Tag: purcell pavilion

Notre Dame overcomes slow start to dominate Clemson

Better to get going late than not at all.

Notre Dame is in the final easy stretch of the season. That includes senior night, which was held Thursday even with two home games left. A lowly Clemson team came to Purcell Pavilion and briefly threatened to put a damper on the festivities. But everything worked out in the form a 74-47 Irish win.

The Irish (20-6, 10-5) saw the Tigers (11-16, 4-11) jump to a 10-point lead in the first quarter before rallying to tie game and end the quarter trailing by only two. Everything settled down after that as the Irish outscored their guests, 43-18, over the next two quarters. Whatever the reason for the Irish finding themselves, they played much better on both ends of the floor for the rest of the game, leading to the blowout victory.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half, making each of her first five shots and all four of her free throws. She also had a game-high four steals, three of which came in the first half.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] had a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] scored 12 points, and [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] had 12 off the bench.

Despite shooting only 4 of 14 from the field, birthday girl [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] scored 10 points, dished out eight assists and got four steals. [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] did not have a field goal off the bench but recorded a game-high four blocks.

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Notre Dame on list of fan bases that don’t care for college basketball

Do you care for Irish hoops?

It’s no secret the past couple of years have been rough for Notre Dame basketball fans. The Irish vastly underachieved last year, and a new roster and coaching staff this year meant the program had to start from scratch. That doesn’t exactly draw interest from fans.

Whatever the reason though, Irish fans simply don’t care about college basketball. At least that’s the opinion of Big Game Boomer, a college list aficionado on social media who decided to include Notre Dame among a group of college fan bases that allegedly could care less about college hoops:

First of all, Irish basketball fans haven’t had much to cheer about over the past few years. Secondly, while football rules supreme at Notre Dame and always will, that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t care about the second-most popular sport at the college level. Finally, Purcell Pavilion is about two-thirds full for an average game just as it was a year ago.

It really makes you wonder what criteria Big Game Boomer used to create this list. Then again, maybe this shouldn’t be taken seriously. After all, this is the same person who thinks MLB, the NFL and, yes, the NHL all need teams in Honolulu.

Whatever. Irish fans will support the basketball team in droves when it’s really good again. We just need to be patient. The time will come.

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Notre Dame slips up late against Miami

Experience beats inexperience in a battle of struggling teams.

The one thing Notre Dame and Miami have in common is that both have struggled lately. Both teams came into Purcell Pavillion on Wednesday having lost four of their past five. For a game like this, one typically might expect experience to win out. That’s exactly what happened in a 73-61 Irish loss.

This contest featured five ties and 10 lead changes, but that all happened while over 80% of game time elapsed. With the Irish (7-12, 2-6) in front by three during the latter portion of the second half, the Hurricanes (13-6, 4-4) went on a 19-2 run to go up by double digits. The Irish never seriously threatened after that as they were outplayed and outclassed by a better and more experienced team.

It was the Norchad Omier show from beginning to end, and that shouldn’t be a surprise given the type of player he is. Back from an ankle injury, he scored 33 points on 12-of-14 shooting, only two points off his collegiate high and his most since joining the Hurricanes from Arkansas State. He also grabbed 10 rebounds to complete a double-double, another hallmark of his game, and recorded three steals.

Of course, Omier got a little help. Kyshawn George scored 11 points while also getting three steals. Nijel Pack had 10 points despite shooting 3 of 10 from the field, and he also dished out a game-high five assists. Off the bench, Bensley Joseph contributed 10 points.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] led the Irish with 15 points but also committed a game-high eight turnovers. [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] had 13 points and six rebounds, and [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] scored 10 off the bench.

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Notre Dame has Citron again but not Westbeld in loss to North Carolina

A lost weekend for Notre Dame basketball.

Notre Dame’s [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] returned to the starting lineup against North Carolina after missing nine games with a knee sprain. However, her return was canceled out by the absence of [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag], who was being evaluated for a concussion after being injured in the Irish’s last game at Pittsburgh. With the Irish down to six rotational players, they lost to the Tar Heels, 61-57, who won their first game in South Bend in six tries.

Except for most of the third quarter in which the Irish led by as much as seven, the Tar Heels showed from the beginning that they were the better team during this particular evening at Purcell Pavilion. They made more plays when it really mattered and took advantage of having more available depth. While neither team shot well, the Heels held the advantage there (38.7% from the field for them and 31.1% for the Irish), and that made the big difference.

After tying the game at 55 with 3:41 left on a pair of Citron free throws, the Irish didn’t score again until the outcome already was decided. They still had a chance with time running out and trailing by only three, but [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag]’s layup attempt was blocked by Maria Gakdeng, forcing the Irish to foul Deja Kelly.

Even when Kelly missed both free throws, Gakdeng got the offensive rebound, and the ball got to Indya Nivar, who was fouled and split her ensuing two free throws for the last of her team-leading 16 points, putting the Heels up four. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was fouled on the subsequent possession and missed two free throws. Lexi Donarski then finished the Irish off with two free throws of her own, bringing her total to 13 points.

The Irish wasted 18 points from Citron and a double-double from Hidalgo (17 points, 11 rebounds). [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] scored 12 points.

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Notre Dame drops heartbreaker to NC State after leading throughout

The epitome of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Notre Dame appeared to be headed for another wire-to-wire win, this time against NC State. But youth means inexperience, and that includes in closing out games. The Irish trailed only once in this contest, but it was when it really counted. D.J. Burns Jr. made a layup with 0.6 seconds left, the last of his team-leading 13 points, to give the Wolfpack a stunning 54-52 win at Purcell Pavilion.

The Irish (6-8, 1-2) led by as much as 12 in the first half and had a pair of 11-point leads in the second. But they combined with the Wolfpack (10-3, 2-0) to shoot 15 of 58 (25.9%) in that second half and got their clock cleaned on offensive rebounds throughout the game, 17-5. It came back to haunt the Irish as after a [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] bucket with 2:10 left put them up, 52-46, they never scored again.

Nursing a two-point lead in the final minute, Konieczny was called for a travel thanks to intense defensive pressure from the Wolfpack, who called a timeout. The 6-foot-9, 275-pound Burns then found a matchup he liked and got a layup to tie the game at 52.

With only seven team fouls, the Wolfpack intentionally fouled [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag], a 58.3% free-throw shooter entering the game. Roper missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Michael O’Connell got the last of his team-high seven rebounds, enabling the Wolfpack to call a timeout and set up Burns’ heroics. A last-second long inbound pass went nowhere for the Irish, and the Wolfpack had stolen one in South Bend.

The Irish wasted a solid effort from [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag], the reigning ACC Rookie of the Week who had a game-high 18 points along with four assists. [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] grabbed 11 rebounds in the losing effort.

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ACC Network drops ball in switching over to Notre Dame-NC State

Time to vent about the ACC’s flagship station.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first five-and-a-half minutes of its game against NC State. Good luck watching that start unless you were inside Purcell Pavilion though.

Because the earlier game on the ACC Network between Florida State and Georgia Tech went long, the lower-right corner of the screen announced that the beginning of the game between the Irish and Wolfpack would be streamed on ACC Network Extra. So I obliged by firing up my ESPN app to watch the start of the game.

The only problem was I didn’t see the game I need to see to do this job. Despite my app telling me I was streaming the Irish, it in fact was showing the remainder of the contest between the Seminoles and Yellow Jackets. So I completely missed the Irish’s hot start because I was misled.

Maybe it was an issue with me being an Xfinity customer, or maybe it was something on ESPN’s end. It might even have been something on my end, in which case shame on me. Whatever the reason though, I was put at a disadvantage in covering the start of this game, and I apologize if my game story isn’t the best tonight.

I’m not paying extra for the ACC Network to be shut out of an exciting start to a game. Something needs to be different so that this doesn’t happen again.

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Notre Dame wins over teams at least eight games above .500 since 2018

The Irish haven’t had many recent wins like the one against Virginia.

In a season that figures to have few true highlights, Notre Dame had one Saturday. Virginia entered Purcell Pavilion with a 10-2 record and having received votes in the most recent Top 25 poll. That didn’t matter to the young Irish because they crushed the Cavaliers, 76-54. If anyone tells you they saw that coming, they’re lying.

This wasn’t only an upset against a quality program and Micah Shrewsberry’s first ACC win. It represented a rarity for Notre Dame in recent years. The Cavaliers’ record coming into this game meant they were eight games above .500. Since the Irish last made consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2015 to 2017, they have beaten opponents who were at least eight games above .500 coming in only seven times.

So forgive the Irish if they go a little over the top in celebrating this latest such instance. This doesn’t happen to them very much these days, so they definitely are cause for celebration every time. Here are the most recent of these occurrences:

Hidalgo has triple-double in Notre Dame win over Western Michigan

The Irish have one special player.

It’s hard to imagine [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] getting even better as her freshman season goes on. Yet she continues to exceed expectations by building her case as one of the best players in the country, period. She achieved her first career triple-double as Notre Dame demolished Western Michigan, 84-47.

The most danger the Irish (9-1) were in was when the Broncos (5-5) held a 9-4 lead in the first quarter. The Irish completely took over after that and never looked back, outscoring the Broncos in every quarter. Even with only eight players healthy, the Irish clearly were the better team. They held advantages in every statistical category, some of them bigger than others.

Hidalgo’s triple-double consisted of 26 points and career highs in rebounds (11) and assists (10). She also added to her national steals lead by picking up five more. When she checked out in the game’s final minute, she was greeted enthusiastically by her teammates and the Purcell Pavilion crowd.

[autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] scored most of her 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. Maddy Westbeld had 15 points and eight rebounds. Also racking up big numbers in the rebounding department were [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] (12), [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] (nine) and [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] (eight).

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Notre Dame’s Julian Roper II cleared for all basketball activities

That’s definitely a relief.

Notre Dame’s 2023-24 roster was brought together practically on the fly. As soon as he was hired, [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] had to string together a group of transfers and his 2023 Penn State recruiting class.

One transfer, [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag] from Northwestern, was coming off an ankle injury. Fortunately, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports is reporting that that’s no longer a concern:

Roper’s injury kept him from participating in the final month and a half of the Wildcats’ surprising run to the NCAA Tournament, only the second berth in that program’s history. He undoubtedly is looking for a new start after last season ended in disappointment. Most importantly, he’ll be available to start the new season.

The Irish will get their first look at opposing competition when they participate in a secret scrimmage Sunday at Xavier. They’ll play an exhibition Nov. 1 against Hanover, and the season starts when they welcome Niagara to Purcell Pavilion on Nov. 6.

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J.R. Konieczny, Matt Zona speak after Notre Dame loss to The Citadel

Read the players’ perspectives on the loss.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag] is one of the few Notre Dame players who had Elijah Morgan as one of his teammates. He probably didn’t count on seeing Morgan go off when The Citadel came to Purcell Pavilion. Sure enough, that’s what happened as Morgan scored a game-high 19 points in a 65-45 Bulldogs win over the Irish.

Zona grabbed four rebounds but was held out of the scoring column. Most of the Irish’s production came from [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag], who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. It looked for a while like Konieczny was going to carry his team to victory. Instead, the Bulldogs took over in the second half after allowing six unanswered points to start.

Zona and Konieczny were the two players selected to speak to the media after the loss under the watchful eye of [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] (more on him later). Konieczny looked emotional as he took his seat, and Zona looked like he was just trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. Here’s what they had to say: