 3-pointer to tie the game with 53 seconds left. Both the Irish and Jackets (8-8, 1-5) had chances to score with time winding down, but both attempts failed. The Jackets committed a shot-clock violation, and Starling barely missed a layup with seconds to play, forcing overtime.

The period frequently known as free basketball saw the teams trade baskets and culminated in two free [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] free throws to give the Irish a one-point lead with 23 seconds remaining. Starling went after a missed 3 that was headed out of bounds, and a replay review ruled he touched the ball. That allowed the Jackets to inbound beneath the basket with 3.7 seconds left and a chance to win it. Ja’Von Franklin took the inbound and missed the subsequent shot, allowing Wertz to secure the rebound and the win for the Irish.

[autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] briefly departed with a rolled ankle, but he returned to the floor to complete a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds. Starling came off the bench for the first time in his collegiate career to score 16. Laszewski had 14 points to go with seven boards, and [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] added 11.

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Notre Dame thoroughly outplayed by North Carolina

The Irish have slipped to .500.

It’s become increasingly clear that this season is a lost cause for Notre Dame. Perhaps the best evidence of that so far was its trip to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina. Despite initially looking strong out of the gate, the Irish couldn’t keep that going, and their 81-64 loss left them still searching for their first ACC win.

The Irish (8-8, 0-5) appeared ready to give the Tar Heels (11-5, 3-2) a game, taking the lead on [autotag]Marcus Hammond[/autotag]’s tiebreaking 3 near the midway point of the first half. That quickly changed as the Tar Heels cracked down on their defense and won nearly every meaningful rebound battle.

With [autotag]Ven-Allen Lubin[/autotag] out with an ankle injury, the already-small Irish badly missed his height as they lost the battles in blocks (6-1) and rebounds (45-32). That undoubtedly kept the game less close than it otherwise might have been.

The Irish were stretched out even further in the second half when [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] was ejected for a flagrant 2 that he committed while being dunked on by Puff Johnson. Tempers briefly flared, but nothing else of consequence happened. Ryan started heading back to the locker room before the call officially was made, indicating that he knew what was about to happen.

Armando Bacot lived up to his billing as the ACC’s leading scorer and rebounder, leading all players with 21 points and 13 boards. He also was one of three Tar Heels with two blocks. Caleb Love, an equally lethal scorer, had 18 points. RJ Davis scored 13 points and stole the ball three times, though the conference’s leading free-throw shooter was held to 1 of 2 from the charity stripe. Johnson totaled 11 points off the bench.

[autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] led the Irish with 17 points and eight rebounds. [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] and [autotag]JJ Starling[/autotag] scored 10 points apiece.

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Revisiting some of Mike Brey’s local media day comments

Do you think Mike is regretting any of these preseason quotes?

Back in October, Fighting Irish Wire was lucky to attend Notre Dame’s media day for South Bend outlets. [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] spoke with the assembled reporters before the players entered the room, and every answer he gave was a clue into the workings of his team. The atmosphere was an optimistic one as the Irish were coming off a couple of NCAA Tournament wins in the spring. Why couldn’t it happen again with all of these older players returning?

Well, the Irish have reached a crossroads much sooner than they would have liked. They are 8-7 and have lost their first four ACC games, tying with Louisville for last in the conference. The fun of last March has given way to frustration and bafflement as to how things have gone so wrong. Even most of the nonconference victories have not been very satisfying, and there is no reason to think this season will last beyond the ACC Tournament.

So how have some of Brey’s preseason words held up? Let’s take a look:

Notre Dame blows lead vs. Boston College, still winless in ACC play

It just keeps going from bad to worse.

Forget March Madness. The way this season is going for Notre Dame, it will be lucky to see any postseason play. After leading Boston College the entire game, the Irish let it slip away at the 37:19 mark and didn’t get it back in a 70-63 loss. Based on that score, you never would have known the Irish were in control most of the way.

The Irish (8-7, 0-4) led by as much as 10 early in the second half. While the Eagles (8-7, 2-2) slowly chipped into that lead, the Irish had an answer for every threat. That changed in the final four minutes as the Eagles finished the game on a 17-4 run after trailing by six. They made their final five field-goal attempts while the Irish finished 1 of 9 with the one basket coming on a layup after three straight missed layups with seconds to play and the game’s outcome decided.

To make matters worse, [autotag]Ven-Allen Lubin[/autotag] went down with an ankle injury in the first half and didn’t return. Early indications are that the injury isn’t serious, but we should find out how accurate that is in the coming days. In the meantime, the Irish are dealing with both a major hit to their depth and a first conference that continues to elude them.

Jaeden Zackery led all scorers and the Eagles with a season-high 18 points. Prince Aligbe had 15 points and seven rebounds, while Makai Ashton-Langford scored 12 points. Quinten Post, who was involved in the play that injured Lubin, finished one rebound short of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards. DeMarr Langford Jr. dished out a game-high eight assists.

[autotag]JJ Starling[/autotag] and a flu-ridden [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] tied for the Irish high with 16 points, and Goodwin’s six rebounds tied [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] for another team high. [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] scored 11 points.

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