Notre Dame hoped to get revenge for its loss to Virginia Tech earlier in the season. A double bye and the second seed in the ACC Tournament should have indicated that the Irish were ready for almost anything thrown their way. Instead, the Hokies doubled down on the fact that they own the Irish this season and won the quarterfinal meeting, 87-80. While the Irish are said not to be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, a win sure would have given them less reason to be nervous come Selection Sunday.
The Irish (22-10) never led in this game, nor did they ever tie it once the Hokies (21-12), a true bubble team, scored the first points of the contest en route to a great shooting night. They trailed by as much as 16 in the first half, making only nine field goals and having an assist-to-turnover ratio of four to 10. The second half went better on both ends, and they got the deficit down to four with 48 seconds left. However, the Hokies answered every Irish run, and the comeback effort was too little too late.
Keve Aluma led the Hokies with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Justyn Mutts had the best all-around game with 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Storm Murphy shot 5 of 7 from the field on a 16-point night, and Nahiem Allleyne matched that shooting line while scoring 12. Sean Padulla added 13 off the bench.
Prentiss Hubb led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and paced the Irish with five assists. Cormac Ryan made all eight of his free throws in a 20-point game, and Nate Laszewski had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Dane Goodwin, making his first appearance off the bench this season, scored 11.
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