Tag: Paul Atkinson Jr.

Prentiss Hubb rescues Notre Dame against Pittsburgh

That was too close.

Notre Dame will need to have a better showing against ACC competition than it had in its first game with Pittsburgh. The Irish came dangerously close to dropping this road contest against the only team in the conference with a record below .500. In the end, Prentiss Hubb’s go-ahead shot with 5.6 seconds left gave the Irish a 68-67 victory.

After the Irish (7-5, 1-1) found themselves in a 30-all tie at halftime, a 6-0 run by the Panthers (5-8, 0-2) looked like it would be enough of a catalyst to spark the hosts to a win as the Irish struggled with their shooting. Instead, an 8-0 Irish run later in the second half tied it back up, and they held a slim lead going into the final minute.

Femi Odukale scored on a layup and foul with 33 seconds remaining to put the Panthers back up. After he missed the ensuing free throw, Dane Goodwin got the rebound to begin the possession that ended with Hubb’s heroics. After taking a timeout, Jamarius Burton got a layup opportunity but missed it. The cliche that the Irish had escaped by the skin of their teeth definitely applied here.

Paul Atkinson Jr. led the Irish with 16 points, making all eight free throws, before fouling out late. Hubb was just behind with 15. Blake Wesley scored 12, and Dane Goodwin added 11, nine of which came on 3-pointers.

It was quite the maddening game to wrap up 2021. Now, the Irish will get Duke on New Year’s Day. A lot of improvement will be needed fast to pull off the upset. Do they have enough time to pull it off though?

Notre Dame’s real ACC season begins against Pittsburgh

Let the conference schedule tip off.

A 6-5 start, including a loss at Boston College, surely isn’t what Notre Dame had in mind. All it can do now is look forward to the rest of the schedule, which will have ACC opponents in all but one game. Fortunately, the Irish get to kick this slate off against Pittsburgh, the only conference program with a record below .500 (5-7). On the flip side, although these teams play each other twice this season, an Irish sweep is unlikely to boost their NCAA Tournament resume.

If the Irish win this game, they will have beaten the Panthers for the fifth time in their past seven trips to the Petersen Events Center. To do it, they will have to continue to rely on the overall offensive game from Dane Goodwin, the emergence of freshman phenom Blake Wesley and the shooting of Paul Atkinson Jr. At the same time, it would be helpful to get other key contributions from Mike Brey’s short rotation.

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Notre Dame has to battle to beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

The Irish got a battle some probably didn’t expect.

Notre Dame needed more than the effort it might have thought it needed to beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The matinee, which served as the final game before ACC play begins in earnest, could have spelled disaster if the Irish hadn’t realized what they were up against before it was too late. Instead, they’ll be happy to go into the holidays with an 83-73 win.

With a Trey Wertz injury shortening Mike Brey’s rotation to six players, the Irish (6-5) initially looked like they were on their way to giving the Islanders (10-3) a highlight of their season. They trailed by as much as nine in the first half, and a victory still was uncertain even as they battled back to take a five-point halftime lead.

Though the Islanders never regained the lead in the second half, they only had a two-point deficit with 6:45 to go. It took a 13-4 Irish run after that to finally put this game on ice.

Five of the Irish’s six players scored in double figures. Dane Goodwin led his team in scoring again with a game-high 21 points, including five 3-pointers. Blake Wesley scored 15 and tripled his previous assists high by recording nine. The Irish got 14 points apiece from Paul Atkinson Jr. and Cormac Ryan. Prentiss Hubb rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11.

The Irish also shot 13 of 14 from the free-throw line.

One more Notre Dame Crossroads Classic loss for the road

The Irish won’t miss this event at all.

INDIANAPOLIS — Notre Dame’s decision to back out of the Crossroads Classic led to the event’s demise. Given its history in the event, it probably won’t missed in South Bend. Indiana dealt the Irish one more bad memory by beating them, 64-56, to give the program a final event record of 4-7.

During the second half, the Irish (4-5) erased a 10-point Hoosiers (9-2) lead with an 11-1 run, tying the game at 46 with over eight minutes to go. That was as good as it got for the rest of the game as the Hoosiers went on an 8-0 run that came too late for the Irish to overcome. Soon after, a two-handed dunk by future NBA player Trayce Jackson-Davis served as the final dagger and whipped the heavy Hoosiers contingent at Gainbridge Fieldhouse into a frenzy.

Appropriately, Jackson-Davis was the most productive Hoosier with 17 points and 12 rebounds, completing a double-double. Parker Stewart had 12 points, most of which came on three 3-pointers. Xavier Johnson scored 11 despite shooting only 3 of 11 from the field and committing four turnovers. Race Thompson also had 11.

Dane Goodwin, one of three active Irish players to play in the Crossroads Classic four times, was responsible for much of the Irish’s scoring with a team-high 15 points. Blake Wesley was just behind with 14 points, though he was compounded by 5-of-16 shooting from the field. Paul Atkinson Jr. had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with four steals.

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Notre Dame vs. Indiana: First-Half Analysis

This game isn’t over by a long shot.

INDIANAPOLIS ⁠— Notre Dame might be tired of the Crossroads Classic, but it still showed up to play in the last one. With the jury still out on what type of team this is, some might have been a little surprised to see it play well against Indiana in the first half. Whatever the Irish are, they’ll be happy to have only a 30-27 deficit against the Hoosiers at halftime.

Shortly after the Irish fell behind, 8-7, with a little over five minutes gone, Paul Atkinson Jr. made a jumper to give his team a lead it would not relinquish until two-and-a-half minutes remained in the first half. A mostly decent display of offense (though it was both sloppy and nonexistent in the final minutes) and timely defense in which it forced several turnovers put the Irish in great position in front of a mostly pro-Hoosiers crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Barring a dramatic reversal in the second half, this will be far from a cakewalk, unlike the Purdue-Butler game that took place right before this one.

Blake Wesley is primed for another big game after leading the Irish with eight first-half points. Dane Goodwin isn’t far behind with seven, so the two players everyone is keeping their eye on have not disappointed so far. Atkinson has been superb on defense with five rebounds and three steals.

Notre Dame ready to face Indiana in Crossroads Classic

Regrettably, this is the final year of this event.

Coming off a thrilling win over Kentucky, Notre Dame is about to face another tough test against Indiana. The teams will meet in Indianapolis as part of the 11th and final edition of the Crossroads Classic. Although a 4-6 record in this event so far will keep the Irish from a final winning record, they still can leave it behind on a high note. They will have to do it against a Hoosiers team that has split its past four games after winning its first six.

Although Irish senior Dane Goodwin’s team-leading 14.3 points a game are impressive, the key to success in this game might come down to two newcomers. Freshman and South Bend native Blake Wesley has been nothing short of impressive, and being named the most recent ACC Rookie of the Week reflects that. Transfer Paul Atkinson Jr. has a field-goal percentage of .661, which is the best of any returning Division I player. While too soon to tell if those two will get the Irish on a roll after a 4-4 start, it certainly is encouraging.

One more thing: Fighting Irish Wire will be on location at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to cover this game. This is an exciting moment for us, and we hope it will help lead to additional opportunities down the road. Either way, we’ll see you in Indianapolis!

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Notre Dame upsets Kentucky in blow-for-blow battle

What a win!

When a team struggles as Notre Dame has to start the season, it will take any spark it can get to turn things around. With preseason expectations at a somewhat high level, the Irish absolutely needed something positive that could potentially serve as a turning point. On a day in which LaPhonso Ellis was inducted into the Purcell Pavilion Ring of Honor and Marcus Freeman was in attendance, a 66-62 upset of No. 10 Kentucky was just what the doctor ordered.

This game was tied several times, and the Irish (4-4) trailed for the majority of it. To make things even more intense, neither team ever led by more than five points. Had the Wildcats (7-2) shot better than 2 of 19 from 3-point range, which included an 0-of-8 showing from their bench in that area, we would be talking about a completely different outcome. Alas, the Irish were meant to stay perfect in these Ring of Honor games.

It all came down to how the Irish came out of a timeout in a game tied at 62 with 28 seconds left. What happened was freshman phenom and South Bend native Blake Wesley driving from near the sideline to the paint just inside the free-throw line and hitting a pull-up shot off the dribble to put the Irish in front with 11.7 seconds remaining.

The Wildcats opted not to call their final timeout to try and respond immediately, but Tyty Washington Jr.’s game-tying layup attempt hit the glass and nothing more. Paul Atkinson Jr. got the rebound, and a quick passing sequence got the ball to Dane Goodwin in an open frontcourt, which allowed him to complete a buzzer-beating dunk with two hands. With the biggest win of the season so far complete, the Irish fans in attendance stormed the court.

It was appropriate for Wesley and Goodwin to score the Irish’s final four points because they led their team with 14 points apiece. Trey Wertz was just behind off the bench with 12 points, and Atkinson added 10. Goodwin and Atkinson also had six rebounds apiece to lead the Irish.

Rough second half costs Notre Dame against Texas A&M

Are the Irish already in trouble early in the season?

If Notre Dame is going to live up to the preseason hype as an NCAA Tournament team, it will have to do better than it did the past few days. Despite being in front for much of its third and final Maui Invitational game against Texas A&M, it proved to be for naught. The Aggies came back for a 73-67 win, forcing the Irish to a 1-2 record in the tournament and a sixth-place finish.

The Irish (3-2) led almost the entire first half and held a 14-point lead early in the second. However, the Aggies (6-1) took control when their bench went on a scoring tear that the Irish couldn’t stop. Once the Aggies took their first lead since 1-0, they never gave it back. With the Irish piling up turnovers and being forced into tough offensive possessions, a win was not to be.

The Aggies received little scoring help from their starters, which makes this game’s outcome even more surprising. Quenton Jackson scored all but three of his 18 points in the second half and finished with an 8-of-11 shooting performance from the field. Hassan Diarra was just behind Jackson with 17 points as he was 7 of 11 from the free-throw line. Wade Taylor IV scored 14.

Dane Goodwin paced the Irish with 18 points and made all eight of his free throws. Prentiss Hubb scored 11 points but also committed a career-high eight turnovers. Paul Atkinson Jr. also scored 11, and Blake Wesley had 10 off the bench.

Notre Dame suffers first loss of season to St. Mary’s

Tough defeat for the Irish.

Notre Dame found itself playing in the best quarterfinal game at this year’s Maui Invitational in Las Vegas. With the Irish locked in a tight battle with St. Mary’s from the opening tip, it was inevitable that this game would come down to the wire. That’s exactly what happened, and it didn’t go the Irish’s way as they lost, 62-59. As a result, they fall into the losers bracket and will face Chaminade of Division II in their next game.

The Irish (2-1) held a 58-57 lead with under a minute to play when Dan Fotu hit a big 3-pointer to put the Gaels (5-0) back in front. Trey Wertz, who had made the free throws to give the Irish what turned out to be their final lead, then made a critical error when he stepped out of bounds on a drive.

After Tommy Kuhse missed the front end of a one-and-one, Cormac Ryan was fouled with seven seconds left. He split the free throws, forcing the Irish to foul Kuhse again. This time, Kuhse made both free throws, though the Irish still had a chance to send the game to overtime with a 3. Ryan was unable to hit a buzzer-beating shot from there, and that was it for the Irish’s Maui Invitational title hopes.

Fotu led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting over 22 minutes. Kuhse chipped in 14 points.

Ryan was the Irish’s top scorer with 16 points, including three 3-pointers. Paul Atkinson Jr. scored 13 on 6-of-9 shooting, and Dane Goodwin scored 10.

Notre Dame roster for 2021-22 season

Who will be hooping it up for the Irish this season?

It feels like college basketball remains far away, but Midnight Madness just happened, so it’s closer than you think. To that end, we should look at who makes up Notre Dame’s roster for the upcoming season. Many believe this is the team that can get the program out of the doldrums and back on track towards respectability. A major step in getting people to believe that would be the Irish’s first NCAA Tournament selection since 2017, which also was the last year they finished above .500 against ACC opponents.

This will be the 22nd iteration of the Irish with Mike Brey as coach. Despite having more wins than anyone in program history, he has two losing seasons in the past three and three losing conference records over the past four years. If he isn’t able to get this group to reach its full potential, questions about his future in South Bend certainly will arise. Here are the players who could determine where both Brey and the program headed going forward: