Notre Dame Basketball: Winning Streak vs. Boston College Ends

As Notre Dame furiously tried to keep its 13-game winning streak against Boston College alive in the waning moments of Saturday’s contest at Purcell Pavilion, Irish radio play-by-play announcer Jack Nolan reminded listeners that the arena is one of …

As Notre Dame furiously tried to keep its 13-game winning streak against Boston College alive in the waning moments of Saturday’s contest at Purcell Pavilion, Irish radio play-by-play announcer Jack Nolan reminded listeners that the arena is one of the easiest places to shoot in the country. It’s easy to the point where Nolan said he once made three 3-pointers while playing in a charity game there. He brought this up because the Eagles’ hot shooting in the game (49.2 percent from the field) and particularly in the first half put them on the precipice of a win. Yet it took enduring a 13-3 Irish run and Marcel Goodwin’s missed half-court shot at the buzzer for Boston College to complete a surprising 73-72 win in South Bend.

Derryck Thornton was the best shooter for the Eagles (5-5, 2-0) by going 9 of 12 from the field in a 19-point effort. Jay Heath did most of his damage from downtown as he scored 12 of his 16 points behind the 3-point line. Jared Hamilton came off the bench and added 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

T.J. Gibbs played the entire game for the Irish (6-3, 0-2) and justified Mike Brey’s decision to have him do that with a game-high 22 points. John Mooney achieved his latest double-double with 16 points and 18 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end. But they weren’t enough for Notre Dame to overcome 39.7 percent shooting from the field on an afternoon in which half of its shots came from behind the 3-point line, where it went 8 for 29.

Watch – Notre Dame Basketball Routed at No. 3 Maryland

The first half particularly was challenging for the Irish, who made only eight field goals and shot 1 for 11 from 3-point range.

Despite keeping pace early with No. 3 Maryland, Notre Dame found itself on the short end of a 19-7 run to end the first half and never recovered in a 72-51 road loss Wednesday.  The Irish (6-2) began this ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup by jumping out to a five-point lead in the first five minutes.  They kept pace for another 11 minutes, tying the game at 13 before the Terrapins (9-0) blew it open and never looked back, leading by as much as 27 in the second half.  The Irish dropped to 4-3 all-time in the annual challenge between the two power conferences.

Jalen Smith led the Terrapins with a double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds to go with five blocks.  Eric Ayala scored 14, and Aaron Wiggins had 11, two of which came on a thunderous put-back dunk of his own shot to end the first half.  The Terrapins never allowed the Irish to get into a shooting rhythm, limiting the guests to 29 percent from the field.  The first half particularly was challenging for the Irish, who made only eight field goals and shot 1 for 11 from 3-point range.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcIuJmyFYlk&w=560&h=315]

John Mooney continued to be Notre Dame’s most dependable player, achieving his fifth double-double of the season with a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds.  Prentiss Hubb matched Mooney’s team highs of five field goals and three 3-pointers, finishing with 13 points and leading the Irish with three assists.  Rex Pflueger was held scoreless, missing both of his 3-point attempts, and committed a game-high five turnovers.  It was a surprising off night for Pflueger, who has enjoyed a balanced season to this point.

The Irish were unable to keep up with the quicker Terrapins, who held a 15-7 advantage in fast break points.  They also outscored the Irish in points in the paint, 36-22.

With time winding down Notre Dame’s Robby Carmody went down with what appeared to be a significant knee injury and initial reports do not sound good for the Irish sophomore guard.

The Irish return to action Saturday when they host a struggling Boston College squad.

 

This article was written by new Fighting Irish Wire contributor Geoffrey Clark

Notre Dame Basketball: Previewing Test at No. 3 Maryland

The teams have not met since Jan. 15, 2014, a 74-66 win for the Terrapins.  It will be the Irish’s first true road game and their first contest against a ranked opponent since suffering their only loss of the season Nov. 6 at No. 9 North Carolina.

Notre Dame (6-1) faces its toughest test of the season to date Wednesday when it visits No. 3 Maryland (8-0) for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.  The teams have not met since Jan. 15, 2014, a 74-66 win for the Terrapins.  It will be the Irish’s first true road game and their first contest against a ranked opponent since suffering their only loss of the season Nov. 6 at No. 9 North Carolina.

Looking for their fifth ACC/Big Ten Challenge victory in seven appearances, the Irish once again will rely on John Mooney to do the heavy lifting.  Mooney posted a double-double in four of his first five games and extended his streak of at least 13 rebounds to four games Nov. 26 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson.  If the Preseason All ACC First-Team member can make it five straight 13-board games, he will be the first Irish player to do it since Luke Harangody in 2008-09.

Also recording double-doubles in Juwan Durham, doing so twice over the past three games.  With Mooney sidelined by illness Nov. 18 vs. Presbyterian, Durham had 11 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.  In the Fairleigh Dickinson game, he scored 12 points, grabbed 11 boards and blocked four more shots.  Joining Mooney against North Carolina last season, Durham is the sixth Notre Dame player under Mike Brey to reach double figures in scoring and rebounding while also achieving four blocks.

Through seven games, Rex Pflueger has done his best to come back from the torn ACL that prematurely ended his season last year.  In addition to averaging 7.3 points a game, he is one of 12 major conference players to average at least four rebounds (4.1), three assists (3.4) and two steals (2.0).  Other prominent players in that group include Georgia’s Anthony Edwards, North Carolina’s Cole Anthony and Kansas’ Devon Dotson.

Watch: Basketball Improves to 6-1, Beats Farleigh Dickinson

Nate Laszewski led the way for Notre Dame as he finished with 16 points. Dane Goodwin added 15 while making all three of his attempts from downtown.

Jumping out to a 13-0 lead Tuesday night made way for Notre Dame’s sixth straight win, this one ending up 91-66 in favor of the Fighting Irish as they dispensed Farleigh Dickinson at Purcell Pavilion.

Nate Laszewski led the way for Notre Dame as he finished with 16 points. Dane Goodwin added 15 while making all three of his attempts from downtown.

John Mooney had another typical Mooney game scoring 13 points while taking down 13 rebounds.

Notre Dame hit 12 of their 25 three-point attempts on the night and cruised to the win.

They’ll return to action on Wednesday, December 4 when they travel to No. 5 Maryland to take on the Terrapins in the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Watch the highlights of Tuesday night’s win here:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDBOIpwqU28&w=560&h=315]

Watch: Buzzer-Beater Allows Notre Dame to Win Fifth Straight

notre dame uses miracle to escape with fifth-straight win on hardwood

It certainly wasn’t a masterpiece but for those who took it in it was memorable as Notre Dame improved to 5-1 on the season after a borderline miraculous comeback against Toledo just to force overtime before winning in the extra frame.

Trailing by three with 6.8 seconds remaining Prentiss Hubb missed a free throw that was rebounded by Dane Goodwin who missed a put back before another offensive rebound by John Mooney and a quick kick-out found Temple Gibbs for the potential tie.

And Gibbs shot got stuck between the basket and backboard, forcing a jump-ball with just 1.5 seconds remaining.

The good news was that the possession arrow belonged to Notre Dame so they at least had a chance, which they would take full advantage of.

Nate Laszewski was shooting just 12.5% from beyond the arc entering Thursday night and at one point saw his season total dip to just 2 of 20 (10%) from three-point-range.  He however stepped perfectly into the in-bounded bounce back and drilled the game-tying three as regulation expired, forcing overtime.

The Irish controlled things in OT as they didn’t allow a field goal until a meaningless, yet impressive buzzer-beater as the frame expired, escaping by the skin of their teeth with a 64-62 victory.

It was a night that very little went right for the Irish, shooting just 31.5% from the field and 8 of 35 from downtown (22.9%).  Factor in going just 10 of 17 from the free throw line and the victorious escape is that much more stunning.

Goodwin led the way for Notre Dame with 16 points.  Mooney who has been terrific this season missed Monday’s game against Presbyterian due to a stomach-virus and was just 3-of-11 from the field while scoring seven points.

Notre Dame returns to action Tuesday night when they host Farleigh Dickinson.

Notre Dame Basketball Moves to 3-1 After Holding Off Marshall (Highlights)

On a strange night for the Irish, they’re due credit for closing the stressful half with a great finish, taking a 40-29 lead to the break.

A 17 point lead early on wasn’t enough to keep things from getting a bit interesting Friday night at Purcell Pavilion as Notre Dame outlasted Marshall in a 74-64 win that felt a bit closer than that.

The Irish shot out of a cannon to a 25-8 lead early on Friday night before stumbling into the later part of the half, watching their lead disintegrate to just three when Marshall got things to 31-27 with three minutes before halftime.

On a strange night for the Irish, they’re due credit for closing the stressful half with a great finish, taking a 40-29 lead to the break.

After another quick start to the second half, Marshall came thundering back (sorry, had to) with a 10-0 run that made things just 49-46 in favor of the Irish before a John Mooney took over like John Mooney tends to do as old-reliable was again the star as putting up 28 points and pulling down 16 boards. Another day, another double-double for the Pre-Season All-ACC team member.

Dane Goodwin had a fantastic night as well as his nine second half points (11 total) and seven rebounds on the night secured the win.

Dry spells from the field were much to blame for why things got interesting multiple times Friday night as Notre Dame shot just 24/76 on their home court. They also knocked down just seven of 28 three-point attempts.

Notre Dame plays their fourth straight game at home Friday as Presbyterian will be in South Bend. The 3-1 Fighting Irish are yet to trail at home this season.

You can watch highlights of Friday night’s victory right here.