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.
